Teacher Team Training
The Smoothstyle’s Teacher TEAM Training program is uniquely designed for WCS instructor partnerships and teams. It is:
- Systematic: simple, repeatable, and easy to build on to support your culture, style, and syllabus
- Empowering: elevate instructors of any experience level, boost their confidence, and see results
- Non-prescriptive: adaptable to any syllabus or preferred school of technique
- Proven: to get students dancing sooner and evolving better
- Complementary: to other training programs offered for individual instructors and dance enthusiasts
Program outcomes
Teaching excellence
- Talk less and teach more
- Develop strong instructor partnerships and teams
- Create consistency among instructors while leaving room for individual personalities to shine
- Provide equal attention and quality of information to both Lead and Follow roles
- Equip instructors of varying levels of experience to work well together
Scalability
- Provide consistency in WCS instruction across levels and as the dance evolves
- Develop dancers with strong foundations and an inspiring path forward
- Minimize class-to-social-dance confusion and overwhelm
- Supports dynamic teams that mix and match lead-follow teaching pairs
Effective modelling
- Provides a common language to prepare and teach West Coast Swing lessons
- Models a “safe space” to fail, build confidence, and become stronger as instructors
- Models exercises for teaching partners and teams to work effectively and efficiently together
Program design
The program is delivered in person by master instructor Maria Ford:
- 3 modules of 4 hours each (more for teams larger than 4 instructors)
- The modules must be completed in sequence but there is no obligation to do them all
- The modules should be separated by 6-12 months, during which the team practices the system and skills before moving on
- The program does not provide a specific syllabus; syllabus consultation and guidance can be provided as required
- Participants receive handbooks capturing key take-aways and space for notes
Fees
For prerequisites, fees, schedule, and logistics, please contact Maria.
Recognition
Smoothstyle recognizes the program graduates and their schools with certificates of completion, and via our online Wall of Achievement.
“
I wanted to take this opportunity to say Thank You for an exceptional year of dance instruction from you and your entire team. I feel extremely privileged to be able to learn from each and every member … Your capacity for teaching is exceptional. You have a complete way of breaking down the moves you want us to execute.”
