The foundation of the future of massage therapy is the
quality of our education today. I wonder how many would agree that the
educational structure for future massage therapists is, well, a mess. One
definition of a “mess” is a chaotic and confused situation. Chaotic and
confused describes massage education right now. I am confident that this mess
is actually an opportunity because we can’t ignore it anymore. There are three components that all work
together for a quality education: a solid curriculum, skilled teachers and
committed students.
As a textbook author, I have had the opportunity to
communicate with many massage therapy program directors and teachers. I rarely
find a teacher or school/program director that wants to deliver inadequate
massage education. More commonly, school/program directors are confused about
what to teach and have a difficult time finding qualified teachers.
The curriculum is the easy part. Schools do not differentiate
themselves by curriculum. All massage therapy instructional programs should be
teaching a very similar curriculum. Schools display excellence through
effective teaching of the curriculum. What to present in a massage curriculum
is clearer now than ever before. Check it out yourself:
ELAP: elapmassage.org
Another shift in the education of massage therapists in the
U.S. is a change from information-based education to competency-based
education. An information-based curriculum is limited since it focuses on
factual content. Professional competencies are the measurable skills and
abilities that identify successful massage practice. Curriculum should be
competency based. Unfortunately, the tests that are used for licensing in the
U.S. are based on a factual knowledge model, which then forces a school to
educate in a fact-based way, since schools are measured both by accrediting
bodies and state regulators on the percentage of students who pass licensing
exams.
Competencies are the demonstration of application from the
information received. Competencies are actually very concrete. Either the
students can do what is required or they cannot. The idea of competency is not
new and it is time for the U.S. massage community to adopt this method to
determine the student’s ability to practice massage
However, here is a messy part: changing the curriculum. It
is not as simple as it seems. If a school is accredited, a curriculum change
can be considered a substantive change requiring both a time and financial
commitment to the accrediting body. There currently are schools that want to
make the updates but are waiting until their next accreditation cycle to avoid
the hassle and cost. There are similar requirements for the school’s state
licensing process.
Changing curriculum requires changing lesson plans, changing
exams, retraining of teachers, changing program schedules, and the list goes
on. This is hard enough for a single program massage school. I know since I have
owned a massage school for 28 years. Can you imagine the mess in a multi-campus
educational structure? Regardless of the
mess, we have to make these changes. It is hard, but those that manage massage
therapy educational programs have to make the hard decisions and deal with the
conflict and frustration of change. I have done this multiple time and it is
not fun. However, we as educators owe a quality education to those who seek us
out to learn. An effective competency
based curriculum can be built using professionally created textbooks, lesson
plans, presentation material and online support.
Once you have the curriculum in place, then you need the
teacher. As previously stated, all educational programs for massage therapy
should be teaching the same foundational curriculum. The way a school
differentiates itself is how well the teachers are able to teach the
information and that requires committed quality teachers. The availability of
massage teachers that are aware of the most current information about massage
and can effectively deliver that information in the classroom is limited. Those
that commit to teaching massage therapists have little support right now and
that adds to the mess. Fortunately the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education
is committed to addressing these issues.
What makes a skilled massage therapy teacher? They have to
know the material. They need to be able to pass the same texts the student will
pass. Anatomy teachers need to understand massage and massages teacher need to
understand anatomy and physiology. Teachers need to remain current. It is
inexcusable for educator to present dated and inaccurate information. Teacher
have to confidentiality teach the school curriculum –not what they think is
correct and very likely different than the way they learned. Schools and
program directors must not allow inaccurate information in the classroom and
they also need to provide ongoing educational opportunities for teachers.
Finally, school management must provide support for the teachers in the form of
supplies, equipment, textbooks and reference material, and now electronic based
learning systems.
Competency is based on experience. Experienced massage
therapists should be the foundation of the instructor pool. However, these same
experienced individuals must not allow their personal opinions to bias their
teaching. One of the biggest problems school directors face is a teacher who
will not support the curriculum. Yes, part of massage practice is an art but that
art is based on the science. I listen over and over to program directors as
they describe how a teacher creates confused and frustrated student because
they will not present the curriculum as developed, or they disagree in the
classroom with information presented by other teachers.
Just like business is business—teaching is teaching. There
are skills needed to be a teacher. If we are going to rely on experienced
massage therapists to be the foundation of the instructor pool, then we also
need to teach them how to teach and how to use the resources available to them.
Schools owners, program directors and the corporate executives must be
committed to teacher training.
Teacher turnover at many schools is a huge problem. Schools
invest in training teachers and then they quit. There are excuses for quitting.
The most common I hear is low pay. Committed and quality teacher will always be
underpaid because they go beyond the “job description”. Poor teachers are
always overpaid. Teaching is path of service. However, teachers need to be
compensated enough so they can continue to teach. The other reason that teacher
quit teaching is inability to manage the student dynamics. Screening of
potential students for the necessary motivation and commitment to learning can
go contrary to the push for enrollment numbers by administration. The teacher
in the trenches gets put in the middle and this is disheartening. My hope is
the tightening of financial aid requirements will pressure school administrators
to better screen potential students. I
am not against financial aid programs however, there is definitely abuse of the
system and I support the federal government’s attempt to prevent schools from
allowing student to accumulate unrealistic debt loads.
I also support those schools that commit to student self-pay
and do not participate in federal financial aid. I have been able to maintain tuition costs at
my school at a level where students can pay out of pocket and graduate debt
free owning their education. Financial aid using government programs can be
a trap for both the school and the student.
I believe that self-pay for education supports self-selection of committed
students. I also believe that students
that are paying out of pocket for education have the right to demand quality
education resulting in the potential for increased proficiency of the school
administration and teaching staff.
I also encourage students to demand a quality education regardless
of the massage therapy school they attend, whether they use financial aid or
pay out of pocket. Do not settle for mediocre.
Your future as a successful massage therapist depends on the foundation of your
entry level education.
