I am a strong advocate for ongoing education. In any sector and job it is important to keep up with new developments, technology and processes to stay relevant for the market. Whether you are employed or running your own business.
Throughout my professional life I have finished quite a few courses, from long term university degrees to short marketing courses. Either because I am curious by nature and I enjoy learning new things or because I felt it was important to make progress in my career. In my Pilates path this is no different.
Teacher Adventure
Pilates is not a registered type of exercise and therefore everyone is free to set up a course, invite participants and write out certificates. I like to give most people the benefit of the doubt so in most cases I believe that what they offer is genuine and of good quality. Before I started my Pilates teacher adventure I already had a lot of experience as a regular client and I knew what kind of training I wanted. So I chose the best.
Classical Pilates is in essence a full body exercise method that incorporates various types of equipment. It requires a lot of training, learning and practising. Ideally I would have liked to do the full comprehensive programme from the start. Unfortunately I didn't have the time because I had planned to move to NZ so I decided to start with Classical mat first. I realise that is not ideal because I cannot offer the full method to my clients yet but I know that will happen in the next few years.
Eight reasons why we need to continue learning
Continuing professional development CPD is important because it delivers benefits to the individual, their profession and the public. In an amended version CPD ensures the following:
Capabilities keep pace with the current standards of others in the same field.
Maintaining and enhancing the knowledge and skills we need to deliver a professional service to our customers, clients and the community.
We and our knowledge stay relevant and up to date. Plus we are more aware of the changing trends and directions in our profession.
Helps us continue to make a meaningful contribution to our team. We become more effective in the workplace.
Helps us to stay interested and interesting. Experience is a great teacher but it does mean that we tend to do what we have done before.
Can deliver a deeper understanding of what it means to be a professional along with a greater appreciation of the implications and impacts of our work.
Can lead to increased public confidence in individual professionals and their profession as a whole.
Depending on the profession – CPD contributes to improved protection and quality of life, the environment, sustainability, property and the economy.
The importance of continuing professional development should not be underestimated. It is a career-long obligation for practising professionals.
Inspiration and energy
Recently I went on a combined leisure/business trip to Sydney. I joined two amazing private classes in different Pilates studios and had great workouts. Inspired by what I saw and mostly felt - body is still aching - I am now laying out a training programme for myself for the next 12 - 18 months. The classical Pilates community in this part of the world is fairly small and perhaps therefore very supportive. I am pretty convinced it will be tough but worthwhile.
By entering a teacher programme instead of doing separate courses I feel I can be as inspirational and energetic for my clients as my teachers were to me in Sydney.
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Marco Dingemans is a qualified Classical Pilates mat instructor