Massage & Bodywork

March/April 2012

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Online education does not have as many limitations as I once perceived. I remember a story of a young medical student who had to take a break because of the grueling schedule of medical school. She told me that she had 28 teachers, and when she stopped going to classes and stayed home to do the work on her own, not only did her grades improve, she learned more and had more time for herself. For a student such as this, online education is very beneficial. VARIABILITY The benefits of online education are still expanding with the progression of technology. Today, the Internet offers interactive methods such as blackboards, Skype, Facebook, YouTube videos, and webinars. People can learn from home at any time of the day or night without time constraints or the pressure to absorb the material from the instructor during an allotted day or hour. This is especially valuable if the student works a full-time job and can only take classes during nontraditional hours. Likewise, online-based education and continued learning programs provide a much more affordable option by cutting down on commuting costs, time, and energy. It allows learners to study at their own pace without comparing themselves to others, and it also gives many more students access to well-known instructors from across the country. On the other hand, I am by no means endorsing the notion that massage therapy should be taught solely online. It is very important for learners to be assessed in person to ensure they are implementing the technique correctly, are physically able to perform bodywork, and are ethically deserving of licensure and certification. However, it is also important to note the effectiveness of online learning within this field. At present, there is no hands-on testing for massage therapy licensing, only a written examination (on a computer). The downside of learning online is that there is a decreased value placed on practical learning within the classroom. And while I definitely think those beginning an education program in the body therapy field need classroom experience to learn how to use their hands and to connect with people, I am also aware that teaching practical skills in the average bodywork program does not require each and every student to perform practical application skills on the instructor. Such individualized attention is not only costly, but time consuming. Instead, teachers demonstrate a skill that the students then practice on one another as the instructor observes. NOVICE VS. ADVANCED I make a clear distinction between beginner and novice education and more advanced training. Many subjects can be taught online, but hands-on massage therapy at the beginning and novice level, in my opinion, cannot. When I teach a class of 30 students, no matter how much I walk around and check on their technique, I know how their work looks but I really don't know how their work feels. I can only get that experience by having them work on me in a private tutorial. Though a student may appear to have impeccable body mechanics and technique, many important details can be missed if the instructor does not experience the student's touch firsthand (e.g., depth of pressure, transition of their movements, responsiveness to the actual tissues under their hands, sense of the therapist's intent, and many other things that can only be taught and assessed through hands-on teaching). For many years, I taught all of my students one-on-one. It's the only way to teach every facet of bodywork. For the more advanced student, online education is almost the same as in-classroom education; without in-depth, individual feedback on practical skills as described above, teaching students in person is actually no better than teaching people through DVDs or webinars. Having taught a number of people who studied my DVDs or took my webinars and then came in for a private tutorial, I have noticed Conversation Transformation, co-authored by Ben Benjamin, trains readers to recognize the specific behaviors that cause communication breakdowns in personal and professional life. The book explains how and why conversations fail and provides practical skills to convert disputes into productive dialogues. Available at www.amazon.com. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 111

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