The International Conscious Movement Teachers Association is an international professional network of qualified movement teachers from different schools who offer dance and movement practice as a path to wholeness. Our vision is a world of embodied, curious, open-hearted people participating fully in the dance of life.

ICMTA Recognised Teacher Trainings (ICMTA RTT) are trainings of conscious movement teachers that meet our criteria stated below, aiming to keep the high professional standards in the field of conscious dance and movement.  The list of our current RTTs can be found here.

Each ICMTA RTT will hold their own standards for education, training and practice, which will be compatible with ICMTA generic standards and criteria (see below).

They will have their own individual philosophy and at the same time be resonant with that of ICMTA.

Teachers trained by ICMTA RTTs will be eligible to become Members of the ICMTA and have access to the many benefits detailed here.

Trainers or schools interested in applying to become ICMTA RTT should contact the ICMTA Office Manager: info@icmta.com. In the process they will be required to fill out a form, providing information on how their teacher training is consistent with the ICMTA mission and vision and meets the criteria below. There is a 300 euros fee for processing the application. We will assist you in the process of applying.

If accepted as an RTT, we will ask you to keep us up to date with the trainings that you offer, and allow us to let your trainees know about the ICMTA. We’ll ask you to share information about our open events (gatherings and seminars) with your teachers. And we’ll ask you to display our logo and a link to our website somewhere on your website. 

We will also invite your school to become an Associated Organisational Member of the ICMTA. This is free of charge (although you’re very welcome to make a donation to the Association if you would like to!).

As an Associated Organisational Member we’ll help you to stay connected with the 
wider field of conscious movement. We’ll share awareness of potential issues that could affect your school. And we’ll invite someone from your school to attend an annual Zoom meeting with us and representatives of our other RTTs, to explore how we can work together and support one another.

2.   Criteria
 
     2.1       Recognised Teacher Training Hours

Schools wishing to apply to be an ICMTA Recognised Teacher Training will offer a comprehensive Teacher Training program requiring a minimum of 400 hours of study. These hours will probably be offered as a combination of Pre-training requirements and Teacher Training hours. We recognize that the structure and balance of Pre-training and Teacher Training hours will vary from school to school.  
 
Of the 400 hours, a minimum of 150 hours should be a dedicated Teacher Training program, and of those Teacher Training hours at least 75 hours should be in person.
It is at the schools discretion, what modalities count as prerequisite hours.
Note: The 150 hours do not include hours external to the training modules.

 These requirements represent a minimum standard. It should be noted that most of the schools recognised by the ICMTA require significantly more hours to become a qualified teacher.
 

     2.2       ICMTA Recognised Teacher Trainings - Essential Elements

An ICMTA RTT will need to include the following essential elements as a part of its training program. We both recognize and appreciate that the way in which these are offered will vary from school to school. The school will need to provide evidence that these elements are covered as a part of its Teacher Training program and will be integrated and understood to a reasonable extent for trainees to qualify as teachers.
In order for a school to become an ICMTA Recognised Teacher Training it must ensure:
 
               2.2.1. Embodiment of Movement Practice

The training will include practising embodiment and teaching how to practise embodiment. Trainees will be required to demonstrate embodiment of their movement practice and their capacity to teach that to others. 

               2.2.2.  Awareness, Mindfulness and/or Meditation

The training will include development of trainees’ self-awareness skills and their capacity to teach them to others. This might be expressed as mindfulness, various forms of meditation, embodiment practices, etc.

               2.2.3. Emotional Literacy

The training will include elements that support trainees to develop emotional literacy and their ability to:

• Have an understanding of, and reasonable capacity to be with, their own emotions
• Hold space for people’s process including emotional responses.
• Read the emotional landscape of the room / class / group.

               2.2.4. Quality, Support and Mentoring

The training will have checks and balances in place ensuring that trainees and graduate teachers demonstrate a high quality of teaching. This may include any of the following:

• Processes of self-reflection e.g. self-reflections for practice classes.
• Processes of student, peer and tutor feedback.
• Professional supervision / mentoring / coaching.
• Peer support circles.
• Processes of assessment.

               2.2.5. Ethics and Boundaries

The training will require trainees to:

• Agree to a Code of Ethics that is in alignment with the ICMTA Code of Ethics.
• The school’s Code of Ethics should include guidelines relating to the trainees role and behavior as a teacher, a professional, a colleague, a person in a position of power and as a dancer; and the training will include embodied education on these issues. 

               2.2.6. Health and Safety

The training will require trainees to have:

• Attended a basic First Aid training – minimum of 1 day.
• A First Aid kit in all classes.

     2.3       ICMTA Recognised Teacher Trainings - Desirable Elements

               2.3.1. Insurance

The training will require all trainees who choose to teach, to have an appropriate and current Insurance Policy, whenever possible.
 
               2.3.2. Psychological Literacy

The training will include elements that support trainees to develop psychological literacy and their ability to:
Understand processes of projection and transference in particular in their role as a teacher.
Understand issues of power in relation to their role as a teacher.

               2.3.3. Awareness of Mental Health Issues.

The training will include elements that support trainees to develop a basic capacity to recognize psychological phenomena and know how and when to get help e,g. dissociative states, psychosis, personality disorders, trauma, alcohol and drug issues etc.