by Matt Pasquinilli and Dennis Schaefer

 

Whether you hire instructors from within your student body, hire Black Belts from outside your school, or train them from scratch solely for the purpose of teaching like you do, you must have a system for training them to be effective and professional employees. There are specific attributes that we look for in an instructor candidate. These attributes are usually predictors of future success. Few people ever earn a Black Belt and even fewer become good instructors. Hiring the right people and training them to teach allows you to start with a person most likely to become a great instructor.

 

Tip 34 – Hiring Instructors

 

Hire the right person and teach them how to teach martial arts. The attributes that we look for in a great instructor are kindness, compassion, energy, excitement, and great communication skills. While we do have some Black Belts who also possess these attributes, our success has come from finding a fun, mature, professional person with an open mind who is looking for a meaningful job with good pay and decent benefits. Write a list of attributes that you think would help a person be successful as a martial arts instructor and then start looking for that person. Ask the professional people that you already know if they know of someone who might fit your description, and then set up an interview.

 

Tip 35 – Meeting with Your Instructors

 

Organize short, weekly meetings for your instructors. The weekly meetings allow you to pass on information and find out what issues your instructors might be struggling with. It also keeps everyone on the same page as far as curriculum and teaching. During our weekly meetings, we are often brainstorming ways to handle problems that might be happening in class. It gives everyone a sense of ownership and support. Ideas and solutions flow freely and everyone leaves feeling like they are ready for a new week of teaching.

 

Tip 36 – Training Sessions

 

Plan monthly training sessions for your instructors. Monthly training should be hands on with a lot of role playing. These training sessions are usually two or three hours long.  All of our staff members are required to attend and are paid for their time. Each month we introduce or reintroduce one or two new drills to keep classes fresh and exciting. Our role playing focuses on behavior issues that might happen in class or cover brief, “mat chats” where instructors develop short, 30 second scripts to talk to students about the tenets of our training and how it can be used at home, work, or school.

 

Tip 37 – Lead by Example

 

Teaching by example is mandatory and requires that instructors practice martial arts and the martial arts spirit each day, know the curriculum, and constantly monitor and evaluate their behavior. This includes you, the school owner and head instructor.

 

Matt Pasquinilli is the Executive Director of the non profit Asian Arts Center Taekwondo School in Dayton, Ohio. Dennis Schaefer is a professional martial arts instructor and author living in Oakwood, Ohio. www.aacdayton.com, www.aacdayton.ning.com