We have made the system as user-friendly and simple as possible, but the admin team is always happy to help you if you are finding it difficult to start with. Please drop us an email at [email protected]

In our previous CPD system there were 14 categories and we felt this was too complicated. The 4 new broad areas are:

 – Remember, you must include activities from more than one category.

1. Informal Learning: Any activity which encourages you to reflect on your practice.
   Examples: Peer exchange session then discussion & reflection, reading books / online articles, answering CPD questions in the Shiatsu Journal, an audit of your own Shiatsu practice.
    
2. Promotion of Shiatsu in the Community: Any activity which enhances the public profile of Shiatsu.
   Examples: running Grassroots Shiatsu classes, Shiatsu Awareness Month activities, health fairs, public demonstrations, community projects, work in care homes or hospices.
    
3. Contribution to the Professionalisation of Shiatsu: Any activity which enhances the professional standing of Shiatsu within or external to the profession.
   Examples: conducting research and publishing research papers, writing books / articles, participating in Shiatsu Society committees / projects, liaison with other complementary & natural healthcare organisations, promoting professional practitioner standards and Quality Assurance in regard to Shiatsu.
    
4. CPD led courses & Professional Skill Development: More formal learning activities.
   Examples: attending CPD courses (Shiatsu based or relevant to healthcare), having a one-to-one tutorial with a Teacher or experienced practitioner, developing marketing or other relevant professional skills, attending a conference.

CPD of 15 hours per year is mandatory for all Professional Members of the Shiatsu Society, whilst we are in the second phase of developing the website we recommend you keep your own person record of your CPD activities. You can think about these activities in four main categories;

• Informal Learning
• CPD led courses / Professional Skills Development
• Promotion of Shiatsu in the Community
• Contribution to the Professionalisation of Shiatsu

The only person who knows what is relevant to your practice and development, is you.

Planning CPD gives you the opportunity to look at the direction you want to take your practice, and then journaling about it on the CPD pages allows you to review the value in what you did. Even if you didn’t find the activity useful, that in itself is worth recording and why. Hopefully your CPD activities will be inspiring and will expand your professional practice in meaningful ways.

Some definitions:

Observation - time spent in class observing your Teacher Trainers.

Supervised teaching - teaching a group while being observed by each Teacher Trainer.

Unsupervised teaching - teaching a group without a Teacher Trainer being present.

Study Time - aspects of teaching and learning included within your school/trainer programme.

Tutorial time - specified out-of-class meetings with each Teacher Trainer covering aspects of teaching and learning as well as discussing your progress.

This depends on whether you have an existing or are working towards a formal qualification in teaching. You need 2 Teacher Trainers if you do not have a teaching qualification and 1 Teacher Trainer if you do have a teaching qualification.

These qualifications count as formal teaching qualifications:

Certificate in Education and Training (preferably Level 4 but Level 3 plus previous teaching experience in any field will be OK)

Diploma in Education and Training

PGCE

B’ED

Approach the School where you trained OR a Teacher Trainer on the Society’s list of Teacher Trainers. Ask if they would be able to take you on as an Assistant for Shiatsu specific classes for a minimum of 48 hours in total. 

Start to create your Teaching Portfolio and liaise with your mentor/s about your programme of training.

Continue to assist and to teach the number of hours both supervised and unsupervised that have been agreed with your Teacher Trainer. It is recommended that this includes teaching at beginner/1st year, intermediate/2nd year and graduating level/3rd year.

Maintain your portfolio of evidence of your teacher training which may be examined by Shiatsu Society verifiers.

The SSUK has minimum requirements. How far you exceed these is up to you. This is YOUR journey and we all have different time frames and aspects of teaching to develop. So, make the Portfolio your own.

The minimum evidence requirements without a formal Teaching Qualification are:

• Have recorded sessions of ‘Supervised teaching’ of Shiatsu on at least 6 separate occasions. Both your Teacher Trainers must have been involved in this process.
• Have conducted at least 6 tutorials with your Teacher Trainers; a minimum of two tutorials from each Trainer.
• Have observed both Teacher Trainers on at least 6 separate occasions. Each Teacher Trainer must have been observed at least twice.
• Have observed a teacher from a different school / approach / style, on at least one occasion.

The minimum evidence requirements with a formal Teaching Qualification are:

• Have recorded sessions of ‘Supervised teaching’ of Shiatsu on at least 6 separate occasions.  One Teacher Trainer can be involved in this process.
• Have conducted at least 6 tutorials with your Teacher Trainer.
• Have observed your Teacher Trainer on at least 6 separate occasions.

A wide range of resources, feedback and observations, which will record and support your teacher training is required. These can take the form of videos, audios or written work. Collect links, session plans, ideas and self-reflections to build your portfolio. Make this useful to YOU - a collection of everything you have found that helps you become a confident teacher. We encourage you to complete as many ‘unsupervised teaching hours’ as you can.