With the dance industry in Australia being unregulated, it can be really difficult for parents to know how to find the best ballet teacher for their dancer. That is why the Royal Academy of Dance (R.A.D) has issued the Registered Teacher Logo. This logo is only able to be used by RAD qualified ballet teachers, so you can be sure that any school or teacher displaying this logo is trained and qualified to teach ballet to the highest standard.
Are there other ways you can tell if you’ve found a qualified teacher? First, it’s important to understand the difference between a qualified ballet teacher and an unqualified ballet teacher.
A qualified ballet teacher is one that reached a high level in their own ballet training, and then studied for a number of years to learn how to properly teach ballet. They will have studied topics such as child development, effective teaching strategies, ballet technique, and much more. These teachers will have gained all of the knowledge and skills to teach ballet correctly and safely.
An unqualified ballet teacher is one who learnt ballet and then decided to teach it without any training in how to do so.
Below are some common myths and facts about ballet teachers…
Myth: My ballet school advertises that they have “R.A.D trained teachers” so we must be getting the highest quality training.
Fact: The wording “R.A.D TRAINED teacher” is a very deliberate trick used to make unsuspecting parents believe they’ve found a highly qualified ballet teacher, when in fact, the opposite is true. This wording is used by schools who recognise the value of R.A.D teachers, but do not have one. An “R.A.D trained teacher” is someone who was trained by a qualified teacher, but is not one themselves. This is, sadly, a very common ploy used in dance school/ballet teacher advertising. Another common one to be wary of is “highly qualified teachers”. This, in itself may not be untrue, but that qualification is sometimes not in a field even remotely related to ballet, or teaching.
An R.A.D qualified ballet teacher will always use the wording “R.A.D Qualified” or “R.A.D Registered”. They will also display the Registered Teacher logo.
Myth: This ballet teacher was a great dancer so they must be a great teacher.
Fact: There are many people who are good at doing things, but lack the skills and training to teach it. Doing and teaching require very different skill-sets, knowledge, training and experience, and so being a good ballet teacher requires a lot more than just having been a good ballet dancer. Some unqualified and inexperienced ballet teachers will use an impressive bio of their dancing experience, and fail to stipulate their lack of teaching qualifications/training to lure new students in.
Myth: My ballet teacher charges a lot more than any other teachers in our area. If they’re charging more than everyone else, they must be a better teacher than everyone else.
Fact: This one is, sadly, another ploy used to make unsuspecting parents believe they’ve found the best teacher for their dancer, when in fact, some of the most inexperienced and unqualified ballet teachers charge significantly more for their ballet lessons than a qualified teacher with decades of teaching experience will. It’s important to remember that in this case, price does not necessarily equal quality.
Myth: My dancer does ballet exams so they must have a highly qualified ballet teacher.
Fact: This one takes a little more digging to understand what you’re really getting. Whilst an R.A.D qualified teacher must have reached high levels in their own ballet exams, and then spent TWO YEARS studying how to teach ballet, including contemporary teaching pedagogy, child development, nutrition, injury prevention etc, in order to be able to enter students into R.A.D exams, some other exams require the teacher to have simply been present for a HALF-DAY online conference. As you can imagine, there is lot of knowledge and skills that can be taught in two years that can not be taught in half a day.
The Royal Academy of Dance is globally recognised as being the gold standard of ballet training and teaching. Even within the dance industry, R.A.D qualified ballet teachers are the most sought-after as they are known to be the most highly trained teachers.
There is a place for all ballet teachers. There would be a lot of students missing out on learning ballet in Tasmania if there was no such thing as an unqualified ballet teacher. The handful of qualified teachers could not possibly teach every ballet student in the state. Some of these teachers are wonderful, and they teach ballet without false pretences.
I strongly believe that, with the cost of living being so high, people have the right to know exactly what they’re paying for. If someone is attempting to make people believe that they have a qualification that they don’t have, or someone with no teaching experience purports to be able to provide a high standard of ballet training, not only do the ethics and morals of that person need to be questioned, but the families of young dancers need to be made aware. The choice from there, is theirs.
The age of false advertising, and the use of tricks and ploys to make unsuspecting dancers and their parents believe that a teacher has knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications that they simply do not have, should end. Today.
To find an R.A.D qualified teacher in your area you can visit https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/dance-with-us/register-of-teachers-2/
Written by Sarah Aiton RAD RTS