Does any Teacher Training give a Pilates Teacher Certification

When I started thinking about the importance of a Pilates Teacher Certification, I was drawn to this quote.

“Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit. Accreditation is a specific organization’s process of certification” – Wikipedia

That is a long definition above, and I quote it here to make a point. By definition, there is no such thing as a training that is also a Pilates Teacher Certification.  To become certified first you must graduate from a Pilates Teacher Training and then you take the certifying exam from an accredited third party.  In the United States the accredited third party is The Pilates Method Alliance.

For Instance, I encourage students to take the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive Series to become a Pilates Teacher, however at the end of that process it is important to then register for the Pilates Method Alliance Certification Exam.  This exam is created by a group of experts in the Pilates field and the third party system of it all helps keep the qualities of Pilates instruction high.

So now the question becomes what does one look for in a Pilates Teacher Training?  To qualify for the Pilates Method Alliance Certifying exam you must complete a comprehensive Pilates Training.  Thus there are’t Pilates Mat Certifications or Pilates Reformer certification.  You can certainly take a Pilates Mat Training or a Pilates Reformer training, but to sit for the certifying exam, you must understand all of the Pilates apparatus.  It is also important that any training you consider also covers adaptations for injury, scope of practice, and history of the Pilates Method.

My bias is of course the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive series, but I also want to make sure that any student that is looking to be certified as a Pilates teacher researches the possibility and finds the best program for them.  Does the Pilates teacher training that you’re thinking about support the Pilates Method Alliance?  Does it have a curriculum that covers program design and meeting every client exactly where they are in their movement journey.  Does the Pilates teacher training cover all of the apparatus?  These are all questions that need to be asked when looking for a Pilates Teacher training.  And if you’re looking for the best, be sure to check out the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive series for the latest developments in Pilates research and movement efficiency.

At The Pilates Studio in Hadley, we are happy to host the Polestar Pilates Comprehensive series every year.  Our next series starts in September!  Check here for the dates and times! Once you finish you’ll be eligible to sit for the Pilates Method Exam and complete the Pilates Teacher Certification process.