What to Expect on the Practical (Either Completing Via Zoom or Face to Face)
So what should you expect when you come to the face to face Matwork course dates? You will begin by workshopping the Pilates Basics, the class pre-amble and the Studio Pilates Cueing Formula, but most of the course will be spent workshopping the exercises. We assume that you are coming into the course having completed all of your online pre-course study and are very familiar with the exercises. Although we workshop the exercises, you will be focusing more on how to instruct these exercises, how to correct people, how to modify for injuries and how to work up to be able to perform the more intermediate and advanced exercises in the course. You will spend a lot of time practising your instructing on someone and them practising their instructing on you. Everyone is required to participate in this instructing practise and it allows you to receive valuable feedback on your instructing ahead of your assessment.
Because so much of the course is focused on practising your instructing, it is very important that you come into the course with a solid understanding of the exercises, so you can focus more on how to actually instruct the exercises on the course. Ultimately the more study that you complete online beforehand, the more confident you will feel at the face to face course.
There will also be a practical assessment on the course where you are assessed based on your ability to instruct a handful of the exercises based on the Studio Pilates Cueing Formula. You can find a copy of the assessment criteria in the lesson about attending the face to face course.
So that’s a little bit about what to expect on the face to face Matwork Course. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Instructor Support team!
How Will You Know if You’re Ready for the Practical? (Either Completing via Zoom or Face to Face)
As you prepare for your course, you may be wondering if you are ready to attend the face to face training! Essentially, you are ready to attend the course dates if you have worked through and completed all of the lessons in the online training centre. When it comes to the exercises in the course, you don’t need to know absolutely everything about the exercises. But you do need a solid understanding of what they look like and their names.
A good way to test this knowledge is to open up your manual to the table of contents. Go to the list of exercises and if you can point to an exercise, get down on the ground and roughly perform the exercise and roughly know where that exercise works, you are ready to attend the face to face course. Remember the most important thing is having some knowledge and context for the exercises coming into the course. Because although we workshop the exercises on the course, you’re focusing more on how to modify and actually instruct these exercises. You don’t want to be only seeing these exercises for the first time on the face to face course.
If you are struggling to remember this information about the exercises and have already gone through all of the exercise workshops, we recommend performing the Self Mastery workouts as much as possible. This is a great resource to not only learn the exercises, but also learn their names, listen to the Cueing Formula and actually feel where they work in your own body. We find that students who perform the Self Mastery workouts the most tend to be the most prepared for the course, so we recommend performing this video as often as possible.
When you attend the practical component of the course, it is expected that you –
- Have a solid understanding of each of the exercises and know the names of the exercises, how to perform the movement, where it works and the breathing pattern
- Have a solid understanding of the Studio Pilates Cueing Formula and how to apply this to exercises
- Have a solid understanding of the Pilates Basics (Pilates breathing, T-Zone, spinal positions, shoulder blade positioning and neck positioning) and are able to explain these concepts to someone
- Have read through the entire Matwork Manual
- Have watched all of the online workshop videos
- Have competed the 3 Self Mastery workouts a minimum of 5 times each (15 times in total) – you should also have sent your Self Master log to exams@studiopilates.com
- Have completed the online Pre-Course Exam
How Are You Assessed?
Throughout this course, you will be assessed in a few different ways –
Self Mastery Log
As a part of your online study, you will be physically performing 15 hours worth of workouts to master the movements in your own body. You will log these hours in the Self Mastery Log and once completed, will email it to exams@studiopilates.com. This log forms a part of your assessment and is required to receive your certification.
Online Pre-Course Exam
The first online exam that you complete is called the “pre-course exam” because you complete it after all of your online study but before you attend the face to face course.
The online exam is multiple choice and the passing mark is 80%. If you don’t pass the exam for any reason, simply go back and revise the study materials and then resit the exam when you are ready. Unfortunately you are not able to save the exam once you begin it, so make sure that you allocate enough time to complete the exam in one go. You can sit the exam multiple times and we always recommend taking a screenshot or photo of your results in the rare case of technological issues with the exam being sent through to us. It is hard to provide a rough estimate of how long it takes to complete the exams as everyone works through at their own speed. However, we recommend roughly allowing 20-45 minutes to complete each exam.
Practical Assessment
You are also assessed practically at the face to face course. As a part of this assessment, you will practise instructing a small number of exercises to a small group of people on the course with you. You are assessed based on your ability to instruct using the Studio Pilates Cueing Formula and you can find a copy of this criteria sheet in the Lesson on attending the face to face course.
If you are not able to be marked competent in the practical assessment, you may be asked to complete a video submission. In this scenario, you can go home and practise your instructing and then submit a video of your instructing for $100. In rare cares, if you need more practice and technical knowledge, you may need to resit the whole course again. For more information on video submissions or resitting the course, please refer to the Studio Pilates International terms and conditions. A link to these terms can be found in your MyPortal and are also emailed to you when you enrol in the course.
Online Post-Course Exam
The second online exam that you complete is called the “post-course exam” because you complete it after attending the face to face course.
The online exam is multiple choice and the passing mark is 80%. If you don’t pass the exam for any reason, simply go back and revise the study materials and then resit the exam when you are ready. Unfortunately you are not able to save the exam once you begin it, so make sure that you allocate enough time to complete the exam in one go. You can sit the exam multiple times and we always recommend taking a screenshot or photo of your results in the rare case of technological issues with the exam being sent through to us. It is hard to provide a rough estimate of how long it takes to complete the exams as everyone works through at their own speed. However, we recommend roughly allowing 20-45 minutes to complete each exam.
Observation Log
After attending the practical course, you will log an additional 5-6 hours of observing actual classes. You will watch these classes online from the comfort of home and then log these hours in the Observation Log. Once completed, simply email the log to exams@studiopilates.com. This log forms a part of your assessment and is required to receive your certification.
Receiving Your Certificate
Once you have completed and passed all of the assessment and attended the face to face course, you can expect to receive your digital certificate within 2 weeks. If you are completing the Anatomy Course in conjunction with the Matwork Course, please note that you won’t receive your Matwork certificate until you have also completed and passed all required assessment for the Anatomy Course.
Not Sure if You’ll Be Ready in Time?
When you log into your MyPortal, you will see your course dates listed right at the top of your screen.
The great thing about Studio Pilates courses is that we allow you to change your course dates if there is an emergency and you are unable to attend! And you do this directly through your MyPortal.
When you log into your MyPortal, you will see your course dates listed right at the top of your screen. You will have a spot secured in these dates, so you will be expected to attend these specific dates. But in an emergency, if you can’t make your course dates, you can reschedule your course up to two (2) times, however there are fees to do this.
For more on rescheduling, click here.
