Shiatsu Schools Survey
Shiatsu schools, shiatsu teachers, shiatsu insurance, training, classes, fees....what do shiatsu students look for before becoming shiatsu students?
Zen Shiatsu Society commissioned a survey to find out, and then another to find schools that offered it, finding most schools actually don't provide what most students want: flexibility and convenience.
Convenience is very much what the student sees as convenient and it turns out that location is not so important: one student travelled from Doncaster to Bristol for classes, another from Bristol to London, and several from Europe to England on a regular basis.
Although teaching a traditional oriental healing practice, a majority of schools tie the curriculum to the western academic year limiting admissions to September or October. Most classes are run at weekends with few weekday, afternoon or evening classes.
Cost is less of an issue with students seemingly willing to pay more for a school that fills their needs. Methods of payment vary, some schools accepting credit cards, others not, some wanting the whole fee in advance, other term by term. Most will accept instalment payments, many charging a fee for this.
Most of the schools offer more or less the same syllabus. Few of the teachers have government-recognised teaching qualifications and even fewer trained in Japan.
Schools' perceptions of shiatsu differ, ranging from "a Japanese form of physiotherapy" to a meditative practice.
Overall there seems to be a school to fit every need, where students will travel if its not on their doorstep or wait months for its annual intake.
Zen Shiatsu Society is publishing a league table, using Convenience as criterion. This will enable seekers to see which school offers what. Links to individual school pages show quick comparisons between schools, with links to schools' own websites to find out more. The data was compiled from information in the public domain and from schools' responses to Survey Questionnaires. The Society cautions people to verify for themselves the up-to-date accuracy of the information before parting with money.
click for Summary of Survey results
Zen Shiatsu Society commissioned a survey to find out, and then another to find schools that offered it, finding most schools actually don't provide what most students want: flexibility and convenience.
Convenience is very much what the student sees as convenient and it turns out that location is not so important: one student travelled from Doncaster to Bristol for classes, another from Bristol to London, and several from Europe to England on a regular basis.
Although teaching a traditional oriental healing practice, a majority of schools tie the curriculum to the western academic year limiting admissions to September or October. Most classes are run at weekends with few weekday, afternoon or evening classes.
Cost is less of an issue with students seemingly willing to pay more for a school that fills their needs. Methods of payment vary, some schools accepting credit cards, others not, some wanting the whole fee in advance, other term by term. Most will accept instalment payments, many charging a fee for this.
Most of the schools offer more or less the same syllabus. Few of the teachers have government-recognised teaching qualifications and even fewer trained in Japan.
Schools' perceptions of shiatsu differ, ranging from "a Japanese form of physiotherapy" to a meditative practice.
Overall there seems to be a school to fit every need, where students will travel if its not on their doorstep or wait months for its annual intake.
Zen Shiatsu Society is publishing a league table, using Convenience as criterion. This will enable seekers to see which school offers what. Links to individual school pages show quick comparisons between schools, with links to schools' own websites to find out more. The data was compiled from information in the public domain and from schools' responses to Survey Questionnaires. The Society cautions people to verify for themselves the up-to-date accuracy of the information before parting with money.
click for Summary of Survey results
posted by Kris Deva North at 6:02 AM
