Are additional training and refresher courses required for Gokhale Method franchisees?
Gokhale_Method Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
Additional training and refresher courses are required, including attendance at the Annual Meeting (or an approved alternative continuing education program) and participating in teacher webinars.
We do not at the present time have any further continuing education requirements, but we reserve the right to add them if we add new approved formats or new continuing education. All franchisees must attend training and complete it to the franchisor's satisfaction.
Your rights to teach the Gokhale Method depend upon your completion to our satisfaction of not only your Initial Training but also such other and further training classes or refresher courses as we may authorize or direct from time to time. We may suspend your right to teach one or more courses or formats if you have not completed to our satisfaction all required training or refresher requirements, programs or courses.
Once a year you must pay $450 for the annual teachers' meeting, for which you will also pay food and lodging. This is a required fee and attendance is mandatory. We do not at the present time have any further continuing education requirements, but we reserve the right to add them if we add new approved formats or new continuing education.
Upon completion of Teacher Training Immersion Week, you must pay $240 a year for teacher webinars.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 18–23)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Gokhale Method Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to participate in additional training and refresher courses. These include attending the Annual Meeting or an approved alternative continuing education program, as well as participating in teacher webinars. Gokhale Method also reserves the right to add new approved formats or new continuing education requirements in the future.
The initial training includes one week of training in the Gokhale Method at the headquarters in Palo Alto, California, or other designated locations, called the "Immersion Week." Following Immersion Week, franchisees must participate in at least twelve teacher webinars, engage in self-study of the Gokhale Foundations course script and materials, and teach the full six-lesson Gokhale Foundations course in a one-on-one setting to two separate practice students. Franchisees must also prepare at least six videos in which they record themselves teaching each of the six separate Gokhale Foundations lessons, accompanied by self-critiques of each lesson. These recordings will be reviewed by peers, and the franchisee will be required to view recordings submitted by other trainees and evaluate them.
If a franchisee does not complete all of the Initial Training and has not qualified to teach within six months of attending the Immersion Week, Gokhale Method may terminate the Franchise Agreement upon 30 days' notice and failure to correct the issue. Rights to teach the Gokhale Method depend on completing the Initial Training and any further training classes or refresher courses that Gokhale Method may authorize or direct from time to time. Gokhale Method may suspend the right to teach one or more courses or formats if a franchisee has not completed all required training or refresher requirements, programs, or courses to their satisfaction.
For prospective franchisees, this means a commitment to ongoing learning and development is essential. The costs associated with these additional training requirements, such as the $450 annual teachers' meeting fee plus food and lodging, and the $240 annual fee for teacher webinars, should be factored into the overall investment. The mandatory nature of the annual teachers' meeting and the potential for additional training requirements underscore the importance of staying current with Gokhale Method's teaching standards and methods.