What is the Teacher Training Immersion Week for the Gokhale Method?
Gokhale_Method Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
courses.
Before opening your Franchised Business, you must successfully complete the Initial Training to our satisfaction, including memorization and recitation of scripts that we will provide. The Initial Training consists of one week of training in the Gokhale Method at our headquarters in Palo Alto, California or at other designated locations (the "Immersion Week"), followed by participation in at least twelve teacher webinars (live or pre-recorded), self-study of the Gokhale Foundations course script and materials, and teaching the full six-lesson Gokhale Foundations course in a one-on-one setting to two separate practice students. As part of teaching your practice students, you must prepare at least six videos in which you record yourself teaching each one of the six separate Gokhale Foundations lessons accompanied by self-critiques of each lesson. These recordings will be reviewed by your peers, and you will be required to view recordings submitted by other trainees and to evaluate them. Once reviewed, each lesson will be submitted for approval. If a lesson video is not approved, you will be required to submit another video of the same lesson. A video of each of the six lessons must be approved before you can become qualified to teach.
If you do not complete all of the Initial Training and have not qualified to teach within six months of attending the Immersion Week, we may terminate the Franchise Agreement upon 30 days' notice and your failure to cure.
The following summarizes the training:
Training is held during various intervals during the year depending on our need to train new franchisees. The instructional material may consist of our Teachers Manual or Policy Statements, scripts, images, checklists, demonstrations, practice and quizzes. Currently Esther Gokhale conducts the training; she has been teaching postural methods for health improvement since at least 1992. The cost of Initial Training is included in the $4,000 franchise fee. You must pay food and lodging expenses in connection with attendance at Immersion Week. The Gokhale® Active (Premium) fee of $140 must be paid yearly from the time of acceptance to the program. Gokhale Active helps prepare accepted candidates for the Immersion Week. Upon completion of Teacher Training Immersion Week, you must pay $240 a year for teacher webinars. 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. All franchisees must attend training and complete it to the franchisor's satisfaction.
We estimate that the time from the date you complete your Immersion Week until you start teaching classes to be between three to six months. If you do not complete the Initial Training within six months of attending your Immersion Week, we may terminate your franchise agreement.
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.
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, the Teacher Training Immersion Week is a key component of the initial training required to become a certified Gokhale Method instructor. This week-long training takes place at the Gokhale Method headquarters in Palo Alto, California, or at other designated locations. During the Immersion Week, franchisees receive hands-on training in Gokhale Method techniques, philosophy, and teaching skills. The cost of the initial training, which includes the Immersion Week, is covered by the $4,000 franchise fee, but franchisees are responsible for their own food and lodging expenses during the week. Esther Gokhale currently conducts the training and has been teaching postural methods since at least 1992.
The Immersion Week includes classroom training in various subjects, totaling approximately 54 hours. These subjects range from hands-on techniques related to Gokhale Foundations (20 hours) and an introduction to Gokhale Method philosophy (4 hours) to demonstration of partial memorization of the Gokhale Foundations course teaching script (5 hours), teaching skills, voice projection (2 hours), Gokhale Consultation training (5 hours), and introductory presentation training (2 hours). The training also covers effective use of images, observation and discussion of select cases for study, review of anatomy relevant to posture, advanced Gokhale Method techniques for self-use only, training in various contexts, complementary healing modalities, rudimentary training in yoga/dance/fitness training, introduction to running a posture business, and introduction to the backend of the website.
After completing the 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 to evaluate them. Each lesson video must be approved before the franchisee can become qualified to teach. If a franchisee does not complete all of the initial training and become qualified to teach within six months of attending the Immersion Week, Gokhale Method may terminate the Franchise Agreement.