Accreditation recognises teachers who strive to continually review and develop their teaching in line with ART good practice. It is open to all ringing teachers who want to develop their teaching skills using ART techniques. You don’t have to be a brilliant ringer to become accredited but you do have to be a good teacher.
You accredit in the same way whether you are a teacher being mentored, a mentor mentoring another teacher or you are teaching in a group of co-teachers. All these different after-course support arrangements lead to the same type of ART membership, with the same benefits.
People often ask why they should accredit. They really enjoyed the day course and learnt some new techniques that they’re going to take away with them. So what’s the point, after all it sounds a bit bureaucratic doesn’t it?
The answer is that without practise, feedback and reinforcement, basic human nature kicks in and people revert back to their old ways of doing things. We tell our new ringers to practise until it is in their muscle memory and practise it right. That’s what we as teachers need to do to – practise until it becomes second-nature and practise it right. That’s what the ART Training Scheme provides – processes and support to help you improve your teaching.
How many excellent work place courses have you been on or New Year’s resolutions have you made, that you’ve not followed through long term? Accreditation helps you keep your new teaching resolutions after the course.
Teaching Benefits
Financial Benefits
Priority workshop booking at the ART Conference
Why become a member?
There are the member benefits which include appearing on our members’ directory (so that potential new ringers can contact you in the knowledge that you are an accredited teacher), our members’ public liability insurance, ongoing access to the Learning the Ropes scheme to use with your ringers, and ART can help with your DBS application through the deal with have with Lloyd Education (they charge only £8 to issue a certificate for ART members.) Most importantly by joining as an accredited member, you are contributing to ART through your £15 per year subs − the ongoing support from membership subscriptions is a big help in financing ART. ART is a membership organisation and as a member you also have the right to vote at the AGM.
John Brookman, Shenley
You know it’s coming, it’s inevitable, it’s in the background of one’s consciousness, but still I’ve put off joining in. Others in my tower have become involved, people in the Branch have extoled its virtues, so now’s the time to find out for myself. So, what is it? In bellringing it’s called ART. Others may disagree but I see it as a form of responsibility, to be “recognised” when passing on one’s knowledge in bellringing and knowing it’s been to a level of quality nationally recognised. Of course that’s taken for granted in our working life, and through other voluntary organisations I’ve been involved with the Scouts, the RLSS, I never batted an eyelid at the thought of going on training courses, becoming accredited and having the ability to offer a nationally recognised qualification or certificate at the end of any training. So, what’s different about bellringing?
I believe times have changed, in particular with regard to student expectations, litigation, and of course the ever-prevailing internet. As one person I couldn’t possible provide the range of training material which is available from a large organisation, or even start to provide any online form of record progress, logging, and experience sharing. The Sherbourne teaching aids whilst invaluable tools only provided part of the picture. You may not like it, but bellringing has to remain relevant and keep up to date or it risks becoming a pastime for an elite few, leaving many hundreds of rings of bells silent. Just because we train people for free and in a voluntary capacity doesn’t mean that training should itself be compromised or of a variable standard, no matter the student’s capabilities. We must reach out and offer more training to more people, in the hope a few will become the next generation to keep the skill alive, and the realisation that a new skill is not for everyone.
So, I’ve now gone on a Module 1 course. I found it was well run by a knowledgeable teacher, who is putting this all in to practise in their own teaching environment. It covered the range of information which is required to enable the teaching of bellringing, and yes they even had some new ideas. Its clear a one day course doesn’t make you a teacher, but with a nationally assessed scheme it should be possible to provide an even level of critique to all those aspiring to become accredited as teachers, and for new ringing students to be confident in their teacher’s ability once they have gained that accreditation. It wasn’t as rigid and prescribed as I had feared, and as with any tutor-student relationship it still relies on the good sense and ability of teachers to select from a range of techniques to achieve that final goal. I’ll put this in to practise myself and see how it goes.
So, a final thought, “Not all great ringers make great teachers, and not all great teachers make great ringers” but lets make sure all new ringers have the chance to become great, and that must start with being taught to ring properly themselves.
