Why would I take the qualification?

Recognition of your skills and quality of your work: this qualification is set to become the new industry standard for teaching dance to children and young people anywhere outside the formal education (the National Curriculum).

This qualification will evidence to employers and parents that you have the skills and knowledge to teach dance to children and young people, in addition to giving you recognition for said skills and setting you aside from those entering the job market each year. If you have no formal teaching qualifications, you will soon need to be able to evidence formally that you have these skills.

There are no formal prerequisite qualifications. It is likely that candidates will have completed dance training commensurate with a degree level education in dance that ensures  dance knowledge, performance and technical skills are at a high level. However this does not preclude candidates with significant experience in dance but no formal qualifications. We would like to encourage those candidates from a diverse range of dance practice to take this qualification at Yorkshire Dance.

“After long deliberation, I challenged myself to experience being a candidate for the DDTAL pilot in 2009.

I found it a really useful process in terms of reflecting on and developing my own practice. Even though I have been teaching, choreographing and performing for 27 years, it offered structured opportunities for me to reflect on the planning, aims, learning outcomes and quality delivery of dance to young people in different settings, and encouraged peer observation and reviewing. It enabled me to further understand the importance of theories that underpin the practical application of dance.

I see DDTAL as a positive move to boost the quality of dance-teaching to children and young people in schools and their communities nationwide.”

Edward Lynch, Dance Consultant, City of York Council