F.M. Alexander began instructing teachers in his methods with great reluctance. He did not do it to further his technique as much as to make money.
During the Great Depression, his private students dried up. So he realized he’d have to turn elsewhere for money and so he started training teachers in September, 1930.
A big reason, perhaps the major reason, that I decided to train to become an Alexander teacher was that I so loved Alexander work, I wanted a way to get more of it.
On a typical training course, the student will get two ten-minute training turns each school day with a teacher. Tuition per day usually runs about $42.
So the turns work out to be $75 an hour, about the medium fee of Alexander teachers (for lessons that range from 35-60 minutes).
The teachers on training courses tend to be experienced and to charge about $100 per lesson for private students.
So the training course is a bargain. And the big savings come in that you get to work gratis with students senior to you and with visiting teachers.
I don’t know any Alexander training courses that are money-makers. They’re all basically non-profit in essence though not in legal status, only ACAT in New York is technically non-profit. The teachers who work on them could always make more money teaching private students. They train teachers out of their love of the Technique and they tend to charge their fellow teachers a lower fee for private lessons.
I could not imagine running a training course. Way too much hassle. Far too collaborative for my taste. I love doing my own thing. I love freedom. I love running to daylight.
