The BEST aerial instruction certification
Wondering what it is?
Me, too!
Because it doesn’t actually exist.
*this is a topic that comes up in various forums regularly, I figured it would be useful to make a post with The Answer*
This is a question that get’s asked all the time, “what’s the best aerial certification?” Or “What aerial certification do you recommend?”
But the reality is that there is no actual Aerial Instructor certification in the US.
And that’s because Certification has a real, legal meaning, and there are no organizations in the US that meet the criteria to offer a Certification.
The accreditation to offer a true certification involves review from an independent 3rd party into both the educational materials and the testing process to determine whether or not it meets the industry standards of professionalism.
If you’re in an industry that has a governing body, that is where the accreditation comes from.
USA Gymnastics is the governing body for gymnastics in the US. Gymnastics gyms, coaches, and training programs are credentialed by them. In order to be credentialed, they have to meet criteria in safety and education, and they have to continue to re-certify on regular basis to prove that they continue to meet those criteria.
In the fitness industry, there is no one governing body. There are several non-profit and professional organizations that provide some amount of oversight, and certifications come from organizations that have been credentialed by by a third party organization, usually the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
The NCCA reviews the training materials and the organization itself and decides if it meets the criteria for providing a professional education. That criteria involves education, testing, and the length of time the organization has been offering education.
It’s a lengthy and expensive process, and it costs money for an organization to maintain its 3rd party accreditation.
At this point, no aerial instructor training has gone through the accreditation process.
The advantages to accreditation is that it confers legitimacy, creates public trust, and holds individuals and organizations to a standard of competency.
Insurance companies like accreditation.
But it also starts to create regulation that could become a barrier for some, and it increases costs.
A true certification is always going to be more expensive, and require ongoing recertification and education to maintain.
My personal trainer certification required 20 hours of training every 2 years and a $200 renewal fee.
Those costs get absorbed into the price of services, so overall costs go up industry wide.
There are a couple of US aerial teacher trainings that currently offer a certificate that involves completing a certain number of teaching hours after an initial training, and a demonstration of competency. This is the closest thing that exists in our industry to any sort of certification, but they’re still not actual certifications because they’re completely self regulated.
That said, if you truly want to demonstrate competency and professionalism, those are your best options, and they’re good programs.
Whether or not the circus and aerial industry move towards accreditation and regulation is something that we, as an industry, will need to decide. Presumably, at some point, it will become large enough, and popular enough, that there will have to be some amount of regulation and the development of a governing body.
The closest thing that currently exists is the American Circus Educators, which provide criteria for safety for both studios and equipment, and for teacher trainings.
The ACE safety program is recognized by some insurance companies, and participating will make your studio easier to insure. But it is completely voluntary, and costs money to go through, so many studios don’t bother or don’t know it exists.
Someday there may be an actual aerial instructor certification, but currently there is not. So if someone is advertising something as a certification, you should definitely do a little bit of due diligence.
It could be a scam!
Or it could be a legit program using terminology that you’ll recognize without getting into all the nitty-gritty of what it actually means.