MTA(NSW) CERTIFICATION
Seven standards. One clear mark of a professional.
The Music Teachers' Association of NSW certifies private music teachers against a published professional standard. The course is the most direct way to meet it.
MTA(NSW) CERTIFICATION
A professional standard for private music teachers
Accountants, lawyers, school teachers, engineers and doctors are certified by their professions. Certification proves that you have the professional knowledge and skills to deliver.
MTA(NSW) certification gives the community confidence that they are choosing a teacher who is well trained, keeps their knowledge up to date, and meets their legal obligations, from working with children checks to insurance.
WHY CERTIFICATION
What certification does for you
Certifies your teaching skills
Your knowledge, skills and conduct have been assessed against a published standard, and you can say so.
Justify your teaching fee
Certification sits alongside MTA's minimum teaching fees, so professional work is paid professionally.
Priority in teacher searches
Certified teachers come first in MTA teacher directory searches, where parents look for a teacher.
Confidence for families
A clear, trusted sign for parents and students choosing a teacher.
Keeps your teaching current
Ongoing professional development keeps your certification, and your knowledge, up to date.
THE PATHWAY
The course fills the gap
Pedagogy training has all but disappeared from Australian music degrees, and there is no longer a practical, affordable way for private teachers to prepare for certification. The course was written to fill that gap.
Efficient
Only ten weeks of instruction, live online, plus a two-day practical intensive in Sydney.
Cost effective
Far less than any comparable course or pathway, and very few of those remain.
Rigorous
Outcomes based on the pedagogy training embedded in traditional Bachelor of Music degrees.
Better teaching
Practical skills you take straight into your next lesson, and students who make faster, steadier progress.
THE STANDARD
What a certified teacher knows and is able to do
MTA(NSW) assesses teachers across seven standards. The course develops and assesses the first five. You bring the remaining two: your own playing and your theory.
1. Professional conduct and child safety
Ethical conduct, child-safe practice, a current Working With Children Check and appropriate insurance.
2. Pedagogical knowledge
How students learn and develop, and the methods, repertoire and sequencing that build skills from the first lesson.
3. Teaching practice and experience
Planning lessons, teaching effectively, and assessing and reporting on each student's progress.
4. Business practices and ethics
Studio policies, fees, financial administration, communication with families and legal obligations.
5. Professional currency
Ongoing professional development that keeps your knowledge and teaching up to date.
6. Grade 8 piano practical or equivalent
Your own playing, at a standard that lets you model and teach the repertoire.
7. Grade 5 theory or musicianship or equivalent
The theory and musicianship that underpin your teaching.
THE PATH
Three steps to certification
On successful completion of the course, and evidence of your Grade 8 practical and Grade 5 theory or musicianship, IMPA will submit your application in support of certification.
Bring
Your Grade 8 practical and Grade 5 theory or musicianship certificates.
Complete
Pass the course's six assessed projects.
Apply
IMPA submits your application to MTA(NSW) in support of your certification.