The Curriculum To meet the growing demand for massage therapists trained in spa, many massage schools are offering spa programs or continuing education in spa therapies. Anne Williams, author of Spa Bodywork has developed a unique set of spa training modules that can be mixed and matched to meet each massage school’s needs. Schools can choose to use all of the curriculum modules for a large program, or selected modules for a smaller program. Schools can start small and add additional modules as their program gains popularity with students. The Spa Bodywork Curriculum is composed of three elements:

Introduction to the Curriculum Modules: This document previews each curriculum module and walks the program designer through the process of arranging the modules into a program that meets the needs of their school.

Supply Guide: This document discusses the choices available to the school in terms of equipment and spa products for their program. The Supply Guide comes with an Excel Spreadsheet that lists appropriate spa product, ordering codes, prices and companies.

Curriculum Modules: Each module comes with the items listed below to make it easy to adopt a spa program for a massage school.

Class Overview: The overview contains learning objectives, a suggested schedule in both a 4 and 5 hour format, a module supply list and a preparation guide to help the instructor plan for the class.

Lecture Outline: The lecture outline correlates to the PowerPoint slides for the module and follows the theory information in the appropriate chapter. In some cases additional information is included in the lecture and so detailed lecture notes are provided.

PowerPoint Presentation: The PowerPoint presentation correlates to the lecture outline for each module. The Spa Bodywork Curriculum PowerPoint presentations were designed with the visual learner in mind. They use the images from the textbook to illuminate concepts and ideas. The PowerPoint slides can be shown using an LCD or DLP projector or they can be printed onto transparencies for overheads.

Demonstration Guide: Teaching spa therapies is very different than delivering spa therapies in a spa. The Demonstration Guide describes effective ways to demonstrate each spa treatment presented in Spa Bodywork. Its aim is to help the instructor organize the demonstration in such a way that students learn treatment steps in a logical and linear fashion. The guide also provides tips on how to manage and coordinate equipment and supplies for up to 24 students in a spa class.

Complimentary Student Activities: This section includes classroom activities, display ideas, review topics and discussion items that help to enrich the classroom experience. While there is not always time to include these activities they provide a resource for the instructor and options for conveying concepts and learning outcomes.

Optional Homework Assignment: Each module comes with a homework assignment linked to the lesson taught in the class. The program designer will pick and choose only those homework assignments that work for their particular idea of the program.

Optional Competency Check: Some schools are required to perform competency checks on specific skills by their accreditation bodies. Each module contains a competency skill check for use at the discretion of the program designer. Many program designers choose to use the competency checks in testing modules interspersed throughout the program.

Optional Quiz: Each module contains a quiz that covers the materials from that particular lesson. Instructors can use the quiz at the beginning of the module to ensure that students are pre-reading chapters, or they can use multiple quizzes in a testing unit later in the program to determine the students overall comprehension of a topic.

Other Material: When it is appropriate other materials are included in the module. For example, an aromatherapy blending handout is provided in the aromatherapy modules along with Botanical Names Flash Cards used to teach the Latin and Greek names of essential oil bearing plants.

To see an overview of the curriculum modules click on the Overview Modules page. To acquire a review copy of Spa Bodywork and the curriculum, log onto the Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins Content Connections Website for Spa Bodywork at http://connection.lww.com/williamsspa. Contact Anne directly at anne@spabodywork.com if you need help with your spa program design or have questions about teaching a treatment.