The Associate Instructor Training Program was accredited by the COE (Council on Occupational Education), providing a pathway for iFTI instructors/coordinators along two phases of instructor development; the Associate Instructor Program and the Master Instructor Program. The Associate Instructor Program requires the completion of 4 course requirements:
-Introduction to Teaching Techniques for Adults
-Teaching Techniques for Adults
-1 Health and Safety course
-1 Elective selected from the iFTI’s array of courses found on the iFTI Course Catalog.
The Master Instructor Training Program sets a pathway for IUPAT instructors to become certified instructor in skills and safety training. The propgram consists10 courses (including the 4 Associate Instructor courses). Please refer to the Instructor Pathway brochure for the list of courses.
Successful graduates of the program will develop educational resources and administer the training that support a culture of lifelong learning for union members working in the Finishing Industries. This brings IUPAT training to a new level not only for the benefit of union members who receive it from a certified instructor, but for the companies who employ IUPAT members as well.
In the Capstone course, the students will have identified, researched, and designed a training module, or a body of research, that successfully addresses challenges they or their colleagues have encountered in their local training centers.
The iFTI Master Instructor Capstone is the final course an instructor will take prior to being awarded an iFTI Master Instructor program completion. This course begins with a three-day seminar at the iFTI in Hanover, Maryland where students participants undertake and accomplish the following:
-Meet and partner with peers in their class.
-Learn the objectives and requirement to complete the course.
-Write their proposals and meet with the facilitator.
In the following months, participants follow set guidelines and scheduled electronic meetings with the facilitator, and develop their module or research piece. The participants then return to the iFTI campus to give a 20-minute presentation of their work to their class and facilitator, followed by questions. The presentation, the supporting research and the writing are then evaluated by the iFTI Capstone Committee. The Capstone course must be completed in a 12-month period.
Those who meet all the standards of the course are certified as IUPAT Master Instructors, and will be officially and publicly recognized as a part of an elite corps of IUPAT trainers and educators in the United States and Canada. In addition to their new status as a master instructor, their course work to earn their certificationhas the potential to be used in IUPAT district councils across North America.
In addition to advancing the IUPAT training programs, the IUPAT Master Instructor Program will also raise the profile of the entire training and education network of the North America Building Trades Unions. Further making the case that an apprenticeship in the Building Trades is another choice for young men and women who not only seek a secondary education, but also a successful professional career.