Educator Certification FAQs

Here are some of your most commonly asked questions about earning the AFMTE’s newest credential, Certified Massage & Bodywork Educator!

• Is Educator Certification required? 
  • No, not currently. AFMTE Educator Certification is a voluntary process. Individuals who apply to become a Certified Massage & Bodywork Educator (CMBE) demonstrate the highest level of commitment to effective teaching in massage and bodywork education.
• I am a CE Provider. Can I get Certified? 
  • Yes! AFMTE Educator Certification is available to both classroom teachers at entry-level training programs and continuing education providers.
• If you are a CEMB, does this give you authorization to offer CEU?
  • No. AFMTE Educator Certification is a voluntary credential that is specific to demonstrating you possess the essential knowledge, skills and abilities to be an effective educator. 
• How often does a CMBE-credential need to be renewed? What are the requirements?
  • You will renew your CMBE credential every 3 years. You will need 9 continuing education credits specific to Educational Skills to renew.
• Does Educator Certification have a test?
  • No. Educator Certification is currently a portfolio review process. You will complete an application packet and submit evidence that demonstrates your competency as a massage therapy educator.
• Do I have to have all application material ready when I pay the application fee?
  • No. You may pay your application fee and prepare your portfolio later. You may, for example, need to work on your video and want to gradually upload your portfolio material. This is completely fine! You can take as much time as you need to upload all the material for your application.
• Can my school or CE business get certified?
  • No. Educator Certification is available to individuals—not to organizations. You may choose to require all of the individuals at your school or CE Provider organization get certified to ensure that all of your educators possess the foundational skills, knowledge and abilities to produce effective learning in therapeutic massage and bodywork!
• Does AFMTE offer teacher training?
  • No. The AFMTE does collaborate with MaxKnowledge to offer an online training system with many courses that can help you brush up on teacher training skills. 
• Where can I find the information that is needed for my application?
  • The information about what is required for your portfolio to apply is HERE at the AFMTE website.
• Where can I pay my application fee?
  • You can pay for your application fee HERE at the AFMTE website.
• Will I need to mail in any documents for my application?
  • No. The AFMTE Educator Certification application process is completely online. You will be able to provide Word Documents/PDFs and even videos all online. Individuals who write letters of recommendation for you will also be able to submit those letters online.
• How will my application portfolio be evaluated?
  • Your portfolio will be reviewed and evaluated using a rubric that is based upon the AFMTE Core Competencies. We encourage you to review the rubric, which is available here, as you prepare your application content.
• What are the AFMTE Core Competencies?
  • The AFMTE Core Competencies for Massage Therapy Teachers presents a set of ten standards that form the basis for effective and successful teaching. You can access a PDF for free HERE.
• What are the benefits of getting certified?
  • This is unlike any other certification in our field. It’s not simply a certification of your content knowledge and skill, it’s a certification of your ability to teach your content knowledge and skill to others.
  • It shows that you exemplify the highest excellence as an educator of massage and bodywork.
  • It says you strongly believe that credentialing instructors will ultimately strengthen and improve the overall quality of therapeutic massage and bodywork education.
  • It’s the only official way to say you have demonstrated proficiency in the Core Competencies for Massage Therapy Teachers.
  • It allows you to participate in educational research. As the number of certified educators grow, researchers will be collecting the data on effectiveness and outcomes. The AFMTE believes that credentialing instructors will strengthen and improve the overall quality of therapeutic massage and bodywork education, but the research data is needed to test this theory. What better way to participate than to be one of the certified educators?
• In my portfolio, should I show what I do in the entire course syllabus or just one class in the course?
  • The goal for your portfolio is to demonstrate your proficiency in the Core Competencies for Massage Therapy Teachers. You can demonstrate that by sharing your knowledge, skills, and attitudes during one class or from multiple classes in the same course. It’s really up to you as long as you submit the portfolio items that are required during the application process. Remember that the portfolio reviewers are looking for evidence of your ability to teach your subject, they are less concerned with the content of the course itself or where it fits within the larger curriculum.
• How do I acquire the CE credit hours in the areas of teaching and learning for my CMBE renewal?
  • A minimum of 9 CE credit hours is required for renewal of the CMBE credential, every 3 years. During the 3 year period that your certification is active, you would take classes in the areas of teaching and learning to meet that requirement. At this point in our program’s development, we will be evaluating those classes individually on your renewal application. In addition to the relevancy of the class to the subjects of teaching and learning, we will be looking for things like: offered by a regionally or nationally accredited institution; or taught by a CMBE credentialed instructor; or offered at an educational conference or forum (AMTA School Summit or ABMP School Forum, for example), things like that. There are also teaching courses available in the MaxKnowledge online training center: https://www.afmtetraining.org/category/teaching

• What’s the difference between a certificate program and certification?
  • It is our understanding that a certificate program is one in which a student (in this case an educator) takes one or more courses to earn a certificate of completion. Our Educator Certification Program does not include courses for educators, although we do have a recommended model curriculum for those organizations wishing to offer teacher training programs.
  • At present, our Educator Certification Program is designed to provide educators with an opportunity to be reviewed and vetted based on competencies they already possess, according to the published standards for massage therapy educators. Thus, we do not award certificates of completion. We verify competency and provide a credential, and we identify this process as Educator Certification.
  • Educators who are seeking our Certification should understand that the validity of our certification program is based on two factors: the AFMTE Core Competencies for Massage Therapy Educators and the teaching portfolio peer-review process. Accreditation for certification programs requires a job task analysis (JTA) and a psychometrically validated test. The cost of accreditation is impractical for a certification program of this scope.