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Instructors and Students Co-mingling?
I saw this post on Instagram and it made me wonder if anyone else has experienced a studio with this policy? Personally, I think it’s total bullshit.
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11 Replies
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Did the studio state why they have that policy? Maybe they worry the non instructor pattern would be getting free lessons/help if they work together?
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Partner not pattern lol auto correct!
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Not sure Veena – this is a screenshot of the post I saw, so I don’t know any more than what’s posted here. I’m just thinking that if there were two students at a studio who were already friends and already did some doubles work together and then one of them became an instructor, it seems completely ridiculous to not allow them to play together anymore! I just wanted to see what other Veeners thought about it – if anyone has experienced a policy like this, or if anyone has ideas as to why a studio might institute one…. I think it makes for interesting discussion.
I guess I can see the concern about getting free lessons from an instructor, but couldn’t you then say that they can’t play together in the studio? No restrictions outside of the studio? It’s not right to try to control people’s lives entirely like that in terms of who they can and can’t dance with!
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Yeah I agree it’s an odd policy. ðŸ˜
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WOW! I don’t have a policy regarding instructors mingling/playing with the students. I do it! LOL My instructors always pole with students that are their friends. When they are off duty they can do whatever they want. My instructors have taught their friends at home just because they are friends and want to pole together. I would much rather people learn from someone who knows what they’re doing, it also says allot for me and my business! No problem here!! Pole on!!! 🙂
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I hate to be on the studio side with this but I do co-mingle with students and at a certain point sometimes students will feel they shouldn’t pay for classes – especially if they are a doubles partner with one of the instructors. It’s kind of a conflict of interest. Even outside contact could result in “free” training perhaps using signature material. It’s dicey. I personally only pole outside of classes with people who already get freebies like my assistant so as not to seem as I am favoring people or doing something shady.
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I am with Charley…I don’t pole with students outside of studio time. For one thing, I just don’t HAVE the time. I love my students, and will happily help them how I can, but I imagine scenarios of burnout and feeling pressure to ‘teach’ when there isn’t a clearly defined ‘teaching time’ like a class or open studio or private lesson. I only have so much to give, and YES, while i LOVE pole and LOVE my students, I have worked so hard to attain my knowledge that I need to get compensated for my efforts, and if I started poling outside of instruction time with some students, I would feel like I was slighting my other students. I just won’t go there.
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I think the main question was if they were partners BEFORE one of them became an instructor should they be allowed to continue or not?
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I can see how that can be frustrating… But she is an instructor now so the relationship must evolve and change… That’s just how it goes sometimes… You want to make sure the lines of business and friendship don’t get blurred. It’s not fair in others students eyes if she is getting free pole time that others are not given.. Maybe they can practice at their personal houses…
I think many people in the pole world forget that we are businesses and must govern ourselves accordingly… -
I will add that I know some studios that so not allow their instructors to talk to instructors at competing studios. That’s a little overboard. It also depends I’m the instructors position within in hue company if they are 1099 then a studio has no legal leg to stand on as IC’s should be teaching their own content. If it’s an employee they are likely teaching signature material to the studio.
I’ve been told myself not to spend time with other instructors at competing studios. I was an IC at the time and taught my own, personal curriculum and so I chose to continue spendin time with my friends.
Instructors – know your rights. That’s all I can say. Please make sure you are legally employed or are a true IC. Understand that as your journey takes you into a leadership role such as teaching that it will change the dynamics of your relationships with people. Lots of studios hire students to become teachers which is awesome but understand your relationship with your classmates now changes. Be ready, it’s a process and everyone needs time to adjust.
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Wow – I definitely think it’s overboard not to let instructors talk to instructors at other studios. The fact is that pole dance is a relatively new industry, and it’s growing fast. I don’t think that competition really should be a factor at this point. Different studios should encourage and support one another and try to help the industry grow – not stifle each other. That’s a different debate though.
Like I said earlier, this was just a post I saw on instagram, I don’t actually know the people that are in the post. It was more of a hypothetical scenario that I thought was kind of interesting. I was thinking of the scenario of when two people are already friends and poling together before one of them becomes an instructor though, I think it’s a different discussion when you’re talking about the relationship starting out as student-instructor.
Very interesting to see the different points of view!I no longer am a member at any particular studio, but when I first moved to the area, I was part of a studio and became friends with another student, who was also an instructor. She’s my doubles partner now and we’ve done a couple of performances and one workshop. But she was never MY instructor. I always felt like it would be strange to take classes from her because of our relationship… I feel as though we are at the same level, and she taught classes at a lower level that I would have been attending. Because of my busy work schedule, I would never be able to commit to teaching a pole class regularly, so it’s never been an option for me. So this is a scenario that has happened to me before – when one of my pole friends becomes an instructor. It’s never really become an issue for me though, and now that I am not a member at any studio, it’s really not a problem!
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