Certified RW Instructor Training Program

Certified RW Instructor Training Program

“To learn, read … to understand, write … to improve, practice … to master, teach”

Overview

RW360’s live seminars are taught by our staff and a network of  Certified RW Instructors. Instructor Certification is open to any individual who has an interest in teaching relational wisdom, but it is especially relevant to church and ministry leaders, counselors, managers, human resources professionals and people whose role in an organization includes training others.

Potential training hosts include churches, ministries and Christian-owned business. Instructors are also authorized to use our “values-based” training resources to teach RW in secular businesses, nonprofits, military bases, hospitals and law enforcement agencies.

Since demand for the training still developing, we are encouraging potential instructors to look at this as a ministry rather than as a way to make a living. In other words, don’t plan on giving up your “day job.”

Our most successful Certified Instructors typically have the following characteristics:

  1. A love for God’s Word and a passion to share his love and wisdom with others.
  2. A genuine interest in other people and a demonstrated ability to develop close personal, ministry and professional relationships.
  3. The character qualities of mature Christian leaders (1Tim. 3:1-7; Gal. 5:22-24).
  4. A proven gift for and significant experience at teaching.
  5. A demonstrated ability to generate a steady flow of teaching opportunities. This will typically involve a gift for promotion and marketing and/or being in a position that provides natural, ongoing access to potential students, such as a helping, education, training or human relations position in a denomination, network, business, seminary or school.
  6. The ability to commit a significant amount of time to learning and then promoting and teaching relational wisdom.

Acceptance into this training is limited to a few individuals each year. Selection depends primarily on information provided through the RW Instructor Application form and a personal interview with our Director of Training.

This training is available only in the United States until we develop a system to effectively oversee Certified Instructors in other countries.

Online Course Moderator – An Alternative to Certification

If you would like to help other people develop their relational skills but are not prepared to invest the time required to become a Certified RW Instructor, you can instead lead others through our online training as the moderator of a private study group. There is no advanced training required to serve as a moderator or facilitator since all of the actual teaching is provided through the course videos. As a facilitator, you have the option of adding questions, offering helpful suggestions and encouraging people as they learn. You are free to interact as much or as little as you like (see Facilitator Guidelines).

If you decide to moderate private groups, we encourage you to continue growing in your understanding of relational skills and biblical peacemaking by reading some of the books on our Recommended Reading page, especially, The Peacemaker (by Ken Sande), Feelings and Faith (by Brian Borgman), Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (by Bradberry and Greaves) and Emotional Intelligence (by Dan Goleman).

Annual Instructor/Coach/Conciliator Retreat

RW360 sponsors an annual retreat for our Certified Relational Wisdom Instructors, Coaches and Conciliators. The 2019 retreat is scheduled for October 3-6, in Red Lodge Montana (details here). Individuals are expected to attend at least one retreat every three years to keep their skills and relationships current.

Instructor Privileges

Certified RW Instructors receive the following privileges:

  1. Receive frameable Certificate of Completion.
  2. May use RW360 resources (study guide, PowerPoint, videos, etc.) to teach RW as a short present­ation, weekly study or as a full one-day seminar.
  3. Use of RW360 marketing and promotion resources (videos, fliers, posters, etc.).
  4. May request materials reimbursement and collect either fees or donations.
  5. Wholesale pricing on study guides.
  6. Social networking with other instructors through Facebook.
  7. Continuing education via webinars.
  8. Listed as instructor on RW360 website/map.
  9. Authorized to use RW360 name, logo, and marketing materials.

Application for Admission

If you would like to be considered for admission to this program, please complete the following steps:

  1. Review the detailed Training Requirements listed below.
  2. Watch this 37-minute video, Teaching Relational Wisdom 2.0, which provides a detailed overview of the opportunities for teaching relational wisdom, as well as the responsibilities, resources and methods that are involved in this type of ministry. You can preview of the content of this video by skimming this short study guide.
  3. Although it is not required, we strongly encourage people to go through several lessons in the Discovering Relational Wisdom 2.0 online course (scheduled for upgrade by March 31) before applying for certification as an instructor. This will allow you to become familiar with the basic principles of relational wisdom, practice applying them in our life, and confirm a desire to teach these concepts to others.
  4. Review RW360’s Statement of Faith, which must be affirmed by all instructors.
  5. Consider whether you will be able to obtain three positive personal references, one of which must come from your pastor, and three positive teaching assessments.
  6. Submit an RW Instructor Application form.

Our Director of Training will review your application and any work you’ve done on the online course. If it appears that you are qualified for this training and we have current openings in the program, we will contact you to schedule a telephone interview to explore your goals and alignment for this training in more detail. If we conclude that you are a good fit for this training, we will notify you of your acceptance into the program.

Training Requirements

Once you have been formally accepted into this program, you will need to complete these steps to be certified as an RW Instructor:

  1. Pay a registration fee of $495 (see this payment page). Partial scholarships are available in special situations. We encourage married couples to teach RW as a team. Therefore we invite spouses to apply to become Instructors for half (50%) of the regular fee.
  2. Affirm RW360’s Statement of Faith.
  3. Obtain three positive personal references, one of which must come from your pastor, and three positive teaching assessments (see email templates here).
  4. Complete the Discovering Relational Wisdom 2.0 (scheduled for upgrade by March 31) online course and demonstrate a solid mastery of the principles in all 20 lessons through your answers to the quizzes and essay questions.
  5. Read The Peacemaker (Sande), Feelings and Faith (Brian Borgman), Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (Bradberry and Greaves), Emotional Intelligence (Goleman) and assigned RW/EI articles, and write 1-2 page summaries for each book or article.
  6. Complete an online EI evaluation (from Emotional Intelligence 2.0 book).
  7. Completion of 2-hour online course in educational methodology (available 6/1/19).
  8. Completion of 2-hour online course in promotion and marketing methodology (available 6/1/19).
  9. Pass a written open book exam on the theology and foundational principles of relational wisdom.
  10. Record a 1-hour teaching session on relational wisdom for review by RW360’s Director of Training.
  11. Participate in a 1-hour Skype conversation with our Director of Training and answer a series of questions that are typically asked by students in a live seminar.
  12. Teach three RW classes of at least three hours, averaging at least five students each, with uniformly positive assessments from students.
  13. Sign RW Instructor Independent Contractor Agreement.
  14. Meet annual continuing education and teaching requirements (see details below).

Licensing as Independent Contractors

Certified RW Instructors will be licensed to teach the Discovering Relational Wisdom Seminar (or shortened versions thereof) using RW360 study guides, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, and promotional materials. Instructors will market and teach these materials as independent contractors (see License Agreement).

Certified Instructors may charge a fee or request donations to cover their investment of time as well as their travel and material costs. RW360 recommends a suggested seminar registration fee of $49 per person, $80 for couples, but instructors are free to set different fees.

RW360 may occasionally enlist Certified Instructors to teach seminars that we arrange. However, instructors should not expect to receive invitations through RW360, but should instead anticipate that it will be up to them to arrange their own seminars.

Instructors are expected to donate to RW360 10% of the fees and contributions they receive from events they arrange on their own. If the event came through a referral from RW360 or its website, instructors are expected to donate 20% of the resulting fees or contributions to RW360.

RW360 reserves the right to revoke certification at its sole discretion.

Continuing Licensing Requirements

To maintain a license as a Certified RW Instructor, a person will be expected to meet the following additional requirements:

  • Pay an annual renewal fee of $50.
  • Provide an annual statement affirming your ongoing fellowship in a local church.
  • Maintain a positive Christian testimony and lifestyle that reflects the values and concepts of relational wisdom
  • Request teaching evaluations during teaching event and receive predominantly positive evaluations on your teaching.
  • Continue to learn and grow through continuing education and personal application. Continuing education will involve occasional webinars and reading relevant online articles as well as one or two recommended books each year. We are unlikely to require travel to attend additional live training.
  • Maintain proficiency by teaching relational wisdom at least 10 hours per year (e.g., two 5-hour Discovering RW seminars, four 2.5-hour custom RW seminars, or a ten-week Sunday school class).

Certified RW Coaching

RW360 is currently developing a program to train Certified Relational Wisdom Coaches so that they can serve as “RW life coaches” (assisting individuals to improve their overall relational skills) and as “RW conflict coaches” (assisting individuals to apply RW/peacemaking principles to resolve specific conflicts). This new training is scheduled to launch at our Instructor/Coach retreat in October of 2019 (details here).

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