Being Tea Teacher Training Policies & Statement of Inclusivity

If you are planning to enroll in our program, please review the following Program Policies and Statement of Inclusivity. Your acceptance into our program means you are agreeing to these terms. Feel free to email me with any questions at hello@beingtea.com.

Note: These policies are subject to additions, changes and review, as needs emerge with each new training cycle.

Being Tea Teacher Training is interactive, collaborative, and inherently participatory. It is not self-paced, silent, or unsupported. We utilize a combination of a “flipped classroom” model – where the students study material ahead of time, then come to class prepared for discussion – and a blended classroom model, which includes the use of videos and other supports.

As the program director, I reserve the ability to make a determination that this program is not suited for a student if they choose to no longer actively participate without prior communication. (ie: “ghosting” or No Call–No Show more than twice)

Participation includes: the reviewing monthly lecture videos and course workbook; coming to live group workshops on time and prepared; making time for homework or other engagement options on a regular basis; and staying in communication with me about your study, progress, and needs for support.

All students need to maintain an attendance rate of 65% for our monthly group workshops. This means that of our 8 group workshops, you need to attend at least 5 sessions live, unless we agree on an alternative arrangement in advance of your acceptance into the program. Make-up assignments may be required for missed group sessions. Emergency situations are an exception to the 65% attendance rate.

All of our homework assignments are created for your benefit and practice – they directly build on skills necessary for completing your graduate project. Homework assignments are ungraded; instead, they include personal feedback and comments from me. Completing homework is optional for students who are not intending to graduate or teach right away upon finishing the program.

My policy on homework:
– I ask students to keep me informed if they need to be late. Lateness on assignments is ok and very normal, but communication is expected.
– Other options for course engagement are available if a particular homework assignment is not a good fit for the student in any given month.

If a student goes more than two months with no submitted assignment of any sort – and no communication with me otherwise about it – I will arrange a check-in meeting to ensure the training program is still serving their needs.

To graduate from Being Tea Teacher Training, students complete a capstone project: leading a practice tea class. This is held privately, just for our teacher cohort and any friends or family they wish to invite. This class can be in-person, but there must be a web camera and audio to broadcast it to our online cohort. The class can also be formatted for online, instead of in-person.

The training program itself prepares the student for assembling and refining this graduate project.

The graduate project is not a requirement for participation in Being Tea Teacher Training. It is perfectly acceptable to take this course for personal or professional enjoyment and study! There are numerous life, social, and professional skills to be gained in this program, just as it is. Teaching the practice class is only required if the trainee wants to graduate and join our graduate community.

Students in good standing may also return in the future and complete their graduate project, whenever the time is right for them to step into teaching work.

Tuition for Being Tea Teacher Training is auto-paid monthly across 12-months, starting in September. Tuition is not paid up front in lump sum, unless specifically arranged upon request. There is no deposit required upon enrollment.

Students are responsible for completing the full amount of their tuition once we enter Module 3 of the program (November 1). This represents one-third of the program and committed time to the student, which is ample time to experience the material. Students may only cancel with no further tuition due prior to November.

If a student in good standing needs to depart due to urgent circumstances outside of their control, they are invited to rejoin us the following year, or a future cohort, with no additional fees. This includes family emergencies or changes, relocation, job change, etc.

As stated above, all students are required to complete their tuition as originally scheduled, including those who depart the program with the intention to rejoin later. In rejoining a new cohort later, the student is essentially “pre-paid” and simply resumes their training.

As a small business owner, I am unable to offer refunds of any sort, including for unused tuition. (ie: a student pays but does not show up) This also includes instances where a student is asked to leave the program due to violation of our Inclusivity Policy.

I fully recognize that a lot of life happens over the course of a year. In the 6+ years of this program, I’ve seen a lot of it through my students! My foremost goal as program director is to support you all the way to the finish line – whenever that happens for you.

The work of being an inclusively-aligned educator demands that we look at what we teach beyond subject expertise. We must see and deeply value the people in our spaces.

To quote Brooklyn-based school educator and social justice activist, Cornelius Minor, “I cannot be spiritually awakened and doing work that is vocationally dead.”

Students of marginalized backgrounds are warmly encouraged to apply!
BIPOC and LQBTQIA+ persons have comprised nearly 50% of each cohort to date. Your instructor (me/Sooz) is Autistic, non-binary, and sober for over 8 years. (my partner of two decades is also a Trans person, AuDHD, and disabled.) That is all to say, your experiences and expertise are very welcome here.

All applicants are asked to respect that while in this program, you may hear ideas and information that challenge your own previously held views, particularly if you come from a more conservative background. Education is not neutral, and Being Tea is not neutral, either.

Racism, misogyny, anti-Trans, anti-queer, xenophobic (ie: anti-immigrant), ableist, and other similarly narrow and non-inclusive views (ie: white superiority), statements or behavior will not be tolerated here. This is for the protection of our diverse teacher trainee cohort, the Being Tea community itself, and the students our teacher trainees and graduates also serve in their own communities. As program director, at my discretion, trainees may be asked to leave the program in the event of violations of this policy.

Since our program founding in 2019, we have never had an incident of this nature. Our space has been very warm and supportive. However, as our program grows and new trainees come into the space each year, I am acutely sensitive toward maintaining this explicit boundary, for our community safety.