Read Online A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans by Thea Sabin - Free Book Online

expectations, which can make it easier for the teacher to teach and for the student to believe he or she is going to get something out of the class. (There’s more information on boundaries in Chapter 8 .)
    Legitimacy. Having paid teachers in a spiritual community increases that community’s perceived legitimacy among people both outside and inside the community.
    â€œFollow your bliss. ” This isn’t exactly what the late Dr. Joseph Campbell meant by that phrase, but you can argue that you have a right to try to make a living doing something that is meaningful to you. Aligning your source of income and your spiritual work—as long as you do it ethically—can be extremely fulfilling.
    Breaking even. Even if you don’t want to go all-out and embark on teaching as a spiritual career or income booster, you can at least recoup the costs of teaching the class. Most students are able to pay small fees to help cover these costs, and you can always offer a sliding scale if you’re concerned that some people are in difficult financial situations.
    Not Charging for Teaching
    Although you can justify charging for teaching in many cases, there are definitely some circumstances in which charging might not be practical or feel appropriate, or it might be beneficial not to charge. Here are some examples:
Offering some free classes as a community service
Teaching a free class to get the word out about your teaching, which can lead to paid teaching opportunities
Teaching people you want to form a coven with, in which case teaching might be shared among multiple members for mutual benefit and charging might not be appropriate
Helping another teacher by being a “guest teacher” in his or her class
Casual one-on-one mentoring
Doing a dry run of a class for a small group in order to practice for delivering it to a larger group
Circumstances in which it’s more important to pass along certain crucial teachings than it is to make money for teaching them
    How Much to Charge for Teaching
    If you’ve decided to charge for your teaching and you’re trying to figure out how much, here are some guiding questions:
    Are you teaching in person or online? It shouldn’t make that much of a difference, but it does. You might find it harder to charge more for online classes than in-person ones because of the (mis)perception that in-person classes take more work on your part. But online courses can often take even more time to set up, depending on the technological requirements, and there can be a lot of follow-up and individual assessment of students’ work too. There’s also the lingering issue that people still expect stuff on the web to be free. There’s been a lot of discussion about “monetizing,” or making money off of things you offer on the web. The best ways to do that are still emerging.
    How much work and time will you need to put in? It seems reasonable to charge more for a class that takes more time to put together and teach.
    How much will it cost you to teach this class? This formula is completely arbitrary, but it can be useful for getting an idea of what your class costs you. Estimate (or measure) how long it will take you to set up and teach a class, and then multiply the number of hours by a reasonable hourly rate that you’d like to be paid. The resulting number is an estimate of the value of the time you will put into the class. Add it to the cost of rental space, supplies, handouts, and anything else you’ll use in the class, then add any travel expenses. The final number is a rough estimate of what you need to make to break even. If you’re not going to charge for your time but want to recoup your other expenses, just add up the other items.
    What are others charging? See if you can find out what others are charging for teaching services similar to the ones you are offering. You can also try writing up a syllabus and sending it out, either in person