Your cart

Your cart is empty

Teacher Certification with Amy Oxford

Instructors: Amy Oxford and Advanced Oxford Certified Instructor Cotey Gallagher.
June 25-July 1, 2023
Hours: Sunday-Friday: 9am-5pm, Saturday: 9am-12pm (no early departures please). Evening class hours: Sunday-Friday: 6pm-8pm 
Levels: Intermediate/Advanced 
Tuition: $1400. Includes class manual, pre-class sampler, and all the materials needed for the in-class sampler (pattern, yarn, and fabric strips). Also included is a welcome dinner, and daily morning and afternoon snacks. Scholarships Available.

This seven-day certification program is designed for anyone who is interested in becoming a punch needle rug hooking instructor. There are very few punch needle teachers in the United States or abroad, and this is an excellent opportunity to get a good start in an exciting field. Amy Oxford, veteran rug hooking teacher, author, and inventor of The Oxford Punch Needle, will cover all the topics necessary to give you the skills and confidence needed to be a successful rug hooking teacher. Advanced Certified Oxford Instructor, Heidi Whipple, will assist with all aspects of the program and teach some of the evening hours. You will go home with a personal teaching plan to help you get started, learn where to teach, where to get supplies, how to write course descriptions, lesson plans, supply lists, contracts, and much more.

Learn potential problems, pitfalls, and “tricks of the trade,” both for doing the craft itself, and passing it on. Students will have the chance to practice new teaching skills by giving each other private lessons and most importantly, will learn how to be the very best rug hookers that they can be so their students can learn by example.

Many different techniques will be taught including how to use all the Oxford Punch Needle sizes, shading, yarn blending, three-dimensional rug hooking, sculpting, and how to use novelty yarns and strips of fabric. Students will begin a sampler in class that will illustrate these techniques and serve as an excellent teaching aid.

Participants will also be required to design a 2' x 3' rug ahead of time to be color planned in class. Both the sampler and the 2' x 3' rug will later be finished as homework.

Those who successfully complete this course will be made Certified Oxford Instructors and will be provided with ongoing support and the benefits that come from being accredited by a respected pioneer in the field. Please note that this is a demanding and intensive program where much is given but much is also required. Come ready to work very hard and learn a lot! Punching experience is a must but no former teaching experience is required. 

Homework Deadline: Homework is due November 1, 2023. Participants are responsible for mailing costs of their certification homework to and from The Oxford Company. 

Prerequisite: Students need to have completed one beginning and one intermediate class with Amy or with another approved Oxford Certified Instructor. If this is not possible, participants are required to complete at least two small punched pieces such as chair seats or wall hangings. Photographs of your best piece must be sent to Amy as part of your application. Upon acceptance into the program, students will be required to complete a specially designed 6” x 8” pre-class sampler provided by the school to prepare them for the rug punching portion of the workshop. All students must read Amy's book Punch Needle Rug Hooking - Your Complete Resource to Learn & Love the Craft from cover to cover. Students are also required to read the seventy-six page Teacher Training Manual that we will be using as our workbook in class.

How To Apply

Applications will be taken online. Click here to apply.

Materials Fee: You will need to provide the monk's cloth and fibers for your 2' x 3' certification rug. The cost will vary depending on what you use from your own stash and what you choose to purchase at the school. All the materials for your in-class sampler are included in the tuition. A supply list will be provided upon acceptance to the program.

Alaina Roberts from Vermont (left) and Micah Clasper-Torch from California at work during the required "teaching day" in our 2019 teacher certification class. 

 

This Teacher Certification homework rug was made by 2019 graduate Alaina Roberts from Underhill, Vermont. The title of the rug is Grami's Hibiscus. 2'x3'.

 

Detail from Alaina Roberts' certification homework rug. 

Teacher certification homework rug made by 2019 graduate Micah Clasper-Torch entitled Brushstrokes. 2'x3'.

Benefits of Being a Certified Oxford Instructor

  • Instructors will receive ongoing support in all aspects of their rug hooking, teaching, and professional development.
  • Instructors will receive 50% off all Oxford Punch Needles, with no minimum order required.
  • Instructors will receive 25% off all frames, monk's cloth, linen, books, and McAdoo Rugs patterns with no minimum order required.
  • Instructors will be listed on The Oxford Company website (if they choose).
  • Instructors will be invited to the biennial teacher's reunion to share experiences, learn new techniques, and stay inspired.
  • Instructors will be offered the opportunity to teach during “Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day.” This event is organized by Oxford instructors and takes place once a year in April.

“Your certification class is unbelievable. I didn't realize how much I had learned until I had to present myself and the art of Oxford Punch to a store owner. [...] I felt so prepared and comfortable presenting it. I felt like I could have just walked in and taught the class today. [...] I can see where this can really take off. I just have to remember that I have a full time job for at least another 4 1/2 years. Thank you for preparing me so well.”  --M.B. from North Berwick, Maine

Teacher Certification with Advanced Oxford Instructors

If you take teacher certification with an Advanced Oxford Instructor, you will work with the same curriculum offered by Amy at The Oxford Rug Hooking School. Classes will be small to insure lots of personal attention and you will go home with the same knowledge and training you would get if you took the class with Amy. Click here for a list of Advanced Oxford Instructors.

Go to the top of the page

Return to list of all classes and events