Standards of educators?

[absolutly fab!]

There are varying standards set for tecs,ie nvq,etc. How would a tec know what standards that an individual educator is working to, as there are no national standards for them. Many companies have fantastic eductors who are a credit to there copmanies,but, there are many whos standards are not high.(as indivduals that is). I know there are a companies who use the site would be very grateful for there guidance.

 

[thenaillounge]

Hi Ab Fab

I am an educator for Grafton Int'l. I train all ranges but mainly concentrate on IBD Gel. As an educator I had to go through an intensive three day course, where my work was critically analised to assess whether I was capable of becoming an educator. I also had to demonstrate my ability to public speak, and also my technical knowledge. This has got to be the most difficult three days of my career so far, however, it was fantastic and very rewarding.

I can't speak for other brand names, but IBD would not allow just any tom dick or harry to represent their product. The educators are serious about their knowledge and love of their product. Our learning never stops.

I hope this helps give you an insight of how the process takes place.

 

[absolutly fab!]

Thanks for your comments.Do you think that the industry would benifit from having national standards across the board for educators. Have students who have prev been else where for trainning never comented on there other experience , i am sure many in a negative way , thats maybe why they came to you? Not all companies are the same. How does a tec know the wheat from the chaff!!!,

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Not all companies are the same. How does a tec know the wheat from the chaff!!!,[/QUOTE]

............... Sadly it's usually through an expensive round of trial and error!!

 

[cuticles]

It must be said that the standard of education has increased since the conception of this site. Nail technicians asked sophicated questions about training issues because they now know what to ask. Each week there is at least ONE question about training and many opinions are given not only in who trains but how much training and given. We have to thank Sam for this as he has certainly given an open forum for exactly this kind of question.

Cathy

 

[absolutly fab!]

My point sasssy, is there some way with the site ,where we can share experinces so that others hard earned dosh is well invested, and they dont learn from trial or error! or is there some way in which standard can be put in place? Mum , Geeg or Mrs g could you help? Is there something in the pipeline? Through the site i have heard that creative is upgrading an all ready fantastic trainning programme, do educators have an annuall evaluation? Who do you no to be the best of the best as individuals?

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Hi, if people find this site before deciding on which company and educator to choose then they are lucky. Sadly, I didn't and was duped by some unscrupulous marketing and wasted a lot of money with one company, so that's why I only commented on just one part of your post!

Sadly, as in every profession, there are the good, the bad and the ugly and trying to sort the wheat from the chaff isn't an easy task. I have been educated by a lot of different trainers - some within the same nail company; they have gone through the same training to be that company's educators, but the standards of the individuals as trainers have varied.... some people are just natural born teachers, whereas others are more like demonstrators whose actual teaching skills are limited. And a lot comes down to personal preference ... I have been trained by someone who is the best I have personally come across, but other people have found that person scarey and intimidating and so wasn't the right person for them. So it may be difficult to prove who is the best of the best as peoples' expectations and needs vary.

I agree that it would be great to have a recognised nail teaching qualification as some sort of guideline, but like I say some people are naturally better at teaching than others - you only have to look at the teachers in our childrens' schools and they all have teaching degrees.

Recommendation is a great way forward, and you'll get an honest opinion of people's experiences on here. Like Cathy said there are always threads coming up about training and people always throw their two penneth's in as to whether they think the training asked about is good, bad or indifferent.

 

[mum]

Thanks for posting this Ab Fab.

I think it would be really interesting to get as many opinions (and experiences) as possible to help everyone be more informed as how to choose.

As a bit of general information: there is a sort of national standard for teachers (read on for explanation of 'sort of'!) There is a minimum requirement to be a qualified assessor (as assessor doesn't necessarily mean a teacher in theory but in practice is ususally is) That is, most relevently, they must have 5 years genuine and relevant working experience (i.e working in a salon) and must then update their experience for a minimum period every year.

OK, this is not necessarily good yet and we have read some bad experiences here. In the past, the requirement of experience was relevant to beauty therapists (the nail units were part of beauty) and a therapist could be great at beauty but just done a single system course years ago.

I am hoping that we can change this now that nails have their own standards and make it truly relevant 5 year experience. i.e. doing nails as a specialist!!

Also, an excellent technician does not necessarily mean a good teacher! There is a whole other set of skills essential for that e.g. understanding the psychology of learning, public speaking, etc etc. Good teachers for nails need to be an experienced specialist at nails PLUS very skilled at teaching (to some it comes naturally, others have to learn it and there are teaching qualifications and private courses)

That should give some idea of what is really required. Some brand companies (as mentioned earlier) provide a great deal of training (in teaching, knowledge and nailskills) for their teachers plus on-going support, input, updating and re-evaluating.

This is the sort of thing you could be asking. In FE colleges find out if the teacher has the right experience i.e. nails! natural and ALL systems and nail art (if relevant), how long, what teaching qualification, still working in a salon (which is good). In companies, ask, again, what practical experience, what qualifications, what is the company requirement for their trainers, what support does the company give to improve knowledge, skills etc

It's a start

Marian

 

[Bryony]

From reading previous threads I would say that the worst culprits would appear to be colleges, rather than private companies. I know there are always exceptions. I get the impression a lot of college tutors are just that, qualified teachers but not necessarily practicing what they teach. As, up until now, nails have been seen as an 'add-on' to beauty therapy this is hardly surprising.
Hopefully, anyone teaching the new NVQ will be a fully qualified, practising nail tech.

As Marian says, we need to be aware that this is the case and know what questions to ask in advance of parting with cash.

 

[scattyfox]

Hopefully the situation will change in FE colleges in regards to nails. i presently teach in the local college but not nails but am coming on board as a shadow teacher but will not be able to assess until i have five years expereince but i can still help with the teaching as an assistant. you have to have a level 3 qualification to teach a chosen subject as well as a teaching qualification and this can be a good few years on a learning curve as well as applying yourself to your nails. As nail technology has been taken out of the beauty umbrella just recently this can only get better with time and hopefully the more experience technicians will get their feet wet and take on teaching qualifications so they can pass on thsi knowledge to you.

 

[Mrs Geek]

My point sasssy, is there some way with the site ,where we can share experinces so that others hard earned dosh is well invested, and they dont learn from trial or error!

Hi Ab Fab - great thread... well you know how I would like to answer this... :biggrin: Education has been and always will be Lifelong Learning with CND - yes I would love to say come to us but, there are other companies who have been raising the bar also. I do believe that our education IS the best and that we have for years put in an incredible training program to create great (over time) technicians!

or is there some way in which standard can be put in place? Mum , Geeg or Mrs g could you help? Is there something in the pipeline?

There is definitely something in the 'industry' pipeline - difficult to discuss before anything has been finalised however because there have never been proper standards for Educators, there is still the 'same old, same old' situation of people thinking - well I can great nails so I'll teach - and as Marian so rightly said, being a great nail tek does not always make a great teacher OR presenter OR be academically bright with product knowledge. We also have this situation of capeable college lectures teaching 'nails' when they have never done enhancementsin their lives; yes manics and pedics but no to actual enhancements - why do you think we don't sell kits to colleges and we are asked all the time to do so! I would prefer a student to get the knowledge of our products from an Ambassador who can not only do great nails, but can teach AND knows her stuff inside out!

Through the site i have heard that creative is upgrading an all ready fantastic trainning programme

Firstly, thank you for the compliment! We have upgraded everything and the official launch will be March but you are already seeing the beautiful new ads... I can safely say that we have always been several steps ahead of the competition with our eductaion program... even now we are still the only company that insists on education with our products. We have done a re-vamp because we recognise that changes occurr and we must keep up with the changes! I can tell you that the Foundation Course will be 5 days; I can tell you that any 'Master' who has not trained within the last 2 years will loose their Master status; I can tell you that you can now become a Master in L+P, Gel, Fabric# and CreativeSpa - if you become a master in all you will become a Grand Master and you MUST update every year to keep the Master certificate renewed!! Also, you can't start the Masters courses until you have at least one year under your belt! So... a little taster there...

Do educators have an annuall evaluation? Who do you no to be the best of the best as individuals?

Absolutely - we call it Regionals and we hold it for all 50 UK Creative Ambassadors every year. This updates them on new products + F&B's, new teaching methods, prices - everything.... We also award our Ambassadors with 2yr / 5yr / 10yr C-Pins (2yr = Gold, 5yr = Ruby, 10yr = Diamond - Yes they are real before you ask)!! We also give out the Ambassador of the Year Award for the the Ambassador who has excelled in that year (this covers lots of areas also!)

To become an Ambassador, everyone of us has had to go through the infamous 'Boot Camp' aka Creative Institute - this is a 7 day intensive training that takes you through EVERYTHING. I did 'Bootcamp' in 1994 and then it seems I did it every year for the next 3 years - in 1997 I did Boot Camp in the US and haven't doen it since!(probably a good job as after that one I came home and divorced husband number 1 ). The reason I have been through so many is because in the 'old days - early 90's to late 90's we did Bootcamps rather than Regionals to update our Ambassadors - thank goodness we don't have to do that anymore!! (although tbh, it is good to do it again once in a while)!!

At CND we choose 'very carefully' who attends... we have a pre qual day etc and the 'best of the best' are invited... Teaching is not about 'me, me me' - it is about 'enlightening the student and empowering them to become successful' - that is what every single CND Ambassador should strive for! Hope this has answered some of your questions!

 

[MadAboutNails]

I did my training at my local college, NVQ Unit 19 and we were extremely lucky the year I did the course to have a practising nail technician with 27yrs experience behind her & owns her own business, creative trained/master tech. (Hence why i converted to creative after the course!!) They didn't always do this though and used to be the college tutors.... but from what I have heard from others, colleges do seem to have a bad reputation when it comes to nails.