Teaching Beauty Courses

[Purple Rose]

I'm a little confused in to how some people who are fairly new in the industry are able to open up beauty courses when I would have thought they wouldnt have full experience. I could be wrong, but when I passed my BTEC in beauty I asked when it would be possible to become a tutor and they said I'd need a minimum of 5 years experience. Now don't get me wrong I wasn't presuming I'd go straight from a course to a tutor I was just interested as thats how I would like to progress in my career. But there seems to be lots of courses opening up with people who appear to have only just learnt themself so surely they can't have the experience. I'm just unsure thats all.

 

[Sparkle'n'shine]

to teach the amount of experience required depends on the owners requirements. To teach someone you will need experience as how can you expect to learn of someone who hasnt performed a treatment on a memeber of the public. Companies to insure you to teach do not require experience just a teaching qualification and relevant training and qualifiactions in the area you want to teach. HTH x

 

[Halls of Ivy]

I'm a little confused in to how some people who are fairly new in the industry are able to open up beauty courses when I would have thought they wouldnt have full experience. I could be wrong, but when I passed my BTEC in beauty I asked when it would be possible to become a tutor and they said I'd need a minimum of 5 years experience. Now don't get me wrong I wasn't presuming I'd go straight from a course to a tutor I was just interested as thats how I would like to progress in my career. But there seems to be lots of courses opening up with people who appear to have only just learnt themself so surely they can't have the experience. I'm just unsure thats all.

Hi Purple Rose,
Im glad that you have brought this subject to light as it is something i feel very strongly about. When i first became a trainer at a further education college it was essential and a job requirement that all tutors had a minimum of 5 years experience. I think for the learner its essential that their teacher/trainer have maximum experience in the area of learner to offer maximum learning opportunity.

There seems to have been many changes in the criteria required over the last few years. It almost seems as though there is a loop hole in the industry which allows this. I dont think i would have been entirely satisfied if id have known that my trainer did not have experience in the area that i was learning.

I spent alot of time and financing on completing a PGCE and CPD to find that there are now cheaper/easy access options such as PTTLS. Perhaps the flip side of the coin is that HE colleges want individuals to complete PTTLS to encourage them into a future teaching career which may be good for the economy. PTTLS does mean preparing to teach in the lifelong sector, i feel that learners that complete the PTTLS with no experience in their subject specialism or teaching, should be supported by teaching alongside someone. maybe maybe not.

I do firmly believe that the best learning experience will be offered by those with vast amounts of industry experience, it seems unfair to the unknowing learner that they may not be offered this.After all we as experienced therapists would look to some of the industry greats for further training knowing what they have to offer. Newbies to the industry dont, and we only know through mistakes (possibly expensive ones). Apologies for the small gripe.

My statement may open up some form of debate, i recognise there are many fantastic product trainers within the industry that train new products all the time, i dont wish to offend anyone with my comments its merely my opinion. (perhaps better off kept to myself :lick

 

[Kim Lawless]

I was always under the impression that to be a trainer (outside of a college) you had to have outstanding skill or as I have done, developed ones own technique.

It seems now that companies can make all their staff trainers.......regardless of the fact that they only recently been trained themselves, and they are all covered by just one of them having the 7303 qualification. :twisted:

 

[banannarama]

our whole bloomin' industry is in need of a wee shake up :twisted: x

 

[cabinkel]

For me personaly as a student, I wouldnt want to be trained by someone who isnt a working therapist/nailtech/lash tech. Anyone can teach from a manual, but if they are not out there "walking the walk" (or have vast industry experience) then they do not have the tools I personly want from a trainer. That may seem a generic, sweeping, unfair statement but I feel strongly about that!
I need my trainer to have confidence and experience when I ask them how to overcome a hurdle or deal with something tricky, not just to give me a generic, text book answer.
(i am not meaning to be derogative (sp) to anyone, just saying a students view) It really really bugs me and I strongly believe that this is a big contributing factor to why the standards in our industry have gone down so much.
:hug::hug::hug:

 

[hippy-chick]

This is what happened a while back

the colleges where given a time limit to prove that all of their teaching staff had valid teaching certificates. A good proportion of long standing staff had been recruited because of their skill and experience but had no teaching certificates.

to fulfill the deadline colleges devised a fast track teaching course, cutting down a long year course to just 20 hours. this infact fulfilled what they needed to do and they covered themselves with regards to proving the relevant paperwork.

What they then perhaps should have done was withdraw the fast track teaching courses to the public but they didn't. In all fairness to the public, when they enrolled on one of these courses they believed that the course had been set to professional requirement status and what they learn't was enough.

I have seen a professional teacher training course with accreditation for a short one day course since then.

It used to be standard that you had to have a certain amount of professional experience before you could teach a course, and some of you have quoted 5 years.

 

[Halls of Ivy]

Im glad its not just me. I was concerned that i may get shot down for speaking my mind.

Hippychick, thats rather interesting i was not aware that what they did, explains alot.

I have carried our trade tests for potential employees who showed they had not been trained to a high level, which seemed such a shame.

I think the insurance bodies should regulate if possible to try and filter out those who accredit courses with limited experience or up the requirements.

 

[Sparkle'n'shine]

after completing PTLLS you have 5 years to complete your DTLLS or CTLLS or Cert Ed. If you do not complete it the PTLLS that you did does not count or they take it off you. Thats what i was told at college. PTLLS counts as 8 units towards the next level of teaching course you wish to take . PTLLS ables you to get insurance and get tteaching hours before you start your next course.

 

[Purple Rose]

I'm glad there's other people who feel the same way about this than me. I just think in this industry without the experience you just cannot teach it regardless of the qualification. "What happens if you get a bit of wax stuck, it has to come off, how would you tell a student if you don't know yourself." my tutor at college said this to me when I was asking her all about becoming a tutor and she was very much of the opinion that you needed experience aswell as the qualification.

 

[Lynne Baker]

BABTAC requires that you hold a minimum of the PTLLS course, even if you're only going into colleges on their Industry/Enrichment week.
Let us not forget however that these anomalies are not restricted to the beauty industry. For a long, long time it was absolutely standard in the medical profession to "see one, do one, teach one". As a theatre sister I used to teach the newly qualified staff nurses in theatre by assisting the surgeon and talking through the operation to the nurse so he/she could work out what was going on. The junior surgeons were terrifying in their ineptitude! I heard myself saying on more than one occasion "now, Mr Smith is just about to cut through the spermatic cord/popliteal nerve/insert some vital organ here, and I'm sure he doesn't want to do that, do you?"

The clue is in the training course title "lifelong learning".
Just because we've qualified doesn't mean we pack up our pencil case and rough book, or at least it shouldn't!
Part of my salon expenses is an education budget; I've pretty much studied solidly for the last 2 years. I'm having the summer off learning because my brain has turned to scrambled egg, but come September I'll be back at college (possibly doing the CTLLS course as I've just finished the PTLLS one)
Someone mentioned the thought that the industry needs a shakeup. Let's start it from the inside:

1: Don't settle for poorly trained staff. That way they'll understand and cherish the need for good training
2: Have a realistic education budget, not 10 bob and a rabbit!
3: If you employ a newly qualified someone and they're crap, let the college know
4: Use education as an incentive for your staff: meet your target and I'll send you on the Lava shell/HD brows/Shellac course
5: Shout about how well educated you and your staff are to your clients - the more that clients realise how important education is the more they'll demand it!

Don't rely on the insurance companies and the colleges to force a change - let's bring it about from the inside. It has far more credibility that way.

 

[joe90]

It would be difficult to monitor but I think there should be some prerequisites for anyone wanting to undertake the PTLLS course, like 3-5 years experience in the area you wish to teach. On submitting paperwork for accreditation, companies such as BABTAC Pro Beauty etc should then run checks that subject certs and PTLLS certificate fall under these prerequisites.

For anyone to have a one day course in say waxing can then go away and run their own courses or train for a company within weeks of qualifying is ludicrous.

Yes, I train for a company, in fact I am proud to say that I run the only Lori Nestore (The Wax Queen) approved course in the UK. This has taken hard work, experience, and taking courses with Lori in the US before she would approve me. This ensures that that I am up to the standards she requires along with satisfying the accreditation requirements here in the UK.

 

[Kim Lawless]

I would say that 90% of my students are freelance (work for themselves only). Salon/Spa owners do not want to pay out for their staff to be trained in a new skill.

My guess is that most Salon Geek active members are freelance as I find that salons/spa's can be locked away in their own world and often are not up to date with the latest trends. I'm not saying ALL........but most.

Freelance therapists are always keen to learn and up their game, whereas many (not all) salons/spa's want training for nothing. Why? They are so used to buying into say a brand, where the training is free that they begrudge paying out just training. What they should understand is that the company (say skincare) can afford to give free or cheap training as they'll be making money from them in the future by selling them their products.

I know of therapists who have paid in the region of £10,000 to a private beauty school course and still have the same moans about sub-standard training that the therapists trained at a council colleges have.

 

[SUGARFLICK]

Hi all, I did a PTTLS last summer I learnt so much. I found it very hard in places as it challenged my thinking and my beliefs but all in a positve way. This really is a good course whether you have to have it or not, if you want to train you do really need to understand the level of individuals' learning, and if you have years of experience in your industry and want to teach it but have no knowledge of where to start, then, the PTTLS is a brilliant way forward. Andy of Axiom first told me about it 2 years ago, I found it incredibly difficult to find this course, I had to call every college til I found one, it was not well advertised at all. Itchen college in SOUTHAMPTON are starting their PTTLS (Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Learning sector) on the 11th June.
They guarantee a maximum group size of 10 participants and course completion within 8 meetings with a further 2 weeks for portfolio completion. Certification in through Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR)

Adult Education Office on 023 80 435636.

Hope this helps people who are in this area and have been looking for a course like this.

Sugarflick

 

[SUGARFLICK]

Hear hear !!

well done on going for the CTTLS, the PTTLS left my brain scrambled too but it was indeed one of the best things I have done, now just have to finish writing my course for Habia or similar. I totally agree about "just because we are qualified" the PTTLS really challenges our thinking when teaching someone else our skill, one brilliant thing was I paired up with a girl from ITV, who wanted to teach media, we worked on the last lesson together and from that I got a video on you tube. The lesson learnt was invaluable
good luck with the CTTLS.
Fee

BABTAC requires that you hold a minimum of the PTLLS course, even if you're only going into colleges on their Industry/Enrichment week.
Let us not forget however that these anomalies are not restricted to the beauty industry. For a long, long time it was absolutely standard in the medical profession to "see one, do one, teach one". As a theatre sister I used to teach the newly qualified staff nurses in theatre by assisting the surgeon and talking through the operation to the nurse so he/she could work out what was going on. The junior surgeons were terrifying in their ineptitude! I heard myself saying on more than one occasion "now, Mr Smith is just about to cut through the spermatic cord/popliteal nerve/insert some vital organ here, and I'm sure he doesn't want to do that, do you?"

The clue is in the training course title "lifelong learning".
Just because we've qualified doesn't mean we pack up our pencil case and rough book, or at least it shouldn't!
Part of my salon expenses is an education budget; I've pretty much studied solidly for the last 2 years. I'm having the summer off learning because my brain has turned to scrambled egg, but come September I'll be back at college (possibly doing the CTLLS course as I've just finished the PTLLS one)
Someone mentioned the thought that the industry needs a shakeup. Let's start it from the inside:

1: Don't settle for poorly trained staff. That way they'll understand and cherish the need for good training
2: Have a realistic education budget, not 10 bob and a rabbit!
3: If you employ a newly qualified someone and they're crap, let the college know
4: Use education as an incentive for your staff: meet your target and I'll send you on the Lava shell/HD brows/Shellac course
5: Shout about how well educated you and your staff are to your clients - the more that clients realise how important education is the more they'll demand it!

Don't rely on the insurance companies and the colleges to force a change - let's bring it about from the inside. It has far more credibility that way.

 

[Halls of Ivy]

This is exactly how i feel! XX

It would be difficult to monitor but I think there should be some prerequisites for anyone wanting to undertake the PTLLS course, like 3-5 years experience in the area you wish to teach. On submitting paperwork for accreditation, companies such as BABTAC Pro Beauty etc should then run checks that subject certs and PTLLS certificate fall under these prerequisites.

For anyone to have a one day course in say waxing can then go away and run their own courses or train for a company within weeks of qualifying is ludicrous.

Yes, I train for a company, in fact I am proud to say that I run the only Lori Nestore (The Wax Queen) approved course in the UK. This has taken hard work, experience, and taking courses with Lori in the US before she would approve me. This ensures that that I am up to the standards she requires along with satisfying the accreditation requirements here in the UK.

 

[kennedia]

I think the teaching pre-requisite should be higher than PTTLS. After all, the PTTLS is all about preparing to teach, rather than actully teaching.

 

[Lynne Baker]

Even in the PTLLS course you have to actually carry out a micro teaching session. Granted it's only a micro teach, but at least it's a practical demonstration of your ability to teach.

 

[kennedia]

Even in the PTLLS course you have to actually carry out a micro teaching session. Granted it's only a micro teach, but at least it's a practical demonstration of your ability to teach.

I know, but it's usually only a 15 minute session or the like. It's not really much to be fair to then go on and become a full time 'tutor'.