Now, there are a very small percentage of you, who actually had the privilege of having a good school at your disposal with good teachers. The rest of us did not. Most of us didn’t really even have a teacher. We had a STUDENT teacher, you know, someone, who has just graduated from the Cosmetology program and decided, “Hey, I want to be a teacher”.
These “Teachers” have NO salon experience at all, what so ever, yet they are going to teach you how to do nails. Most of them can’t do nails themselves. You are then left to read the Milady book, which we all know how archaic that thing is and what a joke the majority of it is. Yes, they did an update recently, but it’s still out of date. So, you read the book, take the test, then the “Teacher” goes over the test with you, then you take it officially. A rock could pass these tests after the teacher just gave you all of the answers.
I personally feel, that if you are going to be a teacher in a beauty school, no matter which faction you teach, you should have at least two years of salon experience. How can you teach and guide students in something that you know absolutely nothing about?
This is the main reason that we have so many newbies out there that haven’t a clue what they are doing. This is sad. They pay thousands of dollars for an education that they are not getting. They are only being taught what is necessary to pass the state board exams and let’s just admit it; those are an even bigger joke. A deaf and blind poodle could pass that test. It really isn’t testing you for today’s world either. Think of the last time you did a silk wrap. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm my last time was at my STATE BOARD EXAM, eons ago.
Most of these schools rely heavily on Manufacturer Educators or seasoned professionals that will come in and demo for the students. This is especially true for the Nail Technology course. Most of these students receive the majority of valuable education from these people. Guess what???? These are the people that are VOLUNTEERING their time! Sure, if you are a Manufacturer Educator, you may be compensated, minimally, for your time, however, when you take the time to pack all of your crap up, drive to the school, unload, set up, demo, pack back up, drive home and unpack, CONGRATULATIONS – you just made a dollar an hour! So, most do it for the love of educating and to pay it forward in the industry.
Isn’t it a shame that the people who are teaching these students the most are compensated the least? The schools and instructors are making money hand over fist, yet people who are volunteering their time are doing the actual educating. This is sad.
This industry needs to change and it needs to change from the start and that starts with the schools. State boards need to be more actively involved in the day to day operations of schools; they need to hold them accountable. They need to go to standardized testing so that everyone, no matter what state you live in, takes the same test. They need to update the test so that students are tested on trends and product types, which are being used TODAY, not ones that haven’t been used since Madge laid down her nail file and we all stopped “Soakingin it”.
Until this happens, we will continue to churn out uneducated nail techs who can’t polish a nail or don’t know how to file the free edge. Until this happens we will never be taken seriously in the beauty industry.
4 comments:
Well said, I didn't go into this field until 10 years after I got my certificates because the education was so bad. It wasn't until I decided Nails was all I wanted to do that I found someone to show me the ropes and help me learn techniques that were going to get me going. I learned more from watching and practicing then I learned in 5 months of esthetics school.
I am here screaming literally. This is oh oh....so true. I am a nail tech now for 15yrs and I tell you, the little I now is what I have dug and dug and dug and went and went and paid and paid to teach myself outside of my schooling. I totally agree with you. I want to print this, as I am now currently enrolled in cosmetology school now in Ohio and I had to retake the nail course, because I am license nail specialize, with license from the state of Florida and Ohio State doesn't take specialty licenses from any other state, so if you come here with a specialty license and not a full cosmetology you have to go back to school. So I decided I was not going to go back to school for something I been doing for 15yrs, so I am going to be a full cosmetologist. I agree with you about the instructors, they are former students with no salon experience and a hot head. I hate it, I am so frustrated. I really am. In the nail course, we had for 5 weeks I literally taught that class for free, all the girls was coming to me as they knew I am a license nail tech. The instructor, had no salon experience at all. We did acrylics 1day and it was a mess. We did the old gels, the brush on the ones I learned 15yrs ago when I was in school, that was a mess. It was horrible. I am so like I can't believe this and the instructors are so proud and hot head and full of empty knowledge and they act the way they do because they don't know anything and this is how they build themselves up. You don't know how encouraging this was reading this to know I am not alone....Thank you for this.
Sadly, this is the norm all over the US. There are good schools, but very few of them. Kudos to you for giving the students some type of education in nails. I am sure they will remember you for the length of their career for giving the necessary foundation that they never would have received otherwise.
ROFLMAO...gurllllll u r truly hitting the nail on the head...I 2 paid a lot of $$ for my license and didn't learn nothing...I personally have paid more just to take classes from some of the industry leaders...I'm so glad that we now have blogs like this one and other avenues to learn from...keep it up
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