Why you shouldn’t teach without a teaching qualification
By Katie Barnes | 15 June 2021 | Expert Advice, Feature, Training
Teaching without a qualification to do so is unfortunately something we come across in the nail industry and it causes a lot of debate.
Teaching without a proper qualification is no different to performing nail services without a qualification – we will always come across it and the lack of regulation for education and technicians in the nail industry doesn’t aid this issue.
Social media and video channels have made it far too easy for nail enthusiasts to turn to informal training, and it’s become easy for anyone to ‘teach’ nail techniques online. Accredited and non-accredited courses are also a big topic for debate.
As with any insurance policy , we have it in the hope that we will not need it.
If you teach without a teaching qualification, you are taking a great risk because you will not be insured to do so.
If something were to go wrong in that class or the student did something wrong in the future, a solicitor could apply to have that class ‘unaccredited’. If it was then discovered that the tech did not have a qualification and therefore no insurance to teach, they would be personally responsible and legal action would be taken against them and they would have no protection.
How can a tech teach without a qualification and insurance, yet preach that a tech needs a qualification and insurance to carry out nail services on their clients?
Improving the industry standards starts with improving education. It can be too easy to gain accreditation, with poor quality courses being passed. If the course is too cheap and seems too good to be true, it probably is. Good training costs money and takes time. A good and skilled educator will not devalue their skills and the cost of training.
While someone may be an amazing nail technician, competitor, or award winner it does not mean that they can or should teach.
Teaching isn’t about showing someone how you do a technique; it’s about showing someone how they can achieve that technique. You must have a minimum amount of experience in the subject you are teaching, and you must know your subject inside out. You also need to gain additional skills on how to teach. This is completely different skill set to performing a technique yourself, however talented you are at that skill.
If you are considering a career in education in the nail industry, my previous blog for Scratch offers an insight into teaching in the nail industry. Make sure you are getting into teaching for the right reasons and invest is doing it properly and it will be the most rewarding career.
Love Katie B x