Is teaching nail courses the next step for you?
By Katie Barnes | 11 January 2022 | Feature, Training
Have you changed your career focus since the start of the pandemic? Something you may have started, already be toying with, or not yet even considered, is education.
Teaching is not for everyone. It takes a very specific skill set to teach. Being exceptional at the subject in hand, does not automatically mean you will succeed in teaching that topic.
What qualifications do you need?
The first step into becoming an educator is enrolling on a teaching course. I can only advise on UK requirements, so if you are from outside UK you will need to seek the appropriate alternatives.
The current minimum qualification for teaching adults is an AET (Award in Education & Training). This a nationally recognised qualification. This has now replaced PTTLS (Preparing to teach in the long-life learning sector), which is the qualification I and many educators hold. This is the starting point for education.
As well as the technical abilities, you have an additional skill to continue to develop – your teaching expertise. Once you have obtained your AET or equivalent, you can then progress onto A1 Assessors, CET (CTTLS), DET (DTLLS) which are all dedicated to teaching adults.
One of my previous posts explores the question: Do you really need a qualification or can you just go ahead and teach?
Where to do these
There are many online classes taught by educator and techs. I would recommend carrying out this class in a college or university to obtain the best standard. There will however be online alternatives during the current climate. They are usually around a 6-12 week course, with attendance required once per week. There will be a number of assignments and a micro-teach to carry out prior to successful completion.
Once you have obtained your qualification, you need to decide which teaching avenue you would like to explore.
What next?
Depending on the education route you choose to take, you may need to write manuals, create lesson plans and course content, obtain teaching insurance and much more. You also need to consider and tailor how teaching in the nail industry differs to other sectors. This can be completely overwhelming, so I recommend seeking a mentor such as a current educator to help advise and assist on this.
What to charge
We have touched on the various earnings for brand educators, collaborations and teaching from an accreditation board.
When you are responsible for setting your own prices, value yourself. Most don’t charge enough as a nail technician, don’t make this mistake with education and certainly don’t value your education knowledge in the same price range as when you were a nail tech. You need to consider your skills, continued education and all the investments such as accreditation and your time writing the content.
Where does the feedback end?
When someone is purchasing a course, they are paying for your time during that class, not continued feedback. Unless this is part of the course cost to provide ongoing feedback (which you will need to charge for) or requires case studies such as beginner classes this should be provided as an add-on. While a small amount of post-course support is acceptable, where should this stop? Your role was to teach the skills for them to practice and put into play themselves.
If the student has still not mastered the technique, they will require further training, which comes at a cost. Let’s look at driving lessons. Each is charged individually. It does not include additional classes. If you are not picking up the techniques as quickly as expected, it will be necessary for you to purchase additional lessons at a cost. It should be no different in our industry.
I hope this blog has given you a small insight into the route of education should you wish to branch into this avenue.
Signing off,
Katie C x