Why Educate?

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When I wrote my article last week, I was a tad bit apprehensive. Even my husband thought I was taking too much of a risk.

However, the many responses from all channels that I received, solidified the need to bring attention to the matter of Education in our schools.

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There is a common denominator in the many responses. That being….most of us learned pretty much nothing in school and those of us who have succeeded….are self taught.

THAT is just crazy. Why even go to school?

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Well, the fact of the matter is, we have to go to school in order to obtain a license, to perform Nail Services.

 

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The real sad part is, if sleeping in a chair instead of teaching your students, if ignoring your students and letting them be “self taught” is a thing….why put yourself in a teaching position in the first place?

I’m afraid the answer is ugly. I’m afraid most (not all) of our Nail Instructors are tired of being behind the chair, they are physically not capable on continuing to do nails and/or, they are just burn’t out.

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My parents have told me that I’ve wanted to teach almost as soon as I could speak.

When playing school with my siblings….I was always the teacher. My entire professional career, I always found myself in positions of authority which always involved some type of teaching.

Whether it be teaching about a product or how to use a product…the product didn’t. matter, I was always teaching a lesson.

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I’ve always been (so my parents tell me) the helpful one. I was the go getter, the one to make things happen. I was also the inquisitive one, like the time I asked a Sister(nun) friend of ours…if she had legs underneath that black skirt or even why my skin was a different color than then the lady at the check out counter of the store we were in. (Actually a great and funny story)

I just was constantly wanting to learn.

However, I was constantly wanting to take everything I did learn and share it with others.

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Teaching for me was (and still is) about helping other people grow.

I thrive on passing knowledge. Helping others succeed has always been my #1 reason for teaching.

THEN

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My husband and I were watching a TV program last week. I’m not even sure what it was. For all I know, it could have been a news channel. My husband flips channels continuously.

The caption read “the majority of our generation under 40, have never heard of the holocaust”

It caught my attention (from my mindless iPad games) and the story went on to a teacher of holocaust history.

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This teacher went on to explain the damage this ‘lack of knowledge” can have on future generations.

He explained “we teach not just because of the knowledge, we teach so history doesn’t repeat itself” Knowing the history of the holocaust, helps us to realize what we shouldn’t do for future generations. If we don’t have this knowledge, we chance history repeating itself?

WOW

 

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I thought about that statement. It struck me really hard.

I related it to nails and I think about the very first class I took which started my path to foot care. I knelt at the side of my bed after the first day, and I thanked my God my “lack of knowledge” has not brought harm to my clients in prior years.

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I’ve thought about the advances we have made in our Industry and how, if we never learned…we would have never known.

  • MMA is a dangerous product
  • Formaldehyde is a carcinogenic … just to name a couple

If we didn’t learn of the dangers these two ingredients have on us, on our clients, we would never advance to the next level. Which, makes me wonder about those whom still use products containing specifically those two ingredients.

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It makes me think of foot files and how we have learned the dangers of using Satan’s graters, sandpaper, and pumice on our clients feet. How we are still learning of how they not only damage the skin, how they can be the cause of infection.

It makes me think of the current class I’m teaching on Oncology care, and realizing some of the things we currently do in our foot care service is not healthy for any client never mind a client affected by Cancer.

It makes me think about the dangers associated with hot water and soaking a compromised client for too long, if at all.

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All of the above and so much more is so incredibly crucial to the future of our Industry.

The mistakes we make, the damage we cause, the amputations because of infections from improperly cleaned pedi tubs and implements.

If we continue with the pattern of teaching in our schools, our new Technicians will never be able to take our Industry to the next level. We will never be able to change the image of our Industry because we will keep doing the same thing over and over again. The cycle will never end.

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One of the topics which resonates with me is sanitizing practices. Our schools are so incredibly archaic when it pertains to this topic. After all, as I stated in my earlier blog…many of the schools don’t even practice proper sanitizing techniques.

Most of our schools are using sanitizing products which are carcinogenic. Most of our schools don’t even “clean” before they “disinfect”. Most of our schools choose price over quality. They choose price over teaching what is right, what is safe and what will help our students in their future career. Which, teaching the right thing, ultimately helps our Industry.

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What does this all mean?

It means those of us who educate have to realize (including myself), we aren’t just teaching to help someone grow, we are teaching to help the state of our Industry for years to come.

It means our Technicians have to get out of the “I learned in school” mentality and realize just because it was taught to you in school, doesn’t mean it’s accurate. In means you have to do your own homework, check your resources and know who you are learning from. You have to self motivate, self teach in order to change the future of our Industry….or keep it alive and well.

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For me, it has made me realize the importance of sharing the right message. Which is,

Learning is about knowing about products, it is about knowing proper techniques, it is about taking that knowledge into your Salons and teaching your clients.

However it is, even more important to realize, teaching (properly) is about the future of our industry.

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4 thoughts on “Why Educate?”

  1. Hello everyone,
    I share the knowledge that I learn from you and other specialized fields in the nail industry. I took that barbacide certificate to make sure I was using it correctly. Many do not want to learn how to use disinfectants properly. I will keep sharing knowledge because sharing helps everyone in the end.

    I’m thinking about taking all the educational classes that I can. During this pandemic it definitely has gotten easier to find buy all kinds of disinfectants. These nail classes are offering sanitation as the first topic they teach. I do see a shift and I hope it stays like that.

    1. That’s awesome. All education is great education, we just have to know to do our own work and follow up on what we learn. Someone like you is an asset to our Industry. Keep up the good work.

  2. Awesome blog post! So accurate! I was complaining about school once, and my sister (in another profession) told me that all school does is teach you enough to be dangerous. I totally agree that we must always continue to learn and want to learn.

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