Education in cosmetology

Abstract

Development in each field of human activity is based on suitable specialist training. It applies to all areas in a modern society production of raw materials and goods, building and maintenance of infrastructure, management, services, etc. None of these areas can function properly and develop without personnel with suitable education. At the same time, the extremely fast progress in applied sciences requires changes in the educational profile. Demand for narrow-educated specialists is decreasing and requirements for formal knowledge are frequently replaced by professional skills. The new approach to professional education is expressed in the recent amendments to the Higher Education Act. The act puts the system of the National Qualification Framework above formal specialization requirements reflected by study curricula. Taking into consideration these trends, educational strategies applied in cosmetology arouse a range of doubts. Tertiary education in cosmetology has quite a long tradition in the USA and Latin America. European institutions teaching cosmetology, located predominantly in Germany and France, provide strictly vocational training at the first level of higher education. A wide range of courses is offered, aimed at preparing different specialists, depending on the profile of an institution. Nevertheless, there is a general tendency to offer wider and wider curricula. Two main directions could be distinguished in this respect: the first prepares students for working within the beauty business, whereas the second is oriented rather towards the cosmetics industry or aesthetic medicine. The latter studies are obviously feasible only in countries with Arct