Teachers are among the most needed professionals right now, and also among the best paying. But before becoming a teacher you have to meet the requirements to become approved in the area of teaching you want to pursue. Failure to meet the local standards set by your regional authority will leave you unemployed and unemployable in the teaching profession.
Different standards are expected at different levels and in different institutions. Most public schools from K-12 require a combination of a bachelor’s degree plus some level of professional training specifically aimed at certification. To determine what the certification and licensure process requires in your locale check with your local board of education. You can also get good information online from official state department of education sites or from such educational programs as the University of Kentucky’s site of ongoing certification criteria: http://www.uky.edu/Education/TEP/usacert.html.
Private schools will require their own set of qualifications. In many instances a good private school will be far more interested in a combination of academic excellence and related work experience. Schools like Montessori schools have their own training programs and teachers must qualify through the appropriate training schools. Other schools, though independent, will end up requiring double qualifications: a set to satisfy the school’s norms, and another set, often reflecting that of the region, that ensures that prospective parents won’t think the teachers under qualified. Be certain to read job listings carefully, and check all boilerplate on the school: hints can be found of the expectations the school expect you to meet, and which it in turn is trying to meet.
The rule of thumb applied to most college level teaching jobs are that you need an MA in your subject to be hired by a junior college, and a PhD to be hired by a four year college or a university. These rules, however, are bent in very many ways. TAs, assistants, and other support teachers not on tenure track may be of a lower level of training than expected for their school. Likewise there are exceptions made for those with exceptional real life experience. This particularly applies to those in the arts and in trades, where the educational background may have been acquired through apprenticeships, studios, or through direct on the job involvement. A highly successful writer, law enforcement officer, or welder may serve as a professor in some programs on the basis of applied knowledge and skill rather than academic background.
There are other situations that allow you to become a teacher through unusual paths. In districts with severe teaching shortages certification can be waived, especially if a teacher can demonstrate some degree of previous experience (as a tutor through a non-profit for example). Provided a teacher has a BA there are often places that are in sufficient need to hire that the application will be accepted. Similarly a substitute teacher with a BA who has proven satisfactory to the school may be offered a permanent position.
If you want to teach K-12, do expect to need a BA, a post graduate program in education, and to pass a certification test. This is the commonest route to professional teaching. If you can, combine a strong background in a subject with graduate level certification. This leaves you with the greatest flexibility and offers a school the dual advantage of a great subject teacher with the publicly expected certification.
Tags: Career & Employment, careers, college, teacher, teaching career, teaching jobs, teaching profession
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