Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Becoming a Teacher

Saturday, January 23, 2010 posted by Frank Stevens 5:26 AM

Becoming a Teacher

Teachers are always in demand. Whether you are talking about pre-school, grade school, middle school, high school, or even college, each level has a constant need for teachers. Everybody has to go to school. Every community has to have schools. Every school has to have teachers. When choosing a career, if you like dealing with a captive audience who is ready to learn, teaching might be the profession for you. But what does it take to become a teacher? What do you have to do? Will a school just hire anybody off of the street? No. There are steps to take and hoops to jump through. But when you make it, getting to reach out and help somebody learn makes it all worth it.

The first thing you need to do to become a teacher is get a bachelor’s degree. Depending on what age level you want to teach, you will need to pick a degree program in the department of education. The bachelor’s degree programs take four years, and have many different specialties. You can learn early childhood education, education and public policy, organizational management with emphasis in child studies, physical education, or just basic education principles. The programs are geared towards helping you develop the skills to become a teacher, including organization, public speaking, psychology, and the latest learning methods. You could stop your education after receiving a bachelor’s degree, but you will likely have a difficult time getting a job. To make yourself more marketable, you will have to go on to graduate school.

A master’s degree will get you an edge when it comes to competing for teaching jobs. The degree will give you more specialization, making you a recognized theoretical expert in some part of the teaching field. Like the bachelor’s degree programs, you will go through the department of education at your school of choice. You can study technology in education, education management, student affairs, or even just more education in the basic art of teaching. Once you have your graduate degree, you will be ready to move on to take the final steps toward becoming a teacher. You have the choice to go on for postgraduate learning, earning a doctorate degree, but it is not necessary at this point to find gainful employment.

Once you have completed your education, you are ready to get certified with the state that you want to teach in. Each state has different criteria for certification. In Texas, you are required to take a certification test based on the specialty that you want to pursue. You will also have to take specific courses for teaching, but these will probably have been satisfied in the master’s degree program. Some states have more difficult criteria, some require less of you.

Once you have completed your education and certification, you are ready to find employment as a teacher. You will likely be required to continue education during your tenure. This helps you keep up to date with the latest teaching methods. But now you are ready to get out there and make a difference in somebody’s life.