<p>I've done a little research into it already, but none of it is very applicable to me or my situation, so I decided to ask myself. I'm considering doing double majors in college next fall, but I want to know if it's truly right for me. My course plan, as of right now:</p>
<p>Major: English
Minor: Education</p>
<p>Major Journalism
Minor: Creative Writing</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Major: English
Minor: Journalism</p>
<p>Major: Education
Minor: Creative Writing</p>
<p>I plan on mostly spending time as an English teacher teaching at the high-school level, and potentially also teaching Journalism and Creative Writing classes. During the summer, I'd want to be able to apply my Journalism major to jobs in that field. I'm not considering it because I think it makes me sound good or would look good on a resume, if it even does. I'm considering it because I love the idea of English Education, but I'm just as passionate about journalism, and this seems the best mixture of the two. After some experience in my chosen field, I plan on working online while teaching in order to get my Master's in English. Following the completion of my Master's, I'm also considering teaching college level. </p>
<p>I was mostly curious about how much additional money, if any, it would cost to complete these two majors, and which of the above plans would likely be best for what I plan on doing. I was also wondering if the extra course load would be too much to handle with a part-time job. Yes, I'm fine with a more lacking social life. I've already knocked a few of the courses I'll need out of the way with my school's Great Start program, as well as many of my college's chosen Gen Eds. </p>
<p>Your first step is to go to your university’s (or perspective university’s) education department. They can guide you because education typically has more requirements set-in-stone than other Bachelor degrees. Then, you’ll want to speak to the English department. Education varies so much by state and university, that your best bet is to go specifically to someone at that university.</p>
First of all, it scares me that you want to pursue a teaching job but aren’t sure that you’ll major in education. If you are a future teacher, you 100% need to major in education. There is so much you learn that you would miss out on otherwise (developmental psychology, educational leadership, educating vs. training, etc.). If that is where your heart is and where you are passionate, education major is the way to go.
That being said, you can absolutely still use journalism on the side. It might be hard to find summer jobs for journalism because that’s just a weird time frame… but you could be a volunteer over the summer for different journalism places, or intern.
Because you are secondary education, you will choose a focus area. You would obviously choose English. So a lot of these classes are going to be similar to creative writing and will overlap some English major classes. Education is a very solid, jam-packed major, that you really need to devote yourself to. I think that you should do it if you’re passionate with it, and you will find a way to incorporate your English skills when you’re not teaching. It’s not hard to do:)
As much as I’m sure you would love to teach journalism, know that it’s unlikely to happen right away. A new hire is far more likely to be given basic English classes to teach. So majoring in journalism probably isn’t a great idea if you want to teach HS English. Likewise, while Creative Writing sounds like lots of fun, it probably won’t prepare you for all the other aspects of a job teaching HS English.
The English Major/ Education minor is the way to go, in my opinion. It offers the broadest coursework. So you’ll be not only certified, but also ready to teach a basic freshman English course-- everything from grammar to vocab to spelling to Lord of the Flies and The Hobbit.
In many schools, you choose a subject area within the School of Education.
Also, for what it’s worth, I think the English major will look better at hiring time. Most schools aren’t looking for teachers for those plum courses-- they have lots of teachers with proven track records already on staff who would love a shot at the Journalism or Creative Writing courses, full of upperclassmen who choose to be there. If there’s an opening (and that’s a big IF… more on that in a second), it will be for the basic Frosh English classes.
OK, back to the job market. I won’t lie-- it’s pretty rough for Secondary English. Here’s what I suggest: Instead of worrying about extra coursework, contact some of the high schools near your college. See whether any need a Forensics coach. Coaching Speech and Debate is VERY time consuming. But that’s precisely the reason that coaches are so hard to find. Doing it for a few years will make you a MUCH stronger candidate. English teachers are very easy to find, but Forensics Coaches are brutally hard. It could make a huge difference at hiring time!!!