Becoming a teacher with a History degree?

I want to become a teacher with a general History degree, but I’ve read that in my state (Indiana) you must have a content major and an education minor to be a high school teacher—but the college I’ve been admitted to doesn’t have an education minor. They do offer a Social Studies Teaching major, but…to do that you have to learn many subjects that I’m just not interested in teaching, and it seems my energy would be better spent focusing on one discipline besides (especially considering history’s a broad enough subject as it is). That, and I don’t like the idea of being trapped in teaching forever; if it doesn’t work out for some reason, I’d like having a degree that can be useful in other areas as well.

I’ve looked at my college’s website and Indiana’s teaching requirements for guidence, but with little luck. Is there any path I could take to become a teacher with just a normal History degree? Could I talk with my college and “make” an education minor, or?

Hmm… you need to talk to someone in your state. I have a history degree, no minor in education and I teach high school. I also have a single subject credential.

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High schools do not hire history teachers. They hire social studies teachers.

@TomSrOfBoston I’m not following what you just said?

@Elefseia If you’ve read that the Indiana regulations require public high school teachers to have a subject area (content) major and an education minor and you plan to work in Indiana after graduation, then you’ll need to ask your college if/how you can fulfill that.

My daughter is a history teacher and got her ug degree in Missouri, which is probably similar to Indiana in its requirements. She did a history major and an education major and her college submitted all the paperwork necessary for her to get her Missouri secondary teaching credential a couple of months after she graduated. It is for social studies and she did have to take courses in economics, anthropology, political science, etc. She also had to take the Praxis, a multistate secondary social studies exam, which has questions in geography and other social sciences, and is recognized by about 40 states.

So it sounds to me that your college’s Social Studies Teaching major may be the way to go. High school history teachers are sometimes asked to teach economics or US government or even psychology; the more you can teach, the better your job options are for the future.

Keep in mind also that some states require a master’s degree to teach in secondary school. This could be a subject area M.A., an M Ed, or MAT.

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