I’m having some trouble making a final decision on my major. I still have time to decide but I am not sure what will be best long-term. I’m applying to Mizzou and the school of journalism sounds really appealing, especially because they have one of the best. However, I would really like to be an English teacher so I was planning on majoring in secondary education with an emphasis in language arts. I’m not sure if majoring in journalism would make it more difficult to become a teacher, or if it would help since Mizzou specializes in journalism? The only reason I am having doubts about a secondary education major is because I feel like it’s not very versatile, the only jobs you can get with that degree seem to be teaching jobs and not much else. In contrast, journalism seems to be more versatile as you can apply it to more than one career (i.e. pre-law, different types of journalism, newsroom, editing, etc). But aside from that, I am not sure I need a degree in journalism to become a journalist, and like I said above I don’t know if I’d be able to get a job as a teacher if I am a journalism major. Any advice is appreciated!
Hi! I’m in the same boat—sort of. I want to be a journalism teacher at the secondary level. I don’t want to be an English teacher, mostly because I don’t want to be subjected to all of the course load an English major requires.
There are specific journalism education programs that combine journalism and pedagogy courses so that you’re getting the best of both. Ball State, IU Bloomington, and Lamar come to mind. I’d love to be in any of these programs, but because I’m out-of-state for all of them, I’d most likely not end up going.
You certainly don’t need a degree in journalism to be a journalist, and you could probably teach at any middle or high school in the country as long as you have professional educator certification/licensure.
Major in journalism, minor in secondary ed, and get ELA, CTE, or communication certifications if you need it.
Or major in Journalism and get a masters in secondary education.