<p>Few questions. If I want to teach at the High School or Junior College level it's my understanding a masters is best, at minimum, maybe even Phd if I want to teach at the junior college level. This I understand. However, which programs do you recommend? I know there's a masters of teaching (with teaching certificate) that takes a year to complete online through USC. </p>
<p>There's also a 2 year masters of education (with teaching certificate) at UCLA. Which is best? Education or Teaching masters? What other options can you recommend, either online or brick and mortar here in Los Angeles? If I was to skip both masters ideas and just go for the Phd, which should I choose then? I'm an English undergrad btw. I would want to teach creative writing at High School or above. I just want to know what the best route is to secure work, which I know will be difficult in California let alone in English, so I want to maximize my ability to land work.</p>
<p>Oh, and do I take the GRE for these programs for entry? What else is required to apply? </p>
<p>I don’t recommend anything in particular - you should look at what’s required in your state and what most teachers in your state have. I would imagine that the MAT and the M.Ed are treated about equally; more teachers I know have an M.Ed, but I think that’s because there are more M.Ed programs. Typically speaking, the 1-year MAT programs focus primarily on the education classes you need to get certified, while the 2-year M.Ed programs include advanced classes in your field in addition to the certification courses. I personally wouldn’t do any online programs, nor would I spend a ton of money on this. It’s best to go to your in-state public option; teaching isn’t a prestige-focused field, and teachers don’t make enough to repay many tens or hundreds of thousands in debt for a place like USC.</p>
<p>As a side, though, if you got certified to teach in English you probably wouldn’t be teaching creative writing at the high school level. You’d be teaching standard English classes - English language and literature, primarily. You MAY be able to offer creative writing as an elective at a school in a wealthy district or a private school, but most high schools don’t have that as an elective, and even if they did you would only teach one period of it per day most likely.</p>
<p>If you wanted to teach junior/community college, then yes, you would need a PhD - the market is so competitive now that you couldn’t hope to get at tenure-track position in CA without one, even at a CC. I hear from English folk that one of the more competitive PhDs you can get is rhetoric and composition; junior colleges don’t need creative writing teachers. They need people who can teach freshman composition as well as some other service courses at the freshman/sophomore level, like an introduction to English literature. You also may be expected to teach some sections online. Again, if you get one creative writing elective per year, you’d be lucky.</p>
<p>If you wanted to teach creative writing full-time (as opposed to mostly English literature and/or composition courses), then you’d probably want to get an MFA or PhD in the field and compete to teach in a graduate-level creative writing program or at a school that had a creative writing major. But even then, those jobs are extremely competitive AND at the undergrad level, someone with a PhD in English and a concentration in creative writing may be more competitive because they can teach both literature and writing.</p>
<p>@juillet Wow, you nailed it for me, thanks! I’m not set on creative writing. Just teaching English at High School or CC would be a big achievement for me, so I’ll stay on track for that as an option. I guess I’ll choose the one year MAT program, all things considered equal. Or, I’ll go with the Phd. Time will tell. Thanks so much for your help. :)</p>