I’ve recently started considering become a teacher as a career path I might be interested in. For years, I’ve been thinking law or politics or something similar, but I’m really not all that sure about it right now. I realize those thoughts can obviously change, but I’ve also started exploring the idea of teaching. Ideally, I’d want to be a high school English teacher, or possibly history/social studies.
I haven’t gotten much farther than that. I’m not sure what state I’d like to live in when I’m older, or what its requirements for certification will be. I’m an English major right now, so if I understand it correctly, I’d need to get a master’s after that in order to take the licensure test? My school does not offer an undergraduate education major. Or, at least, not currently - the page says that they’re no longer taking applications. I plan to bring this up with my advisor at a meeting scheduled in October.
So I guess my big question is how do you become certified to teach at the secondary level? I’m not sure where student teaching fits in, or if I’ll need more than a bachelor’s degree. I’m not opposed to getting a master’s, but I’m not sure how much it would be worth until I start teaching. Is it like an MBA where you’re supposed to have a few years of experience?
Thank you all in advance for the help!
Hi. I am a public school administrator in New York State whose job includes interviewing and hiring teachers. Some people start with a bachelor’s degree in education, start teaching, and then get their master’s degree. Others-- like me-- major in a non-related subject in the liberal arts, then go for their master’s before starting to teach. (I was an English major before going to graduate school and becoming first an elementary school teacher and then a principal. Personally, I think that a liberal arts background gives you an intellectual heft and breadth of knowledge that will be useful to you as a teacher.)
You will need to do student teaching. Your college or graduate program must have supervised student teaching opportunities. You will need to become certified, usually through a school of education’s program and an exam.
Many teachers who initially were provisionally certified through their bachelor’s programs get their master’s degrees through evening and weekend courses, as they teach during the day. In NY you need your Master’s eventually for permanent certification.
My expertise is only in NY. My recommendation is that you contact the department of education in your state directly and find out the requirements.
My daughter attended a 5 year direct entry program at a NY school (SUNY) and earned her masters’.
One piece of advice I would give you is to check if the programs you are interested in are NCATE accredited. That accreditation can provide reciprocity with some other states or make the testing or other requirements that you have to go through to get licensed in that other state easier. Not all states accept licenses from other states, you have to check. Since you don’t know where you want to live, an NCATE school might give you the most options.
As TheGreyKing said, there are numerous paths to becoming a teacher. My D did an education major. My friend’s daughter double majored in art history and English, worked as a nanny for a few years and is now going back to school for a masters’ in special ed. My son had a math teacher who worked at IBM for 30 years and then became a teacher through a second career programs.
@TheGreyKing @techmom99 Thank you both for the advice, information, and anecdotes. It’s all very helpful, and I appreciate it.
What about for math, chemistry, physics teachers? Are there any courses/ certification that needs to be done at the undergraduate level? Is a masters degree necessary?
Is the path different for working in public vs private schools? What about for teaching these STEM subjects at the MS vs HS level?
God bless our teachers!
I’d also be interested in @PrimeMeridian 's question. Obviously I’ll major in English, but I’m thinking of taking classes in psychology that may be helpful, as well as becoming more proficient in Spanish.
To answer Prime Meridian, at least as to my state, NY.
To teach science or any other content area at the middle or HS level, you can take one of two paths. You can major in education with a concentration in a particular subject, like math, physics, general science, social studies, music, etc. After you get your undergraduate degree, you need to earn a masters within a certain period in order for your certification to become permanent. For instance, my daughter earned certifications in childhood and elementary ed for Birth through 2nd grade and K - 6th grade with a music concentration, then earned a masters in special ed. She is not qualified to be certificated as a music teacher, but she is as a special ed and general classroom teacher for birth through 6th grade.
The other path is that you can major in that subject and then take education courses as a graduate student in education and earn a masters. My daughter’s friend double majored in english and art history and is now earning a masters in elementary special ed.
NY used to offer some alternative paths for people who had careers and wanted to teach later in life. My son had a math teacher who had worked for IBM for 30 years. He took a program where he got credit for his work experience and just had to take some education classes. I am not sure if this path still exists.
Whitespace - the education major, at least at my daughter’s school, offered some pysch classes, particularly developmental psych, as well as understanding testing, working with special needs children and the like. If you are proficient in Spanish, you can get a bi-lingual certification but, apparently, you don’t need to be fluent to be an ESL teacher (or maybe it’s the other way around?).
The more certificates you get over your career, the more money you can make.
I’ll definitely keep pursuing Spanish, and I’ll take some psychology classes.
I am confused though - do most teachers who teach first, then go back to get their master’s do this while they’re teaching? It was pretty common in my high school, but I’m not sure if that’s how it usually works.
Yes, teachers often do their masters while teaching. Most programs are run in the afternoon to evening. Even my daughter’s program had her graduate classes beginning at 4 PM so working teachers could attend. Many schools also offer summer, weekend and/or online classes.
As for the psych classes, don’t take just any. Look at those geared to education majors.
@techmom99 Thanks for the info! That makes a lot of sense.
I’m a little worried now though, because my school’s education major/minor program looks like it’s been suspended.
http://www.cps.neu.edu/discover/schools-institutes/school-of-ed-minors.php#_ga=1.149944630.1214730177.1450060203
Although it also says its focus was on K-6.
Is your school still offering an ed minor for HS level, assuming it ever did offer one?
You can finish your undergraduate degree and apply to a masters program. Some programs may give you credit for some of your undergrad classes if they fit the program so you should look at the programs you are interested in and see what courses might transfer since that could save you money.
I’m not sure, I haven’t been able to find a definitive answer to that. I’ll email my advisor today and see if she might be able to help. And I will definitely look into that, the less money I have to spend, the better. 