Teaching

What should I study in college to become a teacher? Can I pursue another degree alongside teaching such as music or engineering or biology or something?

Well, that’s kind of a broad question, so I’m afraid I’ll end up giving you a broad answer.

First decision is probably what general age group you would prefer to deal with. Each brings its own pain and pleasure.

Elementary kids are so darn cute! And they’re full of enthusiasm, ready to learn. But they need so much help! And the material is necessarily pretty basic, though you do get to teach a huge variety of subject matter.

Middle and high school kids bring their own challenges. Lots of growth there-- sometimes in directions we don’t want. Some find the age group hard to handle, or undesirable to work with-- though I personally love teaching high school. The material is a lot more focused-- I teach math and only math all day long.

Once you’ve made that choice, the options narrow down… You mention biology. You would want to check the State Education Department website for your state to look at how they do certification. Many, though not all, people agree that you would want to consider a bio major, with either a minor in education, or a bio major in a school of education. Again, not all agree, but my bias is towards being incredibly well versed in your subject matter, with less of an emphasis on education courses. My reasoning is twofold. One: the easiest way to lose the respect of a group of kids is to not know your material. You’ve got to know what you’re doing, with two or three alternate explanations ready for kids who don’t get it the first way. And, two: if we as a profession could define “good teaching” it would be an amazing thing, but we haven’t been able to narrow it down. We can spot bad teaching a mile away. And we can certainly define certain characteristics of good teaching. But we can’t narrow it down to the point where an education course can make you into a good teacher.

Anyway, you may want to consider a teacher education program in your home state, or in the state where you’ll end up teaching. Each state has its own certification requirements-- going out of state may mean more requirements after graduation.

And keep an eye on the job market. That biology job may be very hard to find-- every wannabe doctor who ever changed his mind can easily become certified in bio-- and high school kids tend to take only one biology course. If you’re a STEM kid, then Chem, Physics and Math teacher job markets tend to be better than bio in most places for most school years.

Does that help get you started?

Thanks so much! It was a detailed answer and I really appreciate it! I was jsut thinking of doing something in music or math or business or engineering or something along those lines with a minor in education. @bjkmom