At one of the schools I’m looking at, when you major in secondary education, you pick what subject you want to teach and then basically complete all the classes in that major and add a year to get a teaching certificate. However, when you graduate, you get a secondary education degree. If I did this for English and then later on decided I didn’t want to teach anymore, would I able to get a job in an English related field even though I wouldn’t have an actual English degree?
I go to a school with a nationally recognized education program. If you are going to teach, you need to have that passion. It’s all you should be able to think about. You know if it’s the right career for you, and I’m seeing that you already have doubts about it, so I’m really thinking it isn’t where your heart is. That’s kind of a funky system you described-- complete all the classes in that major and add a year to get a teaching certificate. What school is this? Most schools will have all education majors taking classes about a wide range of things- special ed, democracy, developmental psychology, leadership, etc. Only your content and methods courses will be specific to your focus subject.
But to answer your question, if you quit teaching with an education degree that specializes in English, yes, it’ll be hard to find a job in an English related field. You can always major in English and have a wide variety of jobs available to you. Or narrow it down to something more specific such as journalism, publishing, or editing. I really don’t think you should jump into teaching already hesitating. It’s one of the most important careers out there and you have to have the passion for it.
You can always go undecided as well and take a year of college to play around with lots of majors and see what you like the best! Good luck!