I would guess that the majority of people do not know what it takes to become a public school teacher. People just think you earn some degree, a fancy certificate, and that’s it, but there is more to it than that. According to the Western Washington University College of Education‘s FAQ, someone seeking to complete the coursework required to become a high school teacher should expect it to take 5-5.5 years (for a bachelor’s degree). Why does it take so long?
Essentially, someone completing the program does the coursework of two majors. First, you have to complete the coursework for an endorsement (such as the English/Language Arts endorsement, which requires a minimum of 60 upper-level credits). Then, you have to complete the coursework on the education side, which is another 40 upper-level credits. After that, you have to complete a semester of student teaching (24 internship credits), which is 7 hours a day, five days a week for 18 weeks (plus any outside work, obviously… and don’t ask me how the rough equivalent of 50 quarter-hours only counts as 24 credits). Add in the 60+ GUR credits and you have at least 184 credits (180 is the minimum required number of credits required for a BA/BS). That’s about the equivalent of the Electronic Engineering program (in terms of classes required and no extra room for electives, though the EE may actually give you the chance to take some electives since many EE courses are also GUR’s and the EE degree requires less upper-level courses).
Those are just the required college courses, though. You still have to take the WEST-B tests (three of them), take the WEST-E test(s), and do the fingerprinting, sexual harassment training, etc. All of those things can also cost money.
Finish all of that and you’ll be ready to start hunting for your $30,000-a-year job!
Its a great question and topic. Many many people really think to become teachers because they were inspired to make a positive difference in the world. This may have come from a precious experience when they were in school and one or more teachers made a lasting impact on their life, or they have simply been drawn to that profession out of want to make a lasting difference in a child or adults life. Why else would you go through all of that for such a low income level?
To further the question here, I don’t think its just… What it takes to become a teacher, but rather “what it takes to become an good and effective teacher” is the real question. Lets face it, even after once goes through all of this to become a teacher, they may lose that passion and enthusiasm for many many reasons. Internal school politics, lack of support from the school district and principal, dealing with discipline issues ALL days long rather than being to concentrate on teaching, dealing with difficult parents who just don’t get it where their children’s lives are concerned, and on and on and on.
One of the keys to being better prepared for all possible contingencies involves a good teacher prep degree program that covers best teaching practices and techniques and requires a LOT of in the classroom training. This can be a huge eye opener for many soon to be teacher candidates. Secondly, once a teacher, a supportive administration that provides and even pushes their teachers to regularly attend professional development classes that help them to be more affective in the classroom with both teaching as well as the emotional and personal issues that also are a part of a teachers life.
For the busy full time parent looking to fit a rigorous teacher prep degree program into their life and dreams, there are a few different options. However, I often find that online programs with an “in the classroom component” tends to work best. There are many schools out there that are both regionally and NCATE accredited but very few allow you to get this “more complete” training online. There are a few options though. The best I recommend so far are the Teacher Certification programs at Western Governors University http://www.wgu.edu/education/teacher_certification.asp . They offer NCLB compliant programs for teacher in mathematics, science, education, special education, and more. They offer both bachelors and masters programs as well. May be worth a look anyway.
As far as the ongoing professional development classes and courses. There are many options and again, for working adults, online often times can work best. FOr this I recommend a few places. iEARN is not bad http://www.iearn.org/professional/online.html as well as http://www.teacheronlineeducation.com/.
ANyway, I admire, all who take on such a noble cause and profession. We need more with passion in this area. I appreciate the subject being brought up. I hope this helps some.
Hi there,
Thanks for publishing this. I work in the library and administration profession currently. As I was completing my diploma for library work, I did work experience with a few schools and now work in the administration area at an adult trade/further education school. I really enjoy working with students. At one stage, one of my lecturers in the library course mentioned that I would be a good teacher, because i displayed a lot of enthusiasm in teaching others and guiding people towards knowledge. I am considering teaching as a later career. I am not entirely sure at this stage.
My grandfather was a teacher and my aunty is a teacher, which may be where I get my interest and flaire for it. I enjoyed working at a primary school library and have done some 1:1 tutoring work. The students at the primary school were all very well behaved, and were a lot of fun to work with, and I could see the discipline that the teacher/librarian and the teachers put upon the students made them well-behaved and sociable. The tutoring work was also certainly a buzz. An hour would feel like only ten minutes, and I would be learning and trying new things during the tutoring session. It was a real challenge, but a pleasure when the student would get what you were talking about.
I recall the excitement that I would exhibit when I learned something new as a student, and explored my own ideas. I remember the stimulation of challenges that the teachers enjoyed. They would get excited when a student would “get” something. At the same time, students would come back and bitterly complain that they disliked certain teachers because those teachers cracked the whip.
During my library course, the lecturers mentioned that learning never stops, even for them as lecturers. A lot of the time, people look up to teachers as leaders. People rely on teachers/lecturers for guidance. Most of the time, it doesn’t even occur to the student that they were actually the ones who put in the hard work, and the teacher may have merely guided them. It is up to the teacher to set a good example, and students follow their example.
The main thing about teaching is having knowledge in the field of your choice, and being able to set adequate challenges, which will capture students interest and enthusiasm. The knowledge that the teacher has will influence students to learn. I was greatly inspired by my teachers in highschool to learn more about history and politics; I ended up reading almost the entire collection of modern history books.
One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that confidence can make or break you in any industry. The more knowledge you have about something, the more confidence you will have in yourself.