I want to be a teacher.

[Boris Godunov]

There, I said it.

I'm bored with the corporate world, and I've been longing to go into teaching forever. It's in my blood, as both my parents are in education. I don't really care about pay, as being single and sans kids, I can live comfortably on a teacher's salary.

But I'm not qualified. I have a BA in music, and I don't really want to teach music. I would prefer to teach history/social studies, but I know competition for those jobs are high.

So first and foremost, how do I start? Should I go back to school and get a masters in history? Or is it better to pursue a degree in education? Any other suggestions/hints?

[Bereta_Eder]

can't you already teach music theory?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by paiktis22
can't you already teach music theory?

I could teach music history/theory pretty easily, yes. But music teachers (usually) also need to play piano at least (which I can't do), and/or they have to be the band teacher. I definitely don't want to do that, ick.

[Kuciwalker]

Re: I want to be a teacher.

Unless you're very very lucky, prepare for a demoralizing, hellish job with few rewards and little pay.

[Nostromo]

Curious, I was under the impression that you sang for a living... Anyway, before making the jump, make sure you're not idealizing teaching. Its not like in the Dead Poets Society, not at all. There are a lot of down sides. Its not just the money. Here in Quebec, most teachers start out as substitute teachers, and they remain subsitute teachers for years. And a majority of teachers just quit after a while. A lot of them suffer from depression. And to add insult to injury, teaching is not a valued profession in our society. I'm teaching right now and I enjoy it. But I'm teaching civilized university students. I would never teach high school students...

[Kidlicious]

Re: I want to be a teacher.

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
But I'm not qualified. I have a BA in music, and I don't really want to teach music. I would prefer to teach history/social studies, but I know competition for those jobs are high.

So first and foremost, how do I start? Should I go back to school and get a masters in history? Or is it better to pursue a degree in education? Any other suggestions/hints?

Teaching history/social studies sucks. Kids hate it. Substitute first. You should be able to do that with just an emergency credential. You just get your finger prints done and show that you have a degree.

Now if you want to teach history you have to either pass a test which is very hard, or you have to have certain credits in social science. You don't have them unless you planned for it while you were in college so you have to go back and get them. You don't necessarily need a degree in social science, but you might be able to get one with all the credit you will have to take. You don't need a masters.

[mrmitchell]

College professor or high school teacher?

But I'm not qualified. I have a BA in music, and I don't really want to teach music. I would prefer to teach history/social studies, but I know competition for those jobs are high.

Considered being a band director?

and/or they have to be the band teacher. I definitely don't want to do that, ick.

I guess it's different up north but it's not so bad a profession in AR.

But music teachers (usually) also need to play piano at least (which I can't do), and/or they have to be the band teacher. I definitely don't want to do that, ick.

Maybe that's part of the problem. Here music teacher / band director are two separate positions. (Actually I think how it still works is, a music teacher for K-5 does some minor musical education across the 3 elementary schools [they may have 2 teachers], at the middle school 6-8 here there is a music teacher position who does music and choir and two band directors, and at the high school 9-12 there is a choir director and two band directors.) It is probably different for most of the country but I think that is how most districts in Arkansas run all their musical activities--separate positions for music, choir, band. If band directing entailed teaching a music class too, I wouldn't want to do it either.

get a masters in history? Or is it better to pursue a degree in education? Any other suggestions/hints?

Get both, but I would place a degree in education first. You can know all the history in the world and still produce bad kids because you can't get the knowledge to them.

[Kidlicious]

Oh and then of course you have to get your teaching credential. So you will have to take education classes and do student teaching.

[MrFun]

Re: I want to be a teacher.

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
There, I said it.

I'm bored with the corporate world, and I've been longing to go into teaching forever. It's in my blood, as both my parents are in education. I don't really care about pay, as being single and sans kids, I can live comfortably on a teacher's salary.

But I'm not qualified. I have a BA in music, and I don't really want to teach music. I would prefer to teach history/social studies, but I know competition for those jobs are high.

So first and foremost, how do I start? Should I go back to school and get a masters in history? Or is it better to pursue a degree in education? Any other suggestions/hints?

Depends on how long-range your goal is in regards to teaching history.

You could go for your BA in History, then go on to get your Masters and stop there. With a Masters, you can live comofortably as a single person, teaching at a community college. Of course, this means working in an environment that is less intellectually stimulating than working in a university and working with students of whom some are lacking in grammatical and discussion skills.

But if you're willing to be open-minded about teaching at a community college, considering the positives along with the negatives, go for it.


If you want to go all the way, then go further, and get a PhD in History, to eventually teach at a university for a bigger starting salary than an instructor would at a community college. This will take many more years of dedication in completing your PhD, but you will be working in a more intellectually stimulating environment, and with more students who have greater skills to begin with (hopefully, anyway).


If you choose to teach at a community college, keep in mind that an increasing number of higher-quality community colleges prefer applicants to have a PhD even, or at least in the midst of a PhD program. I feel fortunate enough to already be working as an adjunct, while I'm in the midst of my Masters program.

My geographical location, and the democgraphics of this area has aided me in gaining an entry level so soon (along with particular staff needs of the community college I'm working at).

[MrFun]

Re: I want to be a teacher.

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
There, I said it.

I'm bored with the corporate world, and I've been longing to go into teaching forever.

Oh, and having had several jobs in the past in the corporate world, I whole-heartedly agree with this sentiment of yours . . . . .



it's boring.

But not only that, corporate jobs/careers are obviously much less secure than having an academic career.

[Boris Godunov]

Re: Idealizing teaching. Hehehe, no. As I said, I come from a long line of educators. I think I have a pretty realistic idea of what it entails. But I still think it will be more fulfilling for me on a personal level than what I do now.

Teaching history/social studies sucks. Kids hate it.

Usually because they have a bad teacher who doesn't make the subject material interesting. My ideal is to be a lot better than that. I've given lectures before, and have always been praised for keeping things interesting. I think a great deal of being a good teacher is having a "natural" touch for teaching which most people lack.

I'm willing to go back and get whatever education I need to make this happen. I just don't quite know what I need to do.

[Boris Godunov]

I'm more looking at teaching at a high school level, but I thought about the whole community college route a lot. I certainly wouldn't be opposed to that. I would, however, like an environment where it's possible to have bonds with the students, which is very hard at a community college level. At high school, you can do a lot such as sponsor clubs, meet with parents, attend sports events and other extra-curricular stuff.

[Verto]

I'm seriously considering becoming a history teacher.

[DerSchwarzfalke]

If you get a BA in History, you can generally go right into teaching at a private school somewhere for a salary that is competitive with public schools -- though maybe without the benefits of unions, I am not sure how teachers unions in the parochial sector work. Do you know any languages other than English? Double majoring in one like French or German could also increase your credibility.

[Kuciwalker]

Boris might have issues getting hired by a private school