How to Become an Elite Teacher at a Top Prep School

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Ok, so if one wanted to be a teacher at a very prestigious school, for example Exeter, how should he/she go about doing this? Do teachers who work at these schools generally have graduate degrees? For their bachelors do they have a degree in their field of interest, or a degree in education?</p>

<p>I have read some college websites that have places like Exeter on their recruiting list. So I assume from this places like Exeter and other elite prep schools take teachers and other staff directly from top colleges. </p>

<p>I have seen people on CC write “just go to a local state uni if you want to be a teacher”, but if you want to be recruited for top prep schools, this is obviously not the case. </p>

<p>So basically my questions are as follows</p>

<p>1)If one wanted to be a teacher at a very prestigious school, for example Exeter, how should he/she go about doing this?
2)Do teachers who work at these schools generally have graduate degrees? 3)For their bachelors do these teachers have a degree in their field of interest, or a degree in education?
4)What college should I go to if I want to become a teacher at a top prep school like this? I would want to become a History teacher.</p>

2

<p>bring up my post</p>

3

<p>Go to each academy’s web site, and they usually list their faculty and what colleges degrees they have. I just checked Exeter and they seemed to have a lot of teachers with degrees from elite Eastern private colleges. </p>

<p>A big question for you is whether to go for teacher certification as an undergrad (some states require even private school teachers to be certified). If so, you will normally be getting a degree in education, with a minor in math, English, history or whatever. My guess is that these elite academies would prefer that you get a regular B.A. or B.S. degree, and then get certified (if necessary) via a master’s degree (lots of universities and even a lot of liberal arts colleges have such master’s degrees–usually they are called Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degrees; but at some colleges they are M.Ed. degrees or something similar).</p>

4

<p>You’ll probably get the best info by asking your question by e-mailing administrators at top prep schools.</p>

<p>I don’t know a lot about the subject. However, two of my Harvard classmates are at top prep schools. One is the director of a top prep school. Previously, he had been a regional admissions officer for Harvard. Another is a teacher as is her husband, who graduated a couple of years ahead of her at Harvard.</p>

<p>I have no idea how representative those people’s backgrounds are of faculty at top preps.</p>

5

<p>Also, would teaching salaries be much better at these prestigious schools since the students pay such high tuition?</p>

<p>Thanks,
Mike</p>

6

<p>I went to a recruiting session with a representitive from Phillips Andover as a grad student at Stanford. The impression I got of what they were looking for:</p>

<p>1.) At least a master’s degree in the field you intend to teach (ie math, english, history, etc) – not in education.</p>

<p>2.) Substantial teaching experience. Could be in the form of TAing, though they would prefer someone who had responsibility for the entire class curriculum. The recruiter I spoke had taught night school extension classes at the University of Chicago while working on his Ph.D. (which he ultimately didn’t finish; when the opportunity at Phillips came along he left with a masters).</p>

<p>3.) The ability to coach a sport or become an advisor for an extracurricular activity (debate, math team, theatre, etc)</p>

<p>So, the perfect candidate for a position at an elite private school would be an athletic, artistic, or especially well-spoken masters degree holder from an elite university who has a particular interest in teaching demonstrated by independent (ie non-TA) education experience.</p>

<p>Also note that most elite private secondary schools have year-long teaching internships available to recent bachelors graduates – seach the website of the school your interested in for “teaching fellows” or something to that effect. Here’s an example: <a href=“http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_2332.aspx[/url]”>http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_2332.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The salaries aren’t as much as you’d think, ~$35,000-$40,000 per annum, though a lot of the schools you’re probably thinking of are residential in nature, and you’ll likely be expected to live on campus in a dormatory (so your housing and meals will all be taken care of).</p>

<p>Honestly, the job sounded heavenly (at least to me) at the info session I went to, and I intend to investigate such opportunities once I finish my Ph.D.</p>

7

<p>Thanks a lot for the post, ksc. All my questions answered well.</p>

8

<p>Wow. That pay is absolutely horrendous.</p>

9

<p>I’d take it if I didn’t have to worry about housing or food though :-D</p>

10

<p>Going to the school also helps. Exeter, St. Paul’s, Andover and I’m sure others all hire their graduates fresh out of undergrad on either a teaching fellowship or a provisional basis.</p>