Path to becoming a teacher?

techmom99
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 03:50:52 +0000

To answer Prime Meridian, at least as to my state, NY.

To teach science or any other content area at the middle or HS level, you can take one of two paths. You can major in education with a concentration in a particular subject, like math, physics, general science, social studies, music, etc. After you get your undergraduate degree, you need to earn a masters within a certain period in order for your certification to become permanent. For instance, my daughter earned certifications in childhood and elementary ed for Birth through 2nd grade and K - 6th grade with a music concentration, then earned a masters in special ed. She is not qualified to be certificated as a music teacher, but she is as a special ed and general classroom teacher for birth through 6th grade.

The other path is that you can major in that subject and then take education courses as a graduate student in education and earn a masters. My daughter’s friend double majored in english and art history and is now earning a masters in elementary special ed.

NY used to offer some alternative paths for people who had careers and wanted to teach later in life. My son had a math teacher who had worked for IBM for 30 years. He took a program where he got credit for his work experience and just had to take some education classes. I am not sure if this path still exists.

Whitespace - the education major, at least at my daughter’s school, offered some pysch classes, particularly developmental psych, as well as understanding testing, working with special needs children and the like. If you are proficient in Spanish, you can get a bi-lingual certification but, apparently, you don’t need to be fluent to be an ESL teacher (or maybe it’s the other way around?).

The more certificates you get over your career, the more money you can make.