Becoming a Teacher?

Question

I'm interested in a career change. I graduated college three years ago with a BBA in Marketing. I minored in fashion merchandising. I am currently working as an Assistant Store Manager for a department store. Although the money is good, I am not always happy in my job or in my field. I'd like to do something rewarding.

I've done some soul searching, and I've decided I'd like to become a high school teacher. I want to teach social studies, history, or economics. My questions are:

About how many more courses would I have to go back to school for? I graduated with 137 credits, and all of my gen eds done. I guess what I'm asking is, how many credits are in a secondary education major?

I'm hoping I could achieve my goal by going to school part time. How long would this take?

In the states of Michigan and Indiana, is there any alternative to a full semester of student teaching?

Thank you in advance for any advice that you may have.

Answer 1

I know that there's not an alternative to the student teaching requirement in Michigan. You will have to take all of the educations courses required (varies from state to state - in Michigan last I checked it's a matter of 60-something credits and check the list because you don't have to be enrolled in the school of education for all of them so you may have already taken some). You'll still need the pre-student teaching and student teaching requirements filled. Provided you don't have to take too many extras, you should be able to complete everything in 2 years full-time.

Another option is going for your M.A. - which will take about the same length of time but your student teaching will be at college level. Good luck.

Answer 2

Each state's qualifications/requirements are different. Check the department of education for each state and that will give you an idea of what you need to do to get your certification. As far as I know, there is no "opt out" for student teaching, nor should there be...this is a key component for becoming a competent teacher. I would also encourage you to read the "No Child Left Behind Act" to find out the specific goals that students are expected to reach. It may benefit you to do some substitute teaching in neighboring high schools and see if you even like the educational environment. Based on the number of credits you have already earned, my guess is that you would need maybe 3-4 more semesters. Good Luck :)

Answer 3

I was a career changer after being a stay-at-home mother and a freelance journalist for several years. I worked as an instructional assistant at an elementary school and decided I wanted to become a high school English teacher. After researching the requirements of my state through its Dept. of Education website, I went to a career fair at a local university to see what they were offering by way of accelerated certification. As every state varies, you will have to find out how many credits you will need for your content area. In my state (Maryland), 36 credits in the content area (I wanted to teach English) were required. The program I decided to attend assessed my undergrad transcripts and determined I had 27 of the 36 credits required. I did, however, have to also take the basic education courses they required in their accelerated program. This took me three years, because I only took one course per semester. Meanwhile, I looked into getting hired "provisionally", that is getting hired as a teacher on a provisional basis as I got my degree. Certain counties in my state will do this in some cases...they considered my work experience and elementary school working experiences, and hired me. This satisfied the student teaching requirement, though I was closely monitored with visits from the college and regular observations with my department chair and administrators in my school. This was difficult as I was working full-time, juggling planning for five classes and taking classes on my own. One positive side is the fact that the county I work for reimbursed me for some of my tuition.
I'm not saying it was easy, but I did it and I am now fully certified. I also discovered a lot about myself and my determination and resiliency. It helps to have support at home, or, if you have the time to take only the classes and not work full-time, you can finish faster. Good luck!

Answer 4

In most cases, about half of your credits are in education courses, the other half in gen. eds. You will probably need a full-time two-years of college, or 3-4 years part time. Hope that helps!

Answer 5

Work at a public school. you will get payed More