The 4 step guide to becoming a teacher
It’s one of the most solid professions going, and with that it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to read that becoming a teacher isn’t exactly an easy process. On the contrary, there are various steps to navigate, which is the purpose of today’s guide.
Of course, we’re not going to get into the finer details and talk about the likes of the criminal background check you will require before you start your job. Instead, today’s post is just about the technicalities and what you need from an education perspective.
Following on from the above, we have categorized everything into the following four steps. If you are looking to become a teacher, whether it’s in a public or private environment, read on to find exactly what you need to achieve to set you on your way.
photo/ Alexandra / München
Get your bachelor’s degree
It doesn’t matter which state you reside in, this should be the first thing that you do in your journey to becoming a teacher. You’ll need a bachelor’s degree and if you are looking towards Kindergarten or elementary school, this degree will need to be in elementary education.
If you are looking to pursue a career in high school, you will most probably need to major in a particular subject to help you along your way as well. Unsurprisingly, most budding teachers will turn to either maths or one of the sciences, with both of these regarded as “traditional majors” for the profession.
Start teaching
While you can’t officially start teaching yet, you do need to pick up some valuable experience. This is because teachers need to accumulate a set number of hours of supervised teaching before they can even consider getting a license (more on that later). Unfortunately, we can’t drill down into too many specifics here, as the amount of experience you need will depend on the state you are looking to work in.
This teaching can occur in an internship, or whilst you are completing your bachelor’s degree.
Get your certification
The next step is to gain certification. Your license is going to vary based on the grade that you are teaching, so you will need to know this beforehand.
As part of the certification process, you will also need to pass a general teaching certification test in most states.
One big difference to this is if you are becoming a private school teacher. In this case, you don’t have to obtain a state license, but an increasing number of schools are starting to adopt to this so it is still advisable to try and get one.
Continue with higher education
This is one of the more interesting stages, and one that most aren’t aware of. If you work in a public school, you are expected to complete a minimum amount of personal development course hours. A lot of teachers opt to earn a masters during this stage, for the simple reason that it also qualifies them for a higher pay packet.
