Becoming a Teacher

[Karabin]

I've been thinking more seriously about my desire to become a teacher (History) recently, and I thought I would ask here and see if anybody else on the forum has had any teaching experience or any knowledge of it.

I'm thinking about becoming a college teacher in Australia (I am pretty sure the American equivalent is called 'High School'), but I don't really understand how to go about it.

I don't have any specific questions at the moment, but if anybody has any hints, tips, advice, warnings etc. then I would be more thankful.

[#FF0000]

Nah I'm pretty sure college/university is the same here and in Australia. If that's the case you probably don't need a teaching degree -- just a graduate degree in your field.

But that's how it works in America. To teach elementary and highschool/secondary school, you need a teaching certificate or degree. To teach at a university level you need a master's (for two-year colleges) or a doctorate (for four year colleges/universities)

[Os Cangaceiros]

I think that the History teacher market in the USA is oversaturated (not the only subject with this problem either). I have no idea what it's like in Australia, though.

I like History but I could never be a teacher. I hate children and their bullshit. Teaching young adults might be a little bit better, but I think I'd just get depressed after a while.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

I'm going to be a History teacher, too :)

[Hiero]

I'm thinking about becoming a college teacher in Australia (I am pretty sure the American equivalent is called 'High School'), but I don't really understand how to go about it.



If you are talking about teenagers we call it High School as well. College here usually refers to fee only schools that provide certificates that are the equivalent of University degrees (in some cases) and Tafe certificates.

If you want to teach in Australia you have to do a university degree in teaching, like B.A teaching. Also once you complete your degree and apply here (I am not sure about the process between countries) you will be only given rural options, which are the options know one wants to do.

[keystone]

I don't know anything about the situation for those wanting to teach in Australia. I'm not a teacher myself, but have quite a few friends who have taught in schools in the US and know a bit about the process of finding a job as well as some of the contradictions involved.

Here, there is a big national effort by business interests to attack public schools and teachers' unions, setting up what are called "charter schools" to preserve a two-track system of preparation for middle-class careers and university education for a few, and dead-end prison-like conditions for most working-class and poor students.

If anyone wants to know more, let me know and I can try to help/ask around.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

To teach at the secondary school level in the US (high school) You usually need a four-year degree, then a teaching certificate, then you pass an exam in the subject you want to teach. I know someone who teaches math but didn't major in math in college (I think she got a bachelor's degree in english), passed the high school math teacher's exam in florida without studying (she was an english teacher before) and now teaches math.


Of course all that goes out the window if it's a private school AFAIK. They may require degrees, or teaching certificates, but it varies by locale.

[teflsecretagent]

I hate children and their bullshit. Teaching young adults might be a little bit better

Teaching young adults is definitely better. I have been an English teacher for five years now and you will never get me in a classroom with kids again. Young adults actually have ideas starting to form in their heads so you can make a difference. Kids are just....mental....:thumbdown:

[Firebrand]

In the uk if you want to teach you can either do a straight up teaching degree and specialise in whichever subject you want (you can also specialise in special needs, speech and language etc). Or if you already have a degree you can do a year long graduate teachers training course, which has the advantage that you learn on the job, thus you earn money while you are studying, and the course is paid for by the school you're working at. You do already need a degree for that though, and you have to work full time on top of all your college work.

[Estragon]

I taught college English for one year (as a Teaching Assistant in my one year of Graduate school). I don't know what it is like in Austrailia, but in the U.S. it sucks canal water. The job market is terrible (this is true in history as well) so most people with a graduate degree work as adjuncts which means: no benefits, little money (less than minimum wage when you factor in all the time spent grading and in conference with your students/colleagues), and absolutely no job security. I've known lots of people who feel trapped because they spent so much time pursuing the opportunity to teach that they feel like it would be a betrayal to get out and do something else.

I really hope it's different in Australia, and to be fair I have known people who got decent jobs at community colleges and the like, but if it isn't, I suggest you think long and hard about it.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

College has a different meaning in the US than in countries with British based educational systems. In the US college basically means a small university.Technically a university is made up of various colleges (College of Arts and Sciences,College of Agriculture, etc).A US college is essentially a miniature university. In the UK at least college means the last two years of secondary school.

I don't know what its like in Australia. In the US one must take st least a Methods course and whatever education clases are required. If you want to teach history you must enroll in a degree program in this as well.

One must do "student teaching", that is observe another teacher's class and then teach his/her classes.

One's teaching experience can vary a lot. Generally in US schools today most kids are pretty apathetic and are generally more interested in their electronic devices than studying. Discipline can be a problem.New teachers do have a high burn out rate and there are a huge number of people trained as teachers who are doing something else.

If it works though and you can connect with your students it can be very fulfilling.

As far as academia goes its very difficult to get a job in this area. Community colleges-usually offering 2 year programs, do higher adjunct faculty. This is generally low pay and few or no benefits.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I'm actually planning on studying to become an English teacher. It is a strange route to take since I never had any desire to teach and can't say how good at it I would be. I know it could present more problems then it would be worth and the students probably won't be enthusiastic but I dunno... I just feel it might be right for me. In any case I am going for my master's so it will be a process.


New teachers do have a high burn out rate and there are a huge number of people trained as teachers who are doing something else.

Very true. Just from what I remember in school I remember seeing new teachers who after just a few weeks of teaching looked like zombies, like they had this look on their face which said, "what the fuck have I gotten myself into?" In particular the new health teacher constantly was exasperated and incapable of understanding why her students never listened to her; then there was the new music teacher who had this very blase method of teaching that was more mechanical then practical and clearly was only semi-comfortable in her position; and finally there was the new art teacher who tried to bring some personality to teaching yet after a few months appeared to have come to terms that any of her remaining youthful idealism regarding teaching in Middle School had been smashed.

I know what I am getting into, especially with my identity being what it is, but still, I would like to think being practical about this might help me survive a bit more than the others who go into this profession with lots of lackadaisical dreams better suited to Democratic Education institutions.