Curriculum design: Education / career paths
August 24, 2015 2:35 PM Subscribe
My wife, currently a preschool teacher, has expressed an interest in getting into the field of curriculum design. If you are experienced in that or a similar field, we'd love to hear from you about degree requirements, job availability, etc. Relevant info and
The Doña has been assisting with or teaching preschool students in the New Jersey school system (community education) for about 4 years now. The thing she's enjoyed most about the experience has been developing curricula, especially science and geography/social studies, for her kids. She's pretty good at it (if she does say so herself), and thinks it'd be swell to do that for a living.
She's ~30 years old, and has her Bachelor's and Master's in Elementary Education. (In case it matters, the former is from a small liberal arts college, and the latter is from a major state school.) From her undergrad days, she has some experience performing education research, but not specifically related to this topic.
Questions we're wondering about:
(1) Will a doctoral degree be necessary? Ed.D or PhD? What sorts of programs should we be looking at — educational policy or what?
(1a) We're in the U.S. and would like to eventually settle here, but we may go to Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland) for a few years. If she does schooling over there, will that translate favorably when looking for jobs in the U.S.?
(2) Is there an opportunity anywhere to sort of dip a toe in without committing to more schooling?
(3) What sorts of jobs are available in the public vs. private sectors?
(4) [Not-quite-fully-formed question about room for creativity given the rise of standardized testing in the U.S.]
Of course, feel free to share anything else you feel like we should be thinking about. Thanks in advance!
The Doña has been assisting with or teaching preschool students in the New Jersey school system (community education) for about 4 years now. The thing she's enjoyed most about the experience has been developing curricula, especially science and geography/social studies, for her kids. She's pretty good at it (if she does say so herself), and thinks it'd be swell to do that for a living.
She's ~30 years old, and has her Bachelor's and Master's in Elementary Education. (In case it matters, the former is from a small liberal arts college, and the latter is from a major state school.) From her undergrad days, she has some experience performing education research, but not specifically related to this topic.
Questions we're wondering about:
(1) Will a doctoral degree be necessary? Ed.D or PhD? What sorts of programs should we be looking at — educational policy or what?
(1a) We're in the U.S. and would like to eventually settle here, but we may go to Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland) for a few years. If she does schooling over there, will that translate favorably when looking for jobs in the U.S.?
(2) Is there an opportunity anywhere to sort of dip a toe in without committing to more schooling?
(3) What sorts of jobs are available in the public vs. private sectors?
(4) [Not-quite-fully-formed question about room for creativity given the rise of standardized testing in the U.S.]
Of course, feel free to share anything else you feel like we should be thinking about. Thanks in advance!
Best answer: She absolutely DOES NOT need another advanced degree to get involved in curriculum development. If she has already started to develop items she should consider first posting them online for others to use and review (there are a lot of websites that let you post your curriculum) and also start presenting it at local teacher professional development conferences. Almost every state has a science teacher association or she could go to NSTA (I mention this because you said that she has created some science curriculum, but there are just the general teacher association meetings too). The fact that she is doing kindergarten science is extra awesome, as there is little elementary science (in comparison to high school) and new standards will require more teachers to do science with their kids at younger grades.
More specifically:
(1) Will a doctoral degree be necessary? Ed.D or PhD? What sorts of programs should we be looking at — educational policy or what?
No, absolutely not. It is more beneficial that she have hands-on experience as a teacher.
(1a) We're in the U.S. and would like to eventually settle here, but we may go to Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland) for a few years. If she does schooling over there, will that translate favorably when looking for jobs in the U.S.?
Not really sure if it'll matter.
(2) Is there an opportunity anywhere to sort of dip a toe in without committing to more schooling?
See comments above. Also consider getting in touch with the education department at your local university. They are developing curriculum/activities/lessons all the time with research components and always looking for teachers to work/consult with.
(3) What sorts of jobs are available in the public vs. private sectors?
These jobs appear periodically, just go to Indeed.com and type in "curriculum development" - you can see what is out there are what qualifications are necessary.
(4) [Not-quite-fully-formed question about room for creativity given the rise of standardized testing in the U.S.]
She should align anything she is doing with NGSS, Common Core and any standards that are related to her specific state if she wants to teachers to use it.
posted by Toddles at 5:13 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
More specifically:
(1) Will a doctoral degree be necessary? Ed.D or PhD? What sorts of programs should we be looking at — educational policy or what?
No, absolutely not. It is more beneficial that she have hands-on experience as a teacher.
(1a) We're in the U.S. and would like to eventually settle here, but we may go to Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Switzerland) for a few years. If she does schooling over there, will that translate favorably when looking for jobs in the U.S.?
Not really sure if it'll matter.
(2) Is there an opportunity anywhere to sort of dip a toe in without committing to more schooling?
See comments above. Also consider getting in touch with the education department at your local university. They are developing curriculum/activities/lessons all the time with research components and always looking for teachers to work/consult with.
(3) What sorts of jobs are available in the public vs. private sectors?
These jobs appear periodically, just go to Indeed.com and type in "curriculum development" - you can see what is out there are what qualifications are necessary.
(4) [Not-quite-fully-formed question about room for creativity given the rise of standardized testing in the U.S.]
She should align anything she is doing with NGSS, Common Core and any standards that are related to her specific state if she wants to teachers to use it.
posted by Toddles at 5:13 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: From my friend who designs school science curriculum through a local science museum:
Hmmmm. I'd say to start less abstract. Have her look for jobs that she's interested in and see what they're asking for, in terms of education and experience. "Curriculum Development" is very broad, so best to try to find jobs that look appealing and see what they're looking for. There's definitely room for folks without advanced degrees, but the amount of experience they're looking for is usually a bit more than what she currently has, but again, start at the job posting level. Also, if there are any developers working near them, that would be a great place to start. I don't recommend sending in a resume cold to the local developers, but doing some informational interviewing and taking a tour if possible is a great way to find out more and possibly get a foot in the door. As another person said, there are lots of people developing lessons (not usually curriculum, although that is happening as well), but I'm assuming she wants a job doing this, not simply posting to a free website. And it also depends on what she wants to do. That is, if she wants to develop and market her own curriculum, a hard nut to crack, then we're most likely talking advanced degree. If she wants to work on a project that develops curriculum, then experience will be important.posted by latkes at 1:03 PM on August 25, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks all! Very encouraging answers; good to hear that she at least doesn't need to START with an advanced degree. Good ideas all around.
posted by dondiego87 at 2:13 PM on August 30, 2015
posted by dondiego87 at 2:13 PM on August 30, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thebots at 12:38 AM on August 25, 2015