What can I do after teaching for a few years?

July 18, 2006 4:31 PM

I have always been very interested in education and wonder if I began teaching, if it would open up some interesting job opportunities later on that are different from being a teacher?

The things I thought of were: becoming a principal, a professor of education, educational researcher, work at an education non-profit...

After the nonprofit thing, I tend to run out of ideas. Is there anything else I can do by starting off my career in teaching at the elementary level?

posted by onepapertiger to Work & Money (18 answers total)

My friend was a school teacher. Now she works as a technical writer and training manager for a software company.

My mom was an elementary school teacher. She later became a project coordinator for the post office.
posted by acoutu at 4:34 PM on July 18, 2006

one of my former elementary school teachers is now teaching at a major US retail corporation - teaching managers, etc. pretty good living too...
posted by whatzit at 4:50 PM on July 18, 2006

You could become a teacher trainer.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:59 PM on July 18, 2006

Tutors often make more money than teachers, especially in urban areas.

Most of the jobs you mentioned require advanced degrees. Being an administrator is its own ball of wax, almost unrelated to teaching. Some teaching colleges do use adjunct faculty members as advisors to student teachers, but mostly "teacher trainers" are PhD's in tenure-track jobs (and, incidentally, usually lousy teachers).
posted by argybarg at 5:06 PM on July 18, 2006

Response by poster: I don't mind going to get an additional degree to be a principal. In fact, my original idea was that I'd be a principal, only it seems, increasingly, you need teaching experience in order to do that.
posted by onepapertiger at 5:13 PM on July 18, 2006

I should hope you need teaching experience to be a principal!

A lot of humanities institutions (think museums, historical societies, etc.) have educational outreach coordinators. People who go around to area schools and events and bring the mission of the organization to the community. These people are very typically ex-teachers.
posted by LarryC at 5:33 PM on July 18, 2006

- textbook publishers often ask for teaching experience for editor jobs (especially math/science, children's pub); pay can be low though in that industry.
- most master's programs to become a principal require 2 years teaching experience (on avg) to get accepted, then about 30 course credits (basing this on a friend in IL) for the certification.
- I know of more programs to become a teacher from an industry (at least in needy/urban areas, teach for america, etc) than vice versa.
posted by ejaned8 at 7:00 PM on July 18, 2006

What kind of teacher? That plays a huge role in the answer to your question.

My wife taught high school chemistry and physics for eight years, and then became a forensic chemist for the state police.

A friend taught grade school for several years, and then trained teachers in technology. She now does all sorts of technology training.

A biology teacher I know went to medical school.

A close friend taught junior high math, then high school computer science. He's becoming an administrator.

A science teacher I knew now does some independent consulting for curriculum developers.

It all depends on what you do now and what your personal goals are. The sky's the limit...
posted by jdroth at 7:02 PM on July 18, 2006

Response by poster: I thought I would like to be a reading teacher for middle school kids.
posted by onepapertiger at 7:07 PM on July 18, 2006

Heck, if you're motivated enough, you can start your own school!

Good luck though, successful charter schools are few and far between.
posted by allthewhile at 7:46 PM on July 18, 2006

I have an uncle who started out as a teacher and is now a vice principal, and supplements his income writing textbooks.
posted by joannemerriam at 8:09 PM on July 18, 2006

I trained as a teacher and by the end of the course I decided I never wanted to teach again.

I've spent the last decade creating content for teaching resources instead - printed materials, websites and CD-ROMs.

You can get into this either via an educational publisher or software house, or as I do, one of the specialist marketing agencies that creates materials for organisations that want to sponsor progrsmmes in schools.

Don't expect to get rich from writing straightforward textbooks, and you need to be a very good writer - we frequently come across teachers with good ideas for resources, but who can't write to save their lives, so if you're interested in this direction, courses that improve your writing skills and understanding of multimedia production would help.
posted by dowcrag at 2:24 AM on July 19, 2006

programmes. I tell you that you need excellent writing skills and then post a typo. Fucktard.
posted by dowcrag at 2:25 AM on July 19, 2006

You can get your teaching certificate, and focus on curriculum development to get into corporate training. You will still need a master's degree though.
posted by mrmojoflying at 5:25 AM on July 19, 2006

Board of Education / Superintendent of Schools, or assisting these people.
posted by amtho at 6:04 AM on July 19, 2006

All my principals over the years were once teachers.

I've also worked with teaching coaches and people who coach teaching coaches. Heh. Brilliant people.
posted by lampoil at 6:31 AM on July 19, 2006

I don't know any corporate trainers with masters degrees.
posted by acoutu at 12:53 PM on July 19, 2006

acoutu: I don't either, but trainers at colleges tend to have M.Ed.'s. Training at a college is a good gig. That's what I do for a living. I also teach (academic classes) on the side. Email is in the profile if you want to discuss it.
posted by wheat at 12:47 PM on January 12, 2007