I think I want to teach highschool enlish or math. I'm considering switching out of first-year engineering (I hate it) into arts and science, to double major in english with a minor in mathematics. I have always wanted to be a teacher, what worries me is if I find I don't like it and want to do something else ill be fucked with just an english degree.

Any teachers on this board? If so what did you study in university and what would you recommend?

It's an excellent choice, but some universities have rules in place to prevent people from switching from Engineering to Education.

These rules are simply in place because Engineering is often the easiest program to use for entrance.

I'd suggest talking to an adviser.

If you want to teach high school, you will definitely need a degree in your chosen field--i.e. if you want to teach math, get a degree in math. Additionally, you'll need a teaching credential, which takes 1-2 years or so (depending on the program and your commitment), and can probably be done in parallel with your BA. If you hate engineering, I'd advise switching ASAP; it's only going to get worse after your first year.


Entheogenic

Plus, you'll probably want a Master's so you don't get stuck teaching in some ghetto establishment.

speaking from experience, even the ghetto establishments pretty much only hire those with master's degrees. master's in secondary education usually, not the subject they teach.

i've heard there's more of a demand for math and science teachers, but you've got to ultimately do what you like. i assume you can at least tolerate math since you went into engineering and are willing to do a math minor. so you've got to ask yourself if you want to do that as a profession.

i wanted to be a teacher for a while myself...until we had this senior appreciation day back in high school, where seniors could teach a class if the teacher agreed to let them. i paired up with a friend and taught my old math teacher's classes all day. it felt very unfulfilling. taught 10th grade geometry, honors geometry, and trig i believe. standing on the other side of the classroom, you really notice how uninterested the vast majority of students are, particularly non-honors, and nothing you do is really going to change that.

That's not my experience at all--a Master's will move you up the pay scale, but most districts are so starved for teacher that they'll snap you up as soon as they can.


Entheogenic

That's not my experience at all--a Master's will move you up the pay scale, but most districts are so starved for teacher that they'll snap you up as soon as they can.


Entheogenic

i was under the impression there are more teachers out there than teaching positions. my district was certainly not starved for teachers. a budget crisis led them to laying off about 200 teachers the year i graduated. everybody that worked at my high school had a master's degree, save maybe the gym teachers and literally a couple young people who had just started, and were subsequently laid off.

In Ohio at least, and I imagine most other states, you NEED a master's eventually.

You either have to have it right out of college, or you can be working towards it and you have to have it after you've been teaching five years.

The masters can be in either education or the subject(mathematics, English, Chemistry, History, etc...).

By the way, Math teachers are way more in demand than English teachers. Same thing with Chemistry, Physics, and to a lesser extent Biology.

i was under the impression there are more teachers out there than teaching positions. my district was certainly not starved for teachers. a budget crisis led them to laying off about 200 teachers the year i graduated. everybody that worked at my high school had a master's degree, save maybe the gym teachers and literally a couple young people who had just started, and were subsequently laid off.

Not on the West Coast, which is what I'm familiar with. I'm not too surprised that it varies depending on where you are, though. In the SF Bay Area they're so desperate that they'll hire you with just a BA, stick you in a classroom, and pay for you to get your credential as you go.


Entheogenic

Not on the West Coast, which is what I'm familiar with. I'm not too surprised that it varies depending on where you are, though. In the SF Bay Area they're so desperate that they'll hire you with just a BA, stick you in a classroom, and pay for you to get your credential as you go.


Entheogenic

Ya but who wants to teach in those ghetto ass schools? Ever seen Freedom Writers? More than likely you'd have to be quite qualified to not get stuck in a ghetto school where the students diss the teachers.

where the students diss the teachers.


That happens everywhere, I think. But yes, your point is well taken. Still, if you're coming out of a good undergrad institution, you shouldn't have a problem finding a teaching position at the high school level.


Entheogenic

Not on the West Coast, which is what I'm familiar with. I'm not too surprised that it varies depending on where you are, though. In the SF Bay Area they're so desperate that they'll hire you with just a BA, stick you in a classroom, and pay for you to get your credential as you go.


Entheogenic

well my area is pretty economically depressed as it is (rust belt), so yeah, i'd go somewhere else to be a teacher. i hear phoenix and las vegas are good areas. even so, i'd still get my master's, either immediately or soon after starting. your pay grade goes up with the more education you have. and then when you get sick of dealing with shitty kids in high schools, or when they lay you off, you go teach at a community college, like many of my school's teachers. :p

HUGE demand for teachers in my state. They'll pay you to take night classes to get your Master's, but all you need is a Bachelor's in your subject area. The students are highly disciplined as well; especially if you teach in a middle-class suburb. The students are assholes on the inside, but that's not what matter to you, right? ;)