Teachers are more than just people who impart knowledge on students. They are our role models. More and more professionals want to become teachers mainly because they want to inspire and mold the future generations, helping them grow into successful contributors of our society.

How can you become a teacher? Among the many hats educators wear, they also develop classroom curricula; teach courses, proctor exams, help guide students in achieving academic success. These are some of the basic functions of a teacher, but their job may also vary significantly depending on their classroom placement. Teaching levels vary from elementary, middle school, high school, early education, special education, to post secondary education.

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Table of Contents

• Steps to Become a Teacher
• Teaching Degrees
• Popular Teaching Degrees

Steps to Become a Teacher

1. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
Teachers should have at least a bachelor’s degree. Some school systems would require teachers to major in specific area like Math or Science. High school teachers are required to have a major in a specific subject area as well.

2. Practice Teaching Students
You need to gain experience in teaching students. To sit for licensure, you need to have completed at least a number of hours teaching. You can do this during the internship, or while completing a bachelor’s degree before you move to full-time employment.

3. Get a teaching certification or a license
If you wish to practice teaching in schools full-time, you need to have a license. A certification follows grade level, with separate licensure examinations for preschool through third grade, first through sixth, or first through eighth, and seventh through twelfth.

Before acquiring a license, you must first complete a teacher preparatory program and a minimum amount of supervised teaching experience, which is typically obtained through student teaching.

4. Continue Higher Education
Teachers are required to complete a number of continuing education or professional development courses to maintain their license or certification. Teachers who earn a master’s degree can get greater job flexibility and higher pay. Some teachers can also get a National Board Certification.

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Teaching Degrees

If you are a promising education student, you can pursue a number of academic paths. For those who earned a postsecondary certificate or on the job training, you can qualify as teaching assistants. If you have an associate degree, you can serve as preschool teacher. A doctoral degree is needed if you want to push a career as higher administration, research, or a management role in the school system.

Associate Degree
If you want to earn a degree so you can work immediately upon graduation, you can opt for an associate degree. You can also choose this path if you want to build up your credits and transfer to a bachelor’s degree program.

Bachelor’s Degree
This is the minimum requirement for most teaching careers. It offers students the opportunity to specialize their education and pursue a particular career path. This path prepares students to take teaching certificates from kindergarten to high school level. A bachelor’s degree is also required to teach at the preschool level.

Master’s Degree
This is a targeted degree. You need to earn a bachelor’s degree first and further your education to specific area. You need a Master’s degree if you want to teach in certain high schools or universities. This can take about a year and a half to complete.

Doctoral Degrees
If you want to enter highest administration levels of education, you need to have a doctoral degree. You will be instructing college students in their specific area. This path is also the best for students who would like to take up research, high-level government positions, and curriculum development. The doctoral degree can take several years beyond the master’s degree. When you complete it depends how long you do the dissertation.

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Popular Teaching Degrees

For aspiring teachers, here are the most popular teaching degrees for you.

Education Administration
If you want to become a part of the school’s administration or have already several years of teaching experience, you can pursue Education Administration. However, you need to move to research and curriculum development.

Special Education
If you want to work with children with special needs, you can pursue a special education degree, where you will handle students with learning or developmental disabilities as well as emotional, behavioural, or physical disabilities.

Early Childhood Education
If you have particular interest in teaching kid up to 8 years old, you can pursue Early Childhood Education. This involves working specifically with children and applying early childhood education and development.

Physical Education
Physical education covers athletic programs that help students develop athletic and physical capabilities. You must have a degree in physical education to be able to work as a teacher in this field.

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