Hopefully, you will do what you feel called to do, teach! Teaching high school is a calling to guide, mentor, instruct, and inspire young teenage men and women. If you are considering it, you most likely have the teacher in mind that impacted your life. For me, my middle-school history teacher and high school English teachers are the reason I got into teaching. It’s not what they taught me about their subject, though I certainly was impressed with their expertise and knowledge (and benefited from it). I remember a few lessons, but what I remember more is that they believed in me. The treated me as a unique person with dignity, full of potential. From their comments on papers to personal interactions and jokes, I looked forward to going to their classes (most of the time!). For me, the heart of my philosophy of education is the relationship. If you don’t love connecting with young people, teaching high school is not for you.
For me, my middle-school history teacher and high school English teachers are the reason I got into teaching. It’s not what they taught me about their subject, though I certainly was impressed with their expertise and knowledge (and benefited from it). I remember a few lessons, but what I remember more is that they believed in me. The treated me as a unique person with dignity, full of potential. From their comments on papers to personal interactions and jokes, I looked forward to going to their classes (most of the time!). For me, the heart of my philosophy of education is the relationship. If you don’t love connecting with young people, teaching high school is not for you.
Now, if you do enjoy the high school environment, teenagers, and want to teach in public schools, you will need to earn a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education for licensure. Next, up is choosing the subject to teach. What subject do you love? What fascinates you? Do you love math and science? Perhaps history or economics attracted you? Do you love art and want to share this love with others? Those questions are more important in deciding what to specialize in that what classes you received A’s in. Master teachers share certain qualities, among them, is the love of learning…a passionate, insatiable love of learning. Again, if you love connecting with young people during the teenage years, but don’t enjoy learning, do not pass go, do not get your teaching license. Check out “Five Great Teachers On What Makes Great Teachers” by NPR for a discussion about this very topic.
Now if you have passed go and still want to teach, and you have an idea of the subject you’d like to pursue to that end, you need to begin looking for schools. Perhaps you found us at Best Education Schools by searching for the best schools and stumbled into our 20 Best Bachelor’s in Secondary Education, 10 Best Online Bachelor’s in Secondary Education, or looking to save money with rising costs, our 10 Most Affordable Bachelors in Secondary Education.
With a Bachelor’s in High School (Secondary) Education you can teach Math, U.S. History, world history, social studies, biology, chemistry, physics, art, theatre, psychology, economics, English, Spanish, foreign languages, health, physical education, industrial arts, technology, English as a Second Language, and a host of other subjects. You will be qualified to teach in public school, private school, and to further your education in the future with a master’s for continuing education or other educational areas such as curriculum and instruction or educational leadership. Something else to keep in mind, your bachelor’s will put you into a high school with all of the extracurriculars as well. If you love coaching, science club, drama, travel, or other student groups and activities, being a teacher gives you an advantage, especially in regards to coaching, as administrators prefer to hire teachers to coach their sports teams.
Lastly, and most importantly, with a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education, you will be able to help form young men and women of the next generation to make a difference, to be change agents in a world in need of change.