How does teaching work Do you need a degree in that thing to teach it?

Teaching at a school? 6 years of university

>>18610340
Depends on the state. That said, I would recommend against it unless you're wanting to work for a private school (at which point, your grades better be top notch, and you better spend your "Student Teacher" time in the private school you want to work at.

In the US, it requires 5 years of university work, minimum, to gain licensure to teach.

>>18610340
Um....Where do you intend to teach?

To teach primary or secondary (high) school where I live (the United States), most people either need a degree in something and a Master's degree in education or a related field, or in some places, a degree in something plus a less-than-degree local teacher certification certificate, typically acquired in just a year or 18 months.

>I've also known someone to get a job as a high school Spanish teacher just by being fluent in Spanish, degreed, and available, but she was a rare case, the school system was desperate, she worked toward teacher certification while teaching, and got paid almost nothing.

To teach at a community college, you typically need at least a relevant Master's degree; you'll get paid more with a PhD. Yeah, in the thing you plan to teach.

To teach at a real college or university, MA at least for low-level, no-future adjunct/lecturer jobs--essentially the part-time/freelance branch of the academic world. Real/career-level professor jobs, PhD.

To teach ESL at a night school somewhere outside the USA, you mostly need a degree in *something*, and more and more often, a TESOL certificate. But a small number of people acquire jobs without a degree, and a larger number of people have better qualifications (MA or better, teacher certification, etc.).

The better educated you are, the greater number and higher quality of jobs you will potentially have access to.

>>18610363
Oh, and in the arts, a Master's degree (an MFA) is most often a terminal degree, so there are lots of painting or writing or set design or whatever teaching jobs available to people with just the Master's. But most of these are not professor-level jobs; the tenure-track positions all go to people with doctorates in SOMETHING.

>>18610383
You're being too through with a very vague question, without even specifying geography or his interested fields.

>>18610388
I had time to kill.

>>18610458
Are you a teacher or training to be one? I myself am a third year multiple subject (elementary) major.

>>18610464
Nope, but my parents both were (mother taught middle school special ed; dad was a tenured university prof), I grew up in an intensely educated college town, and I taught English internationally for a few years.

I also have two Master's degrees, am a member of the board of trustees of a school, and hang out with a lot of academic types, so school is kind of a hobby of mine.

So I can't just graduate from college with a degree and x and decide to teach high-school x? Fuck you!

>>18610472
Wow. You're really knee deep in all this. Board of Trustees and two Master's? I'm not even sure I want one, yet.

Most people, outside of girls, don't really choose this life (education), unless they're following their family's example, i.e. my case. I'm from a family of educators, and they basically just told everyone, including my cousins, to do the same. So we're just on auto-pilot.

The truth is, I'm not even sure I want to be a teacher. I like talking to people. I'd rather be a counselor. But there are no jobs in anything psych related --- those people fight for those jobs, like dogs fighting for scraps.

>>18610473
Depends on the State. You have to specify, asshole. The country is a patchwork of states, each with their own boards of education, and set of regulations. I've heard that some Midwest and Southern states don't require any practicum (student teaching), which I find absolutely insane.

You must show subject matter competency by passing relevant exams--wherever you go--before obtaining a teaching credential. Only recently though, at least in my state of California, if your university has a blended program, then you can just do, say, "Social Science - Single Subject Teaching" as a major -- which means, you'll get a waiver on the exams, because your major is sufficient enough for the competency requirement.

To dumb it down. Because of No Child Left Behind, one has to demonstrate subject matter competency somehow, but it's up to the states to determine how -- and some states may or may not require student teaching.

>>18610473
I'm going to sleep. If you want to pursue teaching, then I suggest you volunteer at your local high school, in whatever subject you're planning to teach, so you really know what you're getting yourself into. Many people do 90% of the programs, then get to the student teaching part, and basically bounce -- they immediately regret their decisions once they realize what the job truly entails. It's one thing to study history, and another thing to teach it.

But to answer your question: yes. In almost all circumstances, it's always a good idea to have a major in the subject in which you wish to teach.

>>18610522
Fuck you