If you’re considering a career path in education, you may be surprised to learn that it’s not only teaching roles that are available to you. There are, in fact, many different roles you might look at undertaking – from teaching assistant, substitute teacher, special education teacher, school principal, or even director of education.
Whether you’re looking to move forward in your career or take your first step into education, stay with us as we outline just some options you might consider.
Teaching Assistant
If you’re new to teaching or looking to gain some experience and mentorship in the industry, you might consider becoming a teacher’s assistant to begin with.
A teacher’s assistant does things like taking attendance, grading student work, setting up equipment or materials before classes, monitoring students’ behaviors, and managing the classroom as needed by the main teacher. Becoming a teacher’s assistant usually requires fewer qualifications and can be done as a first step into the field of education, as you familiarize yourself with how a teaching career works.
Adult Education Teacher
When people think of teachers, they often think of child education or perhaps education at the tertiary level.
But if you don’t particularly want to work with children or young people, there are many opportunities out there for teachers who want to teach adults. This can often be in the language field, where adults might be looking to upskill their career opportunities or pursue a passion by learning a new language.
If you’re a native or fluent speaker of a language other than English, you may be interested in teaching this language to English speakers who want to learn for business or social reasons. Or, if you’re a native English speaker and have a strong understanding of grammar and other English quirks, you might also consider becoming an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher.
Preschool Teacher
On the other end of the spectrum, if you love working with children, you might explore becoming a preschool teacher.
At the preschool level, teaching is as much about educating children on the world around us as it is about teaching them the basics of math and language. Becoming a preschool teacher means having a great understanding of how children develop, as well as having infinite patience to deal with children who simply don’t know just yet what is and isn’t appropriate behaviour.
Interestingly, it also requires navigating the adult world carefully, as parents of very little kids are often more involved in their children’s wellbeing and education than parents of older, more independent children who might be able to take charge of their own education. You’ll have to do things like write reports, contact parents of unruly children, and navigate parents who have complaints. While it can be difficult, a preschool teacher is one of the most formative figures in a child’s life, and the career can be incredibly rewarding at the end of the day.
Director of Education
If you’ve been working in the education field for some years as a teacher, you might be looking at taking the next leap into a new and more senior role. Needless to say, to be able to take on an upper leadership role such as Director of Education, you’ll need to acquire higher qualifications through online EdD programs or similar.
Directors of education are most often in charge of overseeing things like school curricula, as well as coordinating with teachers and principals to ensure schools are consistent in terms of what they’re teaching. They will also communicate with other institutions for collaborative efforts or events, conduct interviews to find and hire new teachers (which is especially crucial in times of staff shortages), and perform other high-level functions like coordinating workshops or other career development opportunities for teaching staff.
While it can be a demanding and diverse role, becoming a director of education is a rewarding and challenging leadership role where no two days are the same.
The teaching industry is a diverse and varied field with ample opportunities for growth. Whether you’re new to teaching or an education veteran, there’s always somewhere to go if you’re looking to take the next leap forward in your career.