Can I transition to teaching with a humanities phd?

[Anonymous]

Cross posting from the jobs forum (crickets there)

Been out of workforce for many years due to raising kids and not being able to move out of state for possible employment. Still love my subject and am considering joining public school system. But I am hearing a lot of negative feedback about the job of teaching in our day and age. Also I'm not clear on the salary range. Some say it's very low, internet statistics shows salaries that are higher than I would have gotten as a freshly minted assistant professor.

I definitely don't have the means to pay for a full fledged teaching degree and after the PhD it feels like a slap in the face anyway. Are there any fast tracks for PhD to teacher transitions?

[Anonymous]

One possibility is doing Teach for America. I have a friend that did this as her second career.

[Anonymous]

Salary ranges, even for new teachers, vary with each district. If you want accurate information on salary ranges, check the specific school districts where you plan to apply for jobs.

[Anonymous]

You could teach at a charter without doing anything, or you could do an alternative teacher program. That being said, I would NEVER recommend teaching to anyone; especially not as a career transition.

[Anonymous]

I really don’t recommend teaching, but consider a private high school instead of public. It’s still an absurd amount of work, but I feel professionally respected now that I made the switch.

I left public school teaching 100% because of the conditions. I felt admin treated me like a child. I had to “one-two-three-eyes on me” at faculty meetings. I had to take direction from admin who were so far removed from the classroom that they no longer had relevant experience. We couldn’t keep teachers, and 1/4 of the staff was new every year. There was no sense of support or community.

I now work in a private where I am treated respectfully and I feel tremendous support from admin. They continue to teach one class so they still “get it.”

It’s still a TON of work. Weekdays are 10-11 hours long and I have significant work to do every weekend.

As for pay, it is only slightly lower than my former public school salary. Many in my department are former public school teachers or college professors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t recommend teaching, but consider a private high school instead of public. It’s still an absurd amount of work, but I feel professionally respected now that I made the switch.

I left public school teaching 100% because of the conditions. I felt admin treated me like a child. I had to “one-two-three-eyes on me” at faculty meetings. I had to take direction from admin who were so far removed from the classroom that they no longer had relevant experience. We couldn’t keep teachers, and 1/4 of the staff was new every year. There was no sense of support or community.

I now work in a private where I am treated respectfully and I feel tremendous support from admin. They continue to teach one class so they still “get it.”

It’s still a TON of work. Weekdays are 10-11 hours long and I have significant work to do every weekend.

As for pay, it is only slightly lower than my former public school salary. Many in my department are former public school teachers or college professors.

I’m the PP. Adding:
You don’t need certification to get hired, but some private high schools will require you to earn it. There are alternative route programs so you don’t need the teaching degree. Those new to teaching at my school attend regular meetings with a mentor who will help you get used to the many nuances of teaching (constantly being “on”, being responsible for 25-30 teenagers at a time with varying behaviors, grading standards, lesson planning and differentiation, learning plans and behavioral plans, how to interact with parents, how to manage the avalanche of paperwork…)

[Anonymous]

The easiest route is private school or community college.

For secondary ed look at local universities with "career switcher" programs that can help you earn an endorsement. They require coursework but not an additional degree. I appreciate that it feels "like a slap in the face" to have to do this, but content knowledge is only part of what makes a good teacher K-12.

As someone who transitioned to K-12 from higher ed, the conditions in public K-12 are absolutely awful and 80% of your job will be classroom management the first few years, with a steep learning curve.

[Anonymous]

Privates generally do not require (or care) about licensing/certification. That might be the easiest option. If you have an English PhD, many privates would welcome you to teach English, for example.

[Anonymous]

In public school you will start at step 1 on the pay scale. The only years of service that count are teaching years. Other industry experience won’t count.

For public school you will likely need additional coursework in lesson planning, special education, and child development.

If you share what state you’re looking in, people can help guide you. I am only familiar with Virginia.

[Anonymous]

What is your field?

I know my school district would likely hire you as a conditional teacher, but the pay would be low until you got full MD certification.

Your pay regardless of your PhD, would be Grade 2 step 2 unless you had teaching experience. So about $53,000.

https://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Prince_Georges_County_salary_2022-2023

However, once you have your teaching license, you would move up to the PhD scale, grade 7. With 3 year's teaching experience (probably how long it would take you to earn your license), that would be about $74,000.

I don't know how that compares with what an assistant professor makes, though.

Information on Conditional Certification:

https://www.pgcps.org/offices/humanresources/certification/new-teacher-certification#:~:text=Conditionally%20certified%20teachers%20must%20complete,Professional%20Development%20(CPD)%20credits.


You can do a transcript review to see what courses you would need to be certified but with a PhD in English or History you probably have the content courses fully covered. You would need about 7 3-credit courses in pedagogy, though. (however I think 2 of those courses, the Reading ones, could be taken as a CPD workshop once employed, you don't have to take them at graduate school). So it looks like maybe 5 teacher education classes would be needed to be certified.

(1) Complete one of the following options:

(a) Earn a bachelor's or higher degree from an IHE with a major in the certification area; or

(b) Complete 30 semester hours or more of content course work taken at an IHE in the certification area;

(2) Complete 21 semester hours of professional education course work taken at an IHE at the appropriate age or grade level including:

(a) At least one 3 semester hour course in each of the following:

(i) Adolescent development;

(ii) Human learning;

(iii) Teaching methodology;

(iv) Inclusion of special needs student populations; and

(v) Assessment of students; and

(b) 6 semester hours covering the following which may also be taken through CPDs:

(i) Types of reading;

(ii) Use of reading assessment data to improve instruction;

(iii) Skills in reading including cognitive strategies in reading;

(iv) Reading instruction including reading aloud strategies and methods for diagnosing reading difficulties and making instructional modifications and accommodations for the student;

(v) Strategies for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for reading;

(vi) Teaching students to learn from text by applying theories, strategies, and practices in daily classroom use including additional content in types of reading using authentic texts;

(vii) Skills in reading including processing of multimedia information and strategies to connect reading with study skills; and (viii) Reading instruction that integrates content area goals with reading goals including strategies for students to communicate effectively orally and in writing about what they have read in content area texts; and

(3) Complete a teaching experience in one of the following ways:

(a) A supervised experience in a public or accredited nonpublic school setting at the appropriate age or grade level and in the subject area for which the applicant is seeking certification; or

(b) 1 year of satisfactory full-time teaching experience in a public or accredited nonpublic school setting at the appropriate age or grade level and in the subject area for which the applicant is seeking certification.

B. In §A(1)(b) of this regulation:

(1) A minimum of 50 percent of the required content course work shall be taken at the same institution; and

(2) A minimum of 12 semester hours of the required content course work shall be upper division course work.

C. A minimum of 50 percent of the professional education course work required in §A(2) of this regulation shall be taken at the same institution.

http://mdrules.elaws.us/comar/13a.12.02.06

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


I definitely don't have the means to pay for a full fledged teaching degree and after the PhD it feels like a slap in the face anyway. Are there any fast tracks for PhD to teacher transitions?

If you are a MD resident, you could apply for the MD Teaching Fellow Schoalrship:

https://mhec.maryland.gov/preparing/Pages/TeachingFellowsMDScholarship.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Privates generally do not require (or care) about licensing/certification. That might be the easiest option. If you have an English PhD, many privates would welcome you to teach English, for example.

We have a former professor (with PhD) teaching in our private school English department. He was given credit for his PhD and his years teaching at the university, which certainly helped his beginning pay. He had to get certified, which involved enrolling in an alternative route program through a local university. It took him 2 years, but he made a regular salary during that time.

OP, I recommend looking at private school jobs.

[Anonymous]

EducateVA:

In Level I, the student spends one semester taking seven modules via distance education, with 7 required Saturday meetings. A Field Placement requires 40 clock hours in a classroom at an area school during the semester. In Level II, the student has a teaching contract for one academic year. The student works with an assigned faculty observer and attends periodic seminars. Upon completing the EducateVA Level II requirements and a successful year of teaching, the student is recommended by their school division for a renewable 10-year license.

http://educateva.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_campaign=EducateVA&gclid=CjwKCAiAmJGgBhAZEiwA1JZoloVw8qkUU0t1D464WkgCdJt8rotkJxNaH1R1ym1BypWXBW-_R1IWXxoCOc8QAvD_BwE

[Anonymous]

+1 to 13.45 poster.

I teach high school in PG county and feel like I hit the jackpot. My school is a big, diverse one with students who have a LOT of challenges, but all the complaints I see in other county threads about entitled, disrespectful parents are nothing like my experience. Also, my fellow teachers are tremendous-- dedicated, smart, supportive of each other, several with PhDs and/or interesting prior experiences. My principal sets a really positive tone and everyone from top to bottom seems really dedicated, so it feels like we're all rowing in the same direction.

It is an intense, demanding job for sure. I'm not a Pollyanna about it. There are frustrations and annoyances (sometimes only one working photocopier for 100+ teachers) and worse. But I'll tell you, I have plenty of days that are exhilarating.

I have an MA +60, so I haven't paid much attention to the specifics, but we are always getting emails about tuition reimbursement, and it seems pretty generous. You said you can't afford to pay for another degree, but if you get hired conditionally, it may be easier than you think. Worth checking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 to 13.45 poster.

I teach high school in PG county and feel like I hit the jackpot. My school is a big, diverse one with students who have a LOT of challenges, but all the complaints I see in other county threads about entitled, disrespectful parents are nothing like my experience. Also, my fellow teachers are tremendous-- dedicated, smart, supportive of each other, several with PhDs and/or interesting prior experiences. My principal sets a great tone and everyone from top to bottom seems really dedicated, so it feels like we're all rowing in the same direction.

It is an intense, demanding job for sure. I'm not a Pollyanna about it. There are frustrations and annoyances (sometimes only one working photocopier for 100+ teachers) and worse. But I'll tell you, I have plenty of days that are exhilarating.

I have an MA +60, so I haven't paid much attention to the specifics, but we are always getting emails about tuition reimbursement, and it seems pretty generous. You said you can't afford to pay for another degree, but if you get hired conditionally, it may be easier than you think. Worth checking out.

PP again with one more note-- OP, did you do any teaching at the college level when you were in grad school or after? I got several steps of credit for that and felt like HR translated my prior experience as generously as one could hope. The district earned a lot of good will from me for that.