Secondary Ed. Teachers, please help me out!!?

Question

Thanks for reading.

I want to be a HS teacher in the inner city. I plan on getting my AA from the community college and then through the articulation program, transfer to a university for my undergrad degree.

So, how should I go about becoming a HS teacher? I'm very interested in teaching HS in Chicago's inner city. I'm thinking major in Business/History/English at community college (those are the areas I would be interested in teaching. But from there, what? When I transfer to Univeristy, should I major in a subject of interest and take secondary ed. as a minor? Should I major in the same topic as I did in CC or something different?

Please, offer any advice. I've been very unsuccessful at finding information out online or through advisers.

Thanks a lot!!!

P.S.

I'd love an online mentor for someone with time on their hands!

Answer 1

One thing people never tell you is that you have to work backwards.  Begin with your end goal, then find out what you need to do to get there.

This means you should choose one of those fields of interest as a major now, before you transfer.  All 3 subjects you mention are different  areas of certification, with very different coursework requirements for each.  (If you want to work in a public school, you will need certification.)

Unfortunately, getting an AA (I'm assuming you're taking a liberal arts assortment of classes) means you're not specializing early enough in one of those fields.  You're taking a little of this, a little of that, while still meeting the requirements for an AA.  The downside of this is that once you decide on a major, you will have "spent" some of your credits on classes you didn't need and that didn't help you get to your  goal.  (I found out the hard way.  After a BA in English, I had to go back and take 3 undergrad courses when I was getting a masters in education.  My university would not recommend me to the state for certification without them.  This meant finding nearby schools who offered them in time for me to graduate, and also paying $$$ more in tuition.)

Becoming a secondary teacher as an undergrad is almost like a dual major:  in education and also in the field you eventually choose.  So when you figure in the education courses you must take, your course list becomes even tighter, assuming you want to graduate on time.

The earlier you decide which subject you want to teach, the more able you will be to select courses you need.  If your CC does not offer much in the way of education classes, I would focus on 'spending' whatever extra credits you have on the major you choose.

Also research which universities in your area offer education degrees/certification programs and have matriculation agreements with your CC.  Find out what courses an education major with a subject area of "X" needs to take.  Speak to a counselor.  Get a list so that you plan ahead rather than find out too late.