Pathway
Education & Teaching
Helping people learn, in a classroom, a museum, a training program, or a curriculum team. Chronically undersold, and one of the few paths where you see your impact directly.
Majors
- Elementary Education
- Secondary Education (plus a subject major)
- Special Education
- Educational Studies
- Curriculum & Instruction
Jobs people do
- Classroom teacher
- Special education teacher
- School counselor (requires a master's)
- Instructional designer
- Museum or outdoor educator
- Corporate trainer
Watch out
The choices that quietly close a door here
Not checking your state's licensure requirements before choosing a college.
Certification is state-specific and some programs don't lead to licensure at all. It's a genuinely expensive mistake to find out late.
Instead Look up your state's teacher licensure page junior year, and confirm any program on your list is state-approved.
Dropping the subject you want to teach in favor of general 'education' classes.
Secondary teaching licenses require deep subject knowledge, and most states test it. Weak subject coursework is a real obstacle.
Instead Take your subject as far as your school offers.
Course ladder
Grade by grade
Course names differ at every school, and graduation requirements differ by state. Take this list to your counselor so the two of you are working from the same page.
Grade 8
- Nothing specific, keep your options broadWorth doing
Grade 9
- English 9Load-bearing
- BiologyLoad-bearing
- Geometry or Algebra ILoad-bearing
Grade 10
- Algebra IILoad-bearing
- World language, year 2Worth doing
Bilingual teachers are in high demand almost everywhere.
- Child development or education pathway courseWorth doing
Grade 11
- Go deep in the subject you'd want to teachLoad-bearing
Secondary teaching usually means majoring in the subject. If it's math, keep going in math; if it's history, take the AP.
- AP PsychologyWorth doing
- StatisticsWorth doing
Grade 12
- Teaching internship / cadet teaching programWorth doing
Many districts run these. It's the single best test of whether you'd like the job.
- Advanced coursework in your subjectWorth doing
- Public speakingIf you have room
Outside class
Tutor consistently, for a year or more
The consistency is the signal. One student, one year, real progress.
From grade 9
Educators Rising
The national program for high schoolers heading into teaching. Some chapters lead to scholarships.
From grade 9
Camp counselor or after-school program staff
Paid, and it's classroom management practice with the volume turned up.
From grade 10
Coach or assistant-coach a youth team
Teaching under pressure, in public, with parents watching.
From grade 10
Things to build
Design and teach a five-lesson unit on something you know well
To a club, a younger group, anyone. Write the plans down. This is a portfolio piece.
From grade 10
Make a free resource for students in a class you struggled with
Guides, videos, practice sets. It helps people and it demonstrates exactly what teaching is.
From grade 10
Is this actually a fit for you?
Ten minutes of questions, and Bearing turns this into a plan that starts from the grade you're in.
Take the survey