According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobs outlook for teachers is predicted to grow steadily alongside the average for other fields. However, for some regions and teaching fields, jobs will grow much more rapidly, as teachers become more in demand. In the next 10 years, the number of teachers retiring will also increase, opening up job opportunities for new graduates.
Once you earn a graduate degree in education, your wage earning ability will increase, as your academic background may be more advanced than those with merely a bachelor’s degree. Having a master’s or doctorate in education will enable you to move upward in your career more quickly and put you in line for promotion to administrative positions.
Fields in Demand
In recent years, more graduates have become interested in the arts, with less of them studying the hard sciences and mathematics. Because of this, there is a greater need for new teachers capable of instructing all student levels of science and math. Learning these fields encourages students to develop an interest in academic material that can translate to a career in engineering, biology, chemistry, computer science, or statistical analysis. It also gives you a competitive edge for gaining a better position in the school of your choice.
Teaching in Urban and Rural Schools
You probably have an impression of what urban schools are like in your mind. Over-crowded, without technology, poor, and potentially perilous, these schools often do not attract many teachers. Still, urban schools need teachers too. If you like being able to create social change and really made a difference in the lives of children that may not have options placed in front of them, teaching in urban schools will provide you with the opportunity to do so.
What about rural schools? Far away from big cities, these schools may have a low student population, and therefore, may not pay as much as suburban schools. Still, for teachers who like the quiet life and living in the country, this will be a strategic selling point.
Special Education
More children than ever before are being diagnosed with autism spectrum and attention-deficit disorders. As a teacher looking at graduate schools in education, research to find out more about these disorders so you can understand the learning disabilities that your students may have. Taking classes or specializing in special education will help you when you interact with this cohort of students in the classroom.
A Boom in Higher Education
Most institutions are seeing a spike in enrollment due to external factors such as the poor state of the economy, lack of jobs, and a desire that both traditional age students and non-traditional students have to further their education in order to succeed. Students are more likely to take an active role in their education and will want to learn career oriented material.
If you are an individual interested in education but you do not want to teach young children in elementary school or teens in high school, earning a graduate degree in education and teaching adults at the college level can be an interesting path to take.
