Would this be a crazy or stupid career move?

[ProfessorArtNerd]

I am thinking about leaving higher ed to teach- maybe high schoolers.  I can't do elementary, I just can't. 

I am not certified to teach, since you don't need to be to teach college courses.  I've been teaching since 2006, so 17 years, but have never, like, studied pedagogy or anything, just kind of winged it. 

Is this a stupid move?  I'm sad as hell about it, I love my job.  But maybe I could be happy doing this as well.  I don't know, I'm all over the place, but adjuncting is demoralizing and I think I've had enough. 

I don't want to do my PhD in art history, either.  I don't want to do conferences and publications and stuff like that, so doing a phd would be a serious waste of money. 

Monetarily speaking, I think I'd be ok just teaching at the community college, but enrollment is all over the place there.  I love being able to work part time but omg. 

Anyway, any words of wisdom?  Caution?  Commiseration?  Suggestions on next steps?  All are welcome

[followyourarrow]

Does your community offer art history classes for adults, like through the rec commission? Just trying to think outside the box.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Oct 4, 2023 12:58:48 GMT -5 followyourarrow said:

Does your community offer art history classes for adults, like through the rec commission? Just trying to think outside the box.

Definitely possible!  I'll look into it, thanks.

A problem that I have is that I am not qualified to teach art, just art history, and not too many places have art history in high school.  I guess I could teach regular history too. 

[orval]

Similar to rec programs, older adult facilites like assisted living often have people come in to provide special programming. You could do history programs or actual seasonal painting activitiy or something like that.

[lust2hart]

"Teach," meaning, teaching how-to art classes?

If so, I was thinking along the same lines as followyourarrow. Our city has an arts center that offers all kinds of art/dance/theatre classes every semester. You could also potentially do your own workshops - there's a woman in my town who does watercolors and she often partners with the local plant shop - they provide the space and set some plants on the tables to paint.

Perhaps you could work as an art therapist? I know that's its own specialized field but maybe your experience is enough?

[lust2hart]

You might be able to teach art history online at another college or university.

[waverly]

IMO, teaching high school is not super different from teaching college because I did do both, but I think the Junior/ senior grades are more similar. 9th and 10th were still a little squirrely. Obviously there are other issues, but the actual teaching part was similar.

History has some challenges in the political landscape right now.

The hardest part I found being a teacher was being on for 5 hours per day, standing in front of everyone and talking. It was exhausting for me because I am lower energy introvert. Classroom management was a bit of a challenge but not terrible at that age.  Where being an adjunct is one class at a time. 

I ended up moving out of teaching and am in an adjacent education area in a role that better fits my introversion and energy level. But if people are cool with the political landscape, and being "on/ energetic" for so long (and you do adjust a little bit), then I think it could be a great career path for someone looking for benefits and standard hours as opposed to being an adjunct. The other issue I had was the time to lesson plan, but that might be easier for someone who has taught for 17 years, then for me, student teaching. Once teachers have done it a while, the lesson planning gets a lot easier, but I moved out of the field before that.

We have a good school district, and I know some teachers have dealt with issues with administration and not feeling supported, so it is all district or school related.  So I wouldn't say a problem with the entire field, but you have to seek out the places to work where the teachers feel happy.

Are you close enough with any teachers where you could ask to shadow them for a day to get an idea?  Or ask to teach an art history lesson for them and see how the high school students receive it?  

[Jalapeñomel]

I will say that landing a job as an art teacher can be really difficult, even in inner city/rural areas. I'd look at that first to decide whether you want to make the move.

I find teaching HS vastly different from teaching college, but I teach a subject kids HATE HATE HATE. lol

[meanie]

My husband became a teacher after being an accountant, he didn't have any educational background in teaching and just took the required tests to get a license. He did have a masters so he was able to start at a higher step salary-wise, but he had to do a year as a very low paid teachers aid.

You are way ahead of the game with your experience.

My H left teaching after 9 years to go back to being a CPA. He was a wonderful teacher and truly loved it, but the administration and parents made him want to leave.

[Roc A Bee]

What would you teach in HS? Art History? Here, that would be a difficult/impossible find. Even a studio art position is difficult.

What about a teaching online for other community colleges in other States/areas?

[lilafowler]

Hello, Dr Grilled Cheese did exactly that! It’s been a journey but he’s finally in a contract position and starting to feel settled 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[Leeham Rimes]

I wouldn’t say it’s either if it’s something you really want to do.

But if you’re doing it mostly for a steady paycheck, I don’t know if all the headache that teachers face these days is going to make it worth it. There are quite a few of my sons’ former teachers that have gotten out of teaching, not because of the kids, but bc of everything else that’s included. My mom retired from teaching (in NJ) in 2010 or so and she said it was so bad (administration/school politics/parents) that she would never go back.

That certainly could all be state/county/school dependent. I would try and find teachers in your area and pick their brain about this.

What about private tutoring? You’d probably make more that way, considering all the work you’d have to do in addition to teaching the kids. I was paying $45/hr before we switched to online tutoring. (I pay more now but the tutors don’t make nearly as much)

I’m not telling you don’t, but teachers have it hard, at least from my perspective.

[livinitup]

I think you need more information to answer this question. Is it worth exploring? Sure.

It might seem overwhelming to even figure out if this is something you want to do, but maybe dedicate 10-20 hours to research job opening & requirements and go from there?

[notsopicky]

There are a lot of untraditional pathways into the classroom these days. You could take the Praxis II and be certified to teach general Art. While it's true that there aren't a million open art positions, there still will be some, and you'll have to watch postings carefully to find them.

Having said that, teaching is really really hard right now. I transitioned out of the classroom 5 years ago, and last year took on a specialist position. Even without assigned students, I am still very involved with day-to-day teaching and learning (e.g. I had to write a Science 8 lesson today, complete with materials, videos, & lab demos). I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Science teacher, but I am a good teacher in general, so I went with what I know to be able to design the lesson. I did have district-provided frameworks to use, re: the content.

What about going into college recruiting? Doing college fairs and admissions? Your knowledge of higher ed would be valuable.

[rosiebear]

This makes me so sad - the way adjuncts are used and disrespected is a goddamn scandal. I don’t have any career advice, but I hope you land where you’re happy and appreciated!

[erbear]

It's not stupid but it may be crazy, lol. Teaching high school can be a natural move from college but if they give you 9th grade...it'll be a culture shock, lol. You probably have to go back and take some classes to get an alternative certification and you'll need to learn some pedagogy and lesson planning and differentiation and classroom management -- in that way, HS is really different from college, especially now (post Covid).

That said, I teach middle school and I love it (and yes, you have to be a little crazy).

[wildrice]

What specifically do you love about your job? I'd give that some further thought before going in any direction. Are there aspects of teaching you particularly like or don't like? Perhaps there are other jobs that could give you the things you like without going into a stressful field like teaching. For example, if you like working with students, there are tons of student support jobs in higher ed. If you like teaching, maybe you could look into training. If it's the art itself, I don't know enough about that to suggest anything but perhaps that could be the main focus.

I agree adjuncting is not a viable career path. I'm currently doing a class as a side job and it's a lot more work than I'm paid, and there is no way I could ever support myself on the pay either (even if I was teaching 4 classes per semester, I'd barely be making 25k a year!). I think it's a reasonable hobby but a full time job would give you a lot more options for your future, including the option to be independent at some point if you decide you want to be.

[nsl]

I'd start by checking into whether or not your state will qualify you to teach history given your credits. The answer is likely yes, but as someone who's had to recertify in four different states it's always surprised me how specific some states are about which undergrad (UNDERGRAD!) classes they consider sufficient in different areas of your major to satisfy certification requirements. Just a few years ago both Georgia and Utah gave me grief about not having enough pre-19th century literature courses during my BA even though I also hold an MA in English Lit and took many pre-19th century lit classes for it.

[arielroux]

Maybe you could look into some private/public high schools that offer a wide range of AP courses if you want to teach art history for HS? My school offered AP Art History, so the students taking it really wanted to take it and we’re super engaged in the course. My school was out in the Villanova area, but I’m sure there are plenty of schools closer to you that offer the AP Art History course!

[lilafowler]

H decided to pivot because once he got his doctorate he couldn’t find adjunct jobs in our general area for US history unless you were very specialized. There were a lot of adjunct jobs he could have taken that were in places like the Midwest but they were all by semester with no guarantee of any stability-and by then we were married and had a kid-there was no way we were moving away from our support systems with a kid and no assurance of a permanent position.

H is also not a political person and socially awkward so he was horrible at all the higher Ed “who do you know?” connections that get you the jobs. He loves teaching and researching.

He started by getting certified to teach public school in MA-he had to pass the necessary exams which he had to study for and pay to take and now has a provisional teaching license. He subbed in our local school system for a few years before he became a permanent sub at the high school-then a position opened up when a teacher went on a long medical leave and he was tapped to replace them. When it became apparent that teacher wasn’t coming back (and it was over a year that he took the place of a full teacher but was paid the sub rate since the teacher had worked there for so long and had so much sick time) the principal and head of social studies made sure he was first in line for the position.

He said teaching is hard and it gets him down sometimes but he enjoys connecting with students and he’s starting working as an advisor for a few groups. He also loves the steady paycheck and union benefits.

It was a BIG decision and he had a lot of feelings about leaving higher Ed-but I think it’s been good overall.

[ZitchDog]

I remembered that the university I worked for (not the ones listed below) had a transition-to-teaching program, so it might be worth checking into something like that for a fast-tracked transition.

jobs.philasd.org/opportunities/teachers/teacher-residency/

drexel.edu/soe/resources/career-path/transition-to-teaching/

[smock]

When I left higher ed, I looked into high school teaching. It was not a good fit for two reasons: first, I would have needed 1-2 years of classes to meet my state's licensure requirements, even with a Ph.D. and 10+ years of college-level teaching experience. And second, I would not be able to function teaching 5+ classes a day. That's too draining for this introvert who had to expend a lot of energy to stand in front of a classroom.

If you're looking for alternative ways to make money without the shitty adjunct pay, teaching would not be the easiest path. Fields like art/art history/social studies are very competitive because it's such a common career path for majors in those areas.

I ended up jumping into freelance writing, because as an academic, writing fast was always my strength. It's been a surprisingly lucrative and good fit. And I agree with wildrice to think about what you like about teaching. If it's interacting with students, there's lots of opportunities in student advising/student services. At a lot of colleges, big departments have their own advisor, so someone with an art history background could be perfect as the art school advisor, for example.

[cville]

My friend left lawyering to be a high school chemistry teacher. He has 0 regrets.

Something about the state where he teaches and the fact that he has a graduate degree meant some of the teaching cert things were waived.

Eta: similar reasons. He loved legal work, loved the people, found the slog of being a lawyer at a firm demoralizing, and alternatives to that in the law world were, in his mind, too political or required too much more something (clerkship, cross country move, etc) that he just didn't want to do.

[litskispeciality]

I mentioned in the other teaching career thread that my company has a large corporate training division, and that may be something to think about although it's working with adults. I've seen folks recommend that in lieu of the super-saturated instructional designer field, but you have to obviously want to do that. I'd think a background in Art would make a great ID or corporate training developer.

I'm not an educator, but from what I know a lot of districts are pension based, so you'll want to find out how long you have to work to meet pension, and/or stay to fully vest. Look in to requirements in your state for licensure, and all the things listed above in this thread. As mentioned in the other thread maybe try subbing if that works with your schedule, to make sure you want to pivot to the younger grades.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend higher ed, at least not Admissions/recruiting. Maaaaybe if you could work for a big name school where people want to go and you get more applications than seats. In my area there's a declining high school graduate population, students were/are still taking gap years after COVID, and "not seeing the value of college unless it's a really good brand name school". Admissions is a hard, long hours, nights and weekends at times, and often low paying field. I'm sure your background is good for it, but just do some research about enrollment trends in your area. Maybe advising students is a better fit since you know what their struggles are in the classroom. IME a lot of places pay advisors a bit better than Admissions, although you can end up with a large student caseload. The last place I left also didn't want to pay benefits and a lot of advisor, and Admissions positions moved to PT no benefits, and they were truly perplexed why the positions sat open.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Oct 4, 2023 18:21:17 GMT -5 wildrice said:

What specifically do you love about your job? I'd give that some further thought before going in any direction. Are there aspects of teaching you particularly like or don't like? Perhaps there are other jobs that could give you the things you like without going into a stressful field like teaching. For example, if you like working with students, there are tons of student support jobs in higher ed. If you like teaching, maybe you could look into training. If it's the art itself, I don't know enough about that to suggest anything but perhaps that could be the main focus.

I agree adjuncting is not a viable career path. I'm currently doing a class as a side job and it's a lot more work than I'm paid, and there is no way I could ever support myself on the pay either (even if I was teaching 4 classes per semester, I'd barely be making 25k a year!). I think it's a reasonable hobby but a full time job would give you a lot more options for your future, including the option to be independent at some point if you decide you want to be.

I really enjoy sharing the stories of the artworks, and teaching the students how to interpret the works and how artists use their tools to guide us.  And the gossip, I love spilling the juicy stories.  I love the fact that I can work part time and still make a decent paycheck (at the community college, anyway, HELL YEAH UNIONS).  I also like that I don't do any committee work or any of that crap. I'm at the point where I only have to prep new classes, or ones I haven't taught in a long time.  The community college pays me back for the health insurance I have through H's work.

I don't like that I can't know until sometimes the week that school starts if a class I "have" will run or not.  At the CC, I miss the traditional college experience that I get at the university, but they try periodically to foster more of that environment.  And the fluctuating enrollment numbers make it so seniority or not, I'm the first to go if the classes are constricted. 

[bugandbibs]

Thinking outside the box, but could you move into a museum job. Or art authenticating, insurance/appraising type job. Those can involve a lot of research which may be up your alley. Depending on your city, there may be education jobs at a museum for school groups or summer classes.

[stemmie]

My mom was an artist who went to college to become an art teacher for the benefits and job security.

Teaching as a career could be a good fit for you but arts are often on the chopping block in public, indie and parochial schools, so it isn't the most secure of subjects to teach. My mom's position was eliminated a few times through curriculum cuts and dropping enrollments. Dad was certified to teach both math and history, so he tended to land on his feet.

You may find yourself competing with others who have done a 5-year program getting both a BFA and Education/Teacher Certification. Most public schools will want an education background. Private schools might be more likely to hire without, but the pay and benefits tend to be a lot less than public schools pay.

I have a friend with a PhD in biology whose company relocated. They didn't want to move, so they looked into teaching high school. They had to pass the Praxis for general science, chemistry, physics and biology but wasn't hired because the area public schools weren't interested in paying extra for the PhD. They ended up teaching at a community college as an adjunct the first couple years. They taught summer school and also worked as a lifeguard to make ends meet.

In both PA and NJ, most art teachers are certified K-12. My mom's first job and "sweet spot" was middle school, but when her school closed, she ended up transferred to elementary for 3 years before a spot opened in the high school where she worked for a year before she was able to get back into the middle school. My mom adores little kids, but not so much as students. The first year in elementary, she was split between 2 different buildings and she never had a dedicated "art room" which meant working out of a cart and limited projects to what could be completed in a single class.

[DotAndBuzz]

I don't think it's totally crazy.

I think you may have more job security/requirement flexibility in a private or independent school, than in a public school (focus on test scores and budget cuts generally leave the arts hung out to dry, unfortunately). The independent school where my kids go have teachers from all sorts of different professional backgrounds. Lots have work experience in their particular field of expertise, and then went back for their M.Ed before landing at our school. Independent schools may also be willing to bring in a new curriculum branch (like, say art history/humanities). Our school has a broad approach to history/English classes, and in a number of grades they're taught as a humanities class, with the art teacher coming in to do art history portions. Especially in the upper school, there is a wide variety of specialized seminar style classes that juniors and seniors take, and art history would fit right in there, especially if you got certification to teach AP Art History.

Maybe look around in your area to see what those types of schools have to offer, and what their general philosophy is (ours is really up front about being focused on liberal arts, fostering an anti-racist community, building critically thinking young adults, etc, but in a more conservative area, priorities may be different). See what you'd need to teach there, and decide if it's something you want to pursue.

[W.T.Faulkner]

Try a charter or independent school. I think an independent school would love to have you — they love advanced degrees and higher ed experience. It’ll be more stable than what you’re doing now.

Somebody I work with now just made the switch from teaching undergrads to HS and loves it. Zero regrets.

You’re like the only person I know whom I think a switch into 9-12 teaching is a good idea. lol