Want to pursue a career as an educator? The prospects are good, the odds especially so for teachers who won’t shy away from technology.
Opportunities for Aspiring Teachers
Your first step in navigating the landscape of educational opportunities for Texas teachers is to choose a high-quality teacher preparation program. The Learning Policy Institute reports higher retention rates for teachers with thorough clinical training, which is determined by the preparation program you enroll in. Additionally, aspiring teachers find opportunities as:
Subject Area Experts
You’ll have more doors of opportunity open for you if you specialize in subject areas with the highest demand for teachers. For Texas, in the 2023-2024 school year, these are:
- Special Education
- English as a Second Language
- Computer Science
- Career and Technical Education.
Do not feel discouraged if your interest and passion lie in a different subject area. Demand for teachers shifts year on year, and it’s only a matter of time before there’s a huge demand for teachers in your subject area.
Moreover, that there’s a massive shortage in one area does not mean there’s no educator shortage in other subject areas. It just means the demand is lower. We have opportunities in all subject areas but on a lower scale.
Technology Wizards
The educational landscape is becoming technology-driven. Today’s students are tech-savvy, and their teachers should be more tech-savvy if they are to make a difference in the students’ lives. Educators interested in making a difference in the classroom must be ready to make technology a defining component of their classrooms. It is this that separates good teachers from average ones.
You can learn about the latest educational technologies and how to use them while studying for your teacher certification. So when you finally qualify as a teacher, the additional tech skills will give you desirability as a candidate for positions that require multiskilled teachers.
Challenges for Aspiring Teachers
Unruly Students
Some students will test your boundaries in every way. It doesn’t matter that you’re the coolest teacher in the school, the most understanding, or the most accommodating. Much of the time, they’ll act out for no reason. That’s just how it is.
As an aspiring teacher, prepare for every situation and anticipate all sorts of student reactions. Your teacher preparation program will prepare you for such incidents, so you’ll have a plan of action for when students display unacceptable behavior.
Applying this theoretical action plan is a different battle altogether, but knowing what to do will help you win half the war. Remember to emphasize your behavioral expectations for the class on your first day so that you have a standard to refer back to whenever a student crosses the line. Other pointers to help you deal with disruptive behavior include:
- Stay calm and display confidence
- Address the situation immediately
- Address the individual(s) causing the disruption
- Do not blame the entire class
- Do not engage in a shouting battle with the student(s) involved
- Do not touch the student(s) involved physically.
If the situation is serious, you can take additional measures to bring it under control. You could bring the class to an end or contact the department head or other school resources for further coaching and help.
Diverse Classrooms
Diverse classrooms present unique challenges for teachers. New hires suffer the most when dealing with students from diverse backgrounds, given that:
- The students may represent a medley of cultures
- You may have numerous vulnerable students, each requiring a different level of attention
- Students may have varying degrees of competency in English language
- Some students may not know English at all.
Your teaching approach in such a class will differ from how you would teach a traditional class where students share cultures and backgrounds. An inclusive classroom can leave you feeling drained, so you must be mentally prepared to put more effort into teaching and expect slower results.
High Workload
If two of you handle all the work in a department, and your colleague quits, you’ll take over the colleague’s share of the work until management finds a replacement. The same happens when teachers quit.
Texas Education Agency puts the teacher attrition rate for the 2022-2023 academic year at 13.4%, the highest ever. As more teachers quit, the remaining teachers take on more workload to fill the gap left.
As you prepare to join the workforce, understand that you may be required to do the same should your institution face a faculty shortage.
Conclusion
Although challenges like teacher shortage can weigh down on educators, the future is still bright for aspiring teachers. Demand for teachers in some subject areas is perennially high, and would-be teachers who become certified in these areas benefit from attractive employment opportunities. Pairing their expertise with technology skills increases their chances of scoring even better jobs.
