How To Get Into Teaching- Build Your Career As a Pedagogue

It’s never too late to begin a career in teaching! All it takes is a real knack to pass on knowledge, a teaching style and dedication to making a difference. 
You are here because you consider being a pedagogue and are seriously considering building a career in teaching. That’s the right path. This avenue of continuous learning and education is the most rewarding and satisfying career, not to forget, the most enriching experience. 
Leadership skills, teaching methodology, soft and hard skills are all tested once you get into teaching. This shows how being an effective teacher is not a one day task and not a mere transfer of knowledge.

If you are keen to step into the career and think you have what it takes to become a successful teacher, you will need the necessary certifications and skills. 
While it is a continuous journey, becoming a successful teacher is paved with many growth opportunities, and self-discovery is an added perk. 

Make a Decision

Teaching is a comfortable career choice for many, but some hard decisions are unavoidable. Whether you are in the initial stage of your professional life, or are thinking about making a career change to teaching, decide what type of teacher you want to become? Are you going to teach in nursery, elementary, middle school, or senior level? This decision solely lies on the subject you decide to teach. You can go forward with any field of study, be it maths, science, English, social science, PE, theatre, arts, etc. Just stick to a subject you are most passionate about or studied at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels.  
This decision-making phase also requires that you do some preliminary research. Talk to working teachers about their job responsibilities, schedules, etc., the demand for the type of teachers in the market and recent trends in the industry. 
You might also want to decide if you wish to work as a teacher in the private or public sector. If the decision-making process seems too daunting, how about taking the help of a career counsellor?

Know the Certification Requirements

Just like all other professions, you need some necessary certifications to get into teaching too. After you have decided on the location you want to teach, the next step is to look up the mandatory certificates and the eligibility criteria. The state and country laws can vary. 
After you have attained a bachelor’s degree in your subject of interest or education, you must take up the following teacher training at a University. 

Qualifications Required to Teach Abroad

This is a list of teacher training options in different countries:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) - England
• Bachelors of Teaching- NewZealand 
• Bachelors of Education - India
• PGDE - Scotland
• PGCE - England, Canada, Wales, NewZealand, Australia
• Teacher Registration - NewZealand, Ireland
• Higher Diploma of Education (Ireland, South Africa)
• Full (non-temporary, non-emergency) state certification (the US and Canada)

Note: You may be qualified to teach a subject in your home country, but that certification may not be valid/acceptable in a foreign country. Also, keep an eye out for changes, as these government policies are bound to change.

After these typical qualifications, there are subject-based requisites too. For instance, to teach English abroad, you need a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification. 

Go Knee-deep into the Profession

Teaching is a very consequential career choice. Always remember that whatever you teach shapes a person’s mentality and contributes to character formation. Apart from being a master in your field of academics, a successful teacher is one who demonstrates affable behavioural qualities too. Therefore, you are expected to do an in-depth analysis before getting into teaching. This requires you to develop teaching styles and effective methodologies. 
The teacher training programme equips you with all that is needed to pursue a successful teaching career. But finally, it all boils down to you- choosing the appropriate strategies, behaviours, modes and aids. 

Get Sufficient Teaching Experience

A hands-on experience is a must to build a career in teaching. Theoretical knowledge won’t just cut it. Only when you teach someone, do you fathom the related obstacles and idiosyncrasies. Ergo, start teaching! 
Apply to educational institutions and coaching centres to begin your teaching career. But in the meantime, find little moments in everyday life where you can teach someone. Keep an eye out for those teachable moments. This will gradually develop that sought after pedagogue attitude and skills. 
A teacher can learn the tenets of teaching both inside a traditional classroom and outside. Take up voluntary activities to help the community and society at large. This gives you a vast playground to practice all those child development theories by Jean Piaget, Kohler, Lev Vygotsky and Bruner. 
Remember that teaching is an art with a never-ending consumption.  

Don’t Stop Being a Learner

To teach is to learn twice over.

– Joseph Joubert

A very wise man once said that learning is from the womb to the tomb. He couldn’t have been more right. The world holds so much knowledge, and there is n number of things you are yet to unravel. The more you learn, the more you prosper. Even as someone who is certified to teach others, don’t draw the line at learning. A genuinely curious attitude is a trademark of all successful people. As a teacher, you must harbour that yearning to grow and become better. Some skills that help you become excel as a teacher are observation, analysis and absorption. 
There is always room for improvement, and everybody is equipped to do more. At KoolStories, we believe that learning is a never-ending cycle and have come up with a micro learning platform. It is the one true paradise for educators and learners alike. Pick your niche and become a member of Kool community to share your wisdom with like-minded people. Join us on the app. 

Tips To Become A Good Teacher

After getting into a teaching career, it is time to polish yourself and become the most effective teacher. While there are many ways to succeed as a teacher, the ones listed below are mighty helpful.

1. Trust Your Students

Here is an essential principal of education: to teach details is to bring confusion; to establish the relationship between things is to bring knowledge.

—Maria Montessori

Among the first few things they tell you in teacher training, this is where your teaching success depends. Trusting in your pupil’s potential is the groundwork of a successful teaching strategy.
It is a strategic move, first to analyse your students' potential to know their strengths and weaknesses and then formulate dedicated teaching strategies.  

2. Being Observant and Empathetic

A successful teacher is one who absorbs like a sponge and gives like a bottomless vessel. For this, you need to be empathetic to your students and listen to their queries. Here, being observant and open is the best. 

3. Build a Creative Teaching Style

Every learner is different due to a distinction in their intelligence. Consequently, there exist various learning styles. A successful teacher is one who identifies the type of learner and curates a curriculum or teaching methodology that best suits him. Additionally, presenting this information in a creative manner is what separates a mundane teacher from a special teacher. 

All students can learn and succeed, but not in the same way and not in the same day.

– William G. Spady

Knowledge presented in the most thrilling manner contributes to the best learning experience. Moreover, a unique teaching style generates a student’s interest, curiosity and eagerness to learn. 

4. Thrive to Learn More

As a teacher, you have to be at the top of your game and master the subject you teach. Therefore, a successful teacher is one who has in-depth knowledge of his domain. You may have a master’s degree in your respective fields, but your knowledge is incomplete if you are unaware of the latest developments. 
Apart from the developments around the world, there are many latest happening in the teaching domain itself. For instance, the shift from classroom to online teaching is a noteworthy move. Constant learning and up gradation is necessary to survive in these competitive times. 

5. Project a Desirable Behaviour

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

– Henry B. Adams

Your pupils not only follow what you preach but also retain the behavioural traits they pick up on. So, as a pedagogue, project a desirable behaviour.
Apart from this, communicate whatever you are feeling with your co-workers and ask for help when needed. If you are a school teacher, maintain transparency with parents, and guardians regarding student success.

6. Make Learning Fun

The energy you demonstrate while teaching is something your learner’s feed on. If you have a negative, lazy and ignorant attitude, learners are going to harbour it and develop something similar. 
Moreover, a strict attitude is also counterproductive and may off-put your students. Smile whenever you get a chance and try to keep it light. Ease tension and address fears and bust myths with an amiable attitude. 

Teaching is a noble profession and there is nothing better if you have decided to pursue it as a career. It is tedious and painstaking, but with the right amount of patience, leadership and knowledge, you can easily ace at becoming a teacher.