Education Careers Guide

Featured Education Careers Article

For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.

Defining Higher Education Career

from: EducationNexus.com

Also known as secondary education, a 'higher education career' defines the teaching of children and adults.

Beginning in 6th or 7th grade, a higher education career revolves around children in their early teens on up through vocational or technical school, junior college, college and university.

Folks working in a higher education career, often spend as much time advancing their own studies as teaching others.

Degrees Available For Those Seeking A Higher Education Career:

- Masters in Education - Middle Level (grades 5-8)
- MEd - Masters of Education in Secondary Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction
- Masters of Education in Leadership (necessary if your dream is to become a principal or school administrator)
- Masters of Arts in Education, Administration and Supervision - Necessary for those aspiring to become principals and/or superintendents of schools and/or school districts
- Doctorate or PhD - Highest level of education attainable, a PhD is sometimes required for those teaching on the college level.

Special Skills Needed To Work In A Higher Education Career:

Depending on which grade level you are teaching, those in a higher education career need skills that are age appropriate to their students. For example, someone teaching children ages 13 - 18 will need special communication skills, counseling ability, a knack for making subjects challenging as well as fun and interesting as well as educational. Here is a basic list of personal and professional talents needed to succeed in a higher education career.

- Patience - You are teaching youngsters whose personalities are emerging from childhood to fledgling adults.
- Passion - If you're not passionate about your subject(s) as well as the students you teach, then you're less likely to make an impact on your students.
- Compassion (counseling abilities) - Adolescent years are the most difficult for teens as well as their parents. This is a time when an otherwise docile child might become unruly and rebellious. As a teacher, you may be called upon to help them sort out their emotions and work through -what for them are- traumatic situations.
- Imagination - The world in which we live is a constant challenge to someone in a higher education career. How can you make subjects like World History, Civics and Literature exciting for someone who spends much of their time in front of a television or playing video games? Having a good imagination helps!
- Strong sense of values - You are helping to shape future generations.

Although we're talking mostly about working with teenagers here, those who teach adults should strive to maintain some if not all of these special skills. Though adults don't usually face the same challenges as teenagers, it's still nice to know that a college professor can laugh and smile and make learning fun.

EducationNexus.com