There are many types of jobs in adult education available to graduates with a Master’s in Education. These degree programs instruct students in the advanced principles of educating and supervising adult students. These programs provide a knowledge base in adult learning, literacy, instruction and curriculum development.
Resource: Top 10 Best Online Master’s in Education Degree Programs (M.Ed.) 2016
Instructional Designer
Instructional designers may work for corporations or they may work for private consulting firms. Their job is to analyze various types of training materials by comparing them to established learning principles and corporate policies. If they consult for a government agency, they may review, approve and create training products that comply with designated federal statutes and standards. Instruction designers execute the instructional improvement process through conducting reviews of educational needs analysis, course descriptions, curriculum format, teacher evaluations and instructional media and methods. They may be asked to design learning materials that are creative, engaging, purposeful and targeted to specific audiences. They may design pre-evaluation and post-assessment metrics to measure learning outcomes and performance. They must be familiar with rapid development technology that is used to create online learning courses and training materials.
Vocational Education Program Manager
Vocational education program managers supervise teams of educators engaged in workforce development programs. They recruit, screen, hire, train and oversee multidisciplinary teams who provide adult vocational training to students.
They must engage the local business community to ensure that trainee and internship programs are aligned with industry needs and employer expectations. Vocational education program managers provide direct management for programs related to quality and improvement processes. They develop and maintain strong collaborative relationships with community programs and state agencies, such as the unemployment department. They pursue and develop a mix of community partners who provide financial and educational support. They must know how to effectively manage data metrics for program documentation and improvement. They continually provide professional development opportunities for their educational staff.
Program Coordinator
An adult education program coordinator researches, plans and implements a wide range of public educational programming for adults. They may target young, college-aged, unemployed or older adults. They participate in public lectures, workshops, seminars, classes and special events in libraries, community centers and business offices. They create new strategies to attract diverse adults in specific demographics related to age, gender, ethnicity and profession. They may work with community colleges, internship programs, community education outreach initiatives and lifelong learning organizations. Education program coordinators sometimes serve on exhibit teams, conduct tours and collaborate education staff and program volunteers. They identify and secure potential sources of financial support in the forms of federal grants, business sponsorships and program partnerships. They need to maintain a working familiarity with education programming, social media sites, educational theories, and evaluation techniques.
Graduates with a Master’s in Education specializing in adult education may also find work as a master training instructor who delivers technical training, curriculum coaching and training content recommendations to clients. They may revise education materials to include realistic training scenarios, interactive lesson outlines, online training tools and enhanced course content. Readers can explore more education careers at the BLS’ website.
