Whether one can teach at a college level with a master’s in education largely depends on what type of college you’d like to teach at. A master’s degree can open the door to many adjunct positions at smaller colleges and at community colleges in particular. Many colleges teach students who would like to study toward getting their teaching certificate, which means that a lot of courses will likely be offered in a wide variety of settings at university level.
How to Find a Position
Usually teaching at a larger university requires a PhD in a subject — but it doesn’t hurt to look on job listings for lecturers such as the Chronicle of Higher Education or on the sites of community colleges or state colleges themselves. The Chronicle has a search function for community colleges only for example. An adjunct teacher is usually someone who works on a contract to contract basis, and the downsides can include a lack of healthcare, lower pay than what one might expect, and at times no movement toward tenure. However, the seasonal nature of adjunct teaching can provide great ways to learn about whether lecturing at university level is something that is for you.
Getting Started In The Field
This article, “Applying for Teaching Positions at Community Colleges” explains how to get started in the field.Writing a letter of introduction to a department head, asking about openings for adjuncts, while outlining your strengths and why you’ve chosen to pursue a path in teaching at college level, can be a way of setting yourself apart from other applicants. Personality, how friendly and even-tempered you seem on a first impression, is one way of communicating that you will make a great person to work with in an academic setting, while letting you get a sense of what your future colleagues might be like.
Applying Your Skills
Think also about skills you might have learned through your education that you can bring to other styles of teaching. Working to a master’s degree level can provide expertise in areas other than the subject you studied; many community colleges look for people to teach Freshman composition courses, for example, because of the importance of good writing skills for students who are honing their abilities for the challenge of college classwork.
Reward of Teaching at a Community College
The rewards of teaching at a community college are also myriad. Students are diverse and are often in search of guidance for their lives; many have a great deal of potential. I once had an English professor at a community college tell me that every term he gets a student that is good enough to be at Princeton, but because it has never occurred to them to pursue that path they end up in a two-year program. Community college professors also often hold their jobs because they genuinely want to help people and are passionate about the subject, and have taken a pay-cut in order to do so.
To conclude, working in higher education with a master’s degree is certainly feasible; while the academy is legendary for its budget cuts and periods of hiring drought, community colleges and state schools make up an enormous sector of higher education and can often provide would-be teachers with work.
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