Teaching Experience

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Mike Albrecht, Feb 7, 2002.

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  1. Mike Albrecht

    Mike Albrecht New Member

    My goal is to eventually teach at a four year college and I am working towards a RA or GAAP Phd (not started, but a lot of research). In looking at faculty open position ads (Chronical and others), many of them want previous teaching expereince.

    Earning a PhD by DL does not lend itself easily to teaching opportunities at the grad assistant level.

    Which then leads to the question, what is the best way to get ligitamate teaching experience?
     
  2. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member

    If you're fortunate, you have some of that from where you earned your M.A. I earned my MA in the same town as I now live at the local state university. Since then, I've taught off and on for them. If I were to go on and get a doctorate, I could count that experience for future employment.



    Tom Nixon
     
  3. bycom

    bycom New Member

    Mike, I am not sure if there is an Embry Riddle center near where you live, (a lot of air force bases have them). They have a lot of adjunct positions that requires a master degree to teach and that can give you class time. That is the road I am taking currently both to get experience and help pay for my PhD work. I don’t know if that helps you at all but it is one idea.
     
  4. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Getting a teaching job can truly be a Catch-22.....can't get a job without teaching experience, can't get teaching experience without a job.

    There is nothing to lose by sending resumes and cover letters to some local community colleges. Even though the faculty recruitment standards may ask for experience, that is often not the case. The first two community colleges I approached both wanted teaching experience, I had none at the time, but I got interviewed & offered jobs by both.

    Community colleges pay less & usually have more spartan facilities than 4-year colleges, but you'll get the all-important teaching experience under your belt, as well as experience dealing with a big cross-section of students.


    Bruce
     
  5. Mike;

    I recall from previous threads that you travel quite a bit as part of your mining consultant business. Travel schedules typicaly do not fit in well for teaching conventional 15 week semesters or 10 week quarters. You may want to consider getting your feet wet in on-line teaching.

    Regards,
    Dick
     
  6. Leslie

    Leslie New Member

    Re: Re: Teaching Experience

    There are many 2-yr private colleges as well that are desperate for instructors -- part time and full time. Check your area for some of these private business colleges. Generally the lower-paying schools will take someone without teaching experience before a 4-yr college will simply because they have more difficulty finding instructors.

    I would like to suggest that you invest some time in some teacher training as well. There are far too many college instructors and professors out there who know their subject matter extremely well and yet cannot actually teach that to others. Very few people can teach by virtue of innate talent -- it takes training to be successful in the classroom.

    The bottom line at most colleges now is retention. Having a prof who is ineffective in the classroom is one of many reasons that students drop out of courses. Too many drop-outs can cause a prof to lose a job in many instances.

    Re: teacher training -- there are a gazillion online professional development courses for teachers and it might be a good idea to take one or two. You can add that to your resume and even without teaching experience, you will at least be able to demonstrate that you have some knowledge of instructional methodology.
     
  7. irat

    irat New Member

    adjunct teaching

    What is the best way to become a teacher in a 4 year college? It certainly depends on the subject area and the focus of the college.
    I have been an "adjunct instructor" at a local community college in my "speciality area" of substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment".
    Before I started community college teaching I offered workshops, gave conference presentations and other trainings in the subject area.
    Teaching at a 4 year college is a different ball game. All the faculty I know are involved in research. Being published is often a better way of getting into a college teaching/research post than climbing the teaching ladder.
    In the sciences many college prof's were "lab instructors" while earning their masters and doctorates. In the social sciences some students were "deparment assistants" and assisted the faculty in offering courses. However, the 4-year colleges seem to look more at publications than at teaching ability. To teach calculus at the high school level one needs a teaching cert. in math., a college degree with a major or minor in math and a course in math. teaching methods. To teach calculus in college, you simply must be hired by the college. My son is a math. major, none of the faculty members he has courses with will admit to taking a course in math. ed. methods.
    There are exceptions. Some 4-year teaching colleges have a focus on teaching. But I find those to be rare. A local college, Johnson State College seems to look at both publications and teaching ability.
    On the matter of earning the phd. If you are sure you want to be a college teacher, look at a fully accredited program, one in which you will be able to at least co-publish with a mentor, and one where you will be able to co-teach with a mentor.
    All the best!
     

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