certify or not to certify

Hi I have a quick question or two concerning teaching in a private/ Christian school or college. Do you need to be certified to teach in those arenas? I know every school has standards of their own, but I'm speaking generally. Is certification mainly for teaching in K-12? If I taught at a Bible College would I still need certification? Thanks!

Kevin

 

Most of the time when you are speaking of private/christian schools (k-12) you do not have to be certified as you would to teach in a state school.

 

I have never heard of certification at the college level.

 

It's been a few years since I have looked into this, but I am aware of many Christian/private schools in California that require appropriate state credentialling for employment.

Steven King

 

In the private/church school arena, state teacher certification is usually not required for employment, although the school are certainly free to impose that requirement if they wish.

For a bible college, you would not need teacher certification (since that covers K-12, not college). Some states used to require a certificate to teach community college (I have one from Arizona). It is generally accepted that you should have a "terminal" degree in your field (usually a masters or higher) to teach at the college/university level. There are numerous exeptions to this.

In the unaccredited realm of church schools, the qualifications for teaching a varied (to say the least). In the diploma mill bible school realm, a Universal Life Doctorate will do just fine.

Tony Pina
Faculty, CSU San Bernardino

 

K-12 schools only

Kevin,

Check out www.acsi.org. It's not required, but many schools choose to meet ACSI standards and have ACSI certified refresher training.