To begin,
I've been lingering on this website for a few days now and have read hundreds of posts for many hours. I have extensively searched through the search bar and have read every post that I could find relating to my questions, but I have a few more specifics that I could not find already on this forum.
Background Information on me:
-BA in English. Minor History
-Female, low 20's, single, no kids
-Some 2-D studio art credits (Painting and Drawing), but am mostly a self taught artist. My skills are pretty decent in this medium, though I don't have an exhibition record and have never worked professionally in the art field. I also am not skilled or versed in any other mediums. I've dabbled with digital art, but am no where near a level I'd be comfortable to teach.
-I am not a certified teacher, but have taken several hours in my undergrad (12 hours) for state certification, but didn't complete the requirements. I will begin the TeacherReady alternative certification program based in Florida during the summer intake (July) and will be projected to finish (Feb-April) of 2014.
-I worked in an after school enrichment program in the states as a part time high school instructor. This was at an IB school. I was the art teacher in the program. I developed lessons for the students and have only a few pictures of their work. I don't know if it matters if it was at an IB school because I never got training in it so my lessons were not developed to that level. But maybe it looks good on paper?
-I have substitute teaching experience. No long term assignments.
-I have volunteer experience as well.
-I edited an instructional manual for a business if that counts for anything. I'm just trying to cover all my grounds.
-I am currently an ESL teacher in S.Korea teaching public middle school. I will do one more year in Korea while I am completing my certification and then hopefully move into international schools or DOD schools starting 2014-2015 school year.
(I am quite aware that this experience will not be counted as relevant experience and know of the 2 year post certification general requirement). At least it got my feet wet with being in front of my own classroom, lecturing, developing lesson plans, discipline, and living in a foreign country. So if it doesn't help my application, at least it has helped me grow.
Though, if I could avoid the extra year in Korea I would and try and do the internships that everyone talks about. Not sure of the deadlines on this. Or find a 3rd tier school that would hire me with my terrifyingly limited qualifications. I would rather not spend another year teaching in Korea if I could avoid it due to the experience not being relevant.
My goal is to get certified in ELA 6-12, Art K-12, and Elementary Education K-6. The Elementary Education is more for marketability, but would greatly prefer to teach art. English Language Arts second. How marketable is this package? I don't have experience teaching ELA besides some tutoring.
I don't want to move back home for two years and work for the experience. I'd rather work at a 3 tier school than do that. I am willing to move almost anywhere. Some specific countries in ME like Saudi is a no for me, but all of Asia, S/C America, some countries in Africa and of course Europe.
I have read and seen several people get hired with no experience/even no teaching certificate to get the 2 years experience, so I'm not so worried about that, but I just want to know, what can I do to make myself more marketable for my field of interests to teach?
I've read that specialty art positions are in demand/hard to fill positions, more so than English, which excited me. Even though there are few jobs listed, there are also few applicants as well which is not the case in the states. So I really want to market that certification, but how? Do I develop my art skills more? Obtain different certifications within the fine art field? Getting qualified teaching experience in art is next to impossible unless I can do it with my week long student teaching assignment at the end of my certification. I don't mind going back to the US to get more art credits to develop my skills for a year and experience in the art world.
Or should I market my English degree and wait for art. I don't mind teaching either of the fields, including elementary education. Right now I just want to get those 2 years experience.
Also should I avoid the second year it Korea while getting my qualification? How competitive are the internships? Or should I start applying now pre-certification to 3rd tier schools and pray for the best, but would be halfway complete at the time of hire? Does my experience at the IB school account for anything? Should I try the fairs or apply directly to schools? Which agencies would represent someone like me?
Thank you everyone for reading my long post and greatly appreciate any feedback!
Please help this confused and naive girl...aka...me
Reply
Welcome to the forum. I dont believe for one second that with a screen name like "cherrypop" your naive at all :)
First if you want to be taken seriously as an art teach by an IS you need a portfolio. An english degree (with art minor) does not establish credibility for you as an art teacher. Schools are going to want to see that you have the skills and talent.
You need to become a lot more "comfortable" with digital media. These positions are usually advertised as design technology (though this also describes positions that are more of a "shop" type of nature as well). Adobe for 2-D, web designa and 3-D modeling apps is the "it" focus right now. You also would increase your marketability if you could develop some more traditional skills such as dark room, photo, litho, flex, etc. Would go well with a literature teaching focus as well, in that you could then offer a school a faculty sponsor for year book, or the literary magazine, etc.
IB matters, it matters a lot id include this on your resume and focus on the IB aspect and less on the "after school" enrichment part of it. If the school trained you that would go a long way to supporting that on your resume.
Substituting, volunteering, ESL and most corporate work (including yours in this case) doesnt count. Only post certification experience in a classroom matters.
DoDDS wouldnt touch you. You have no experience and will barely be certified when you apply. Your just not competitive and DoDDS positions in art are very uncommon. Most of those teachers stay a very long time, and most schools have a VERY small art department (like a single teacher), so there isnt a lot of opportunity.
If you get married your elementary (primary) would become marketable, but so would the other two. Really without several years experience preferably in PYP, an elementary position isnt going to happen and doesnt really make you marketable. Everyone or their spouse has a primary certificate.
The problem with art as a package is that its very hard to get the minimum experience and without a specialized teaching record in art, your not really a very competitive candidate. Your just a girl with a certificate and a couple courses who can draw.
Most schools either care about their fine arts department and would have far more qualified candidates to choose from, or they dont care about their art department and would just hire a local someone to basically hand out paper and colored pencils.
I see too paths:
The "Good":
The most marketable pathway for you is in literature. At least you have a background and degree in that, coupled with a certificate, theres going to be a lower tier school somewhere that will take a chance on you. Your art skills would really help you expanding into drama (such as in stagecraft) and some of the more artistic requirements for journalism.
The "Bad":
If you could branch out into digital media and computer science, design technology would be a very good compliment to your art skills. You could self teach yourself the other digital media forms and Web Design certificates, etc are relatively cheap and easy to get. I would find a community college with a decent art program and more art classes in more specialized skills. Really every art teacher can do traditional 2-D, you need specialized skills and to impress a recruiter with your lack of experience.
The "Ugly":
Warning this involves deception (lying).
At the end of the day what matters to a recruiter outside your teaching experience is your portfolio. Preferably an online portfolio. There is nothing though that says it has to be yours. You could very easily find a K-12 school with a strong art program, and "visit" as part of your certification or substituting or for a variety of reasons and take photos of the students art projects they invariably put on display in the school. These could now become "your students" art projects from your after school enrichment program, which your supervisor im sure will verify that you taught.
You can also hire other artists and professionals very easily and cheaply online to create projects using other artistic forms (such as digital media, or more expesnsive and specialized projects (such as virtual/3-D printing) as well as web design etc. Very few designers code HTML by hand anymore in. They just steal patches of other peoples code online and clue it all together in a GUI web design and editing software. You could easily pay or flirt your way into getting someone to code a web page a portfolio for you.
This works because while it impresses a recruiter, very few schools actually make the investments into expensive and more specialized art forms. Traditional 3-D tends to be the height of a schools Art department, and even then the vast majority of schools use ceramics as opposed to casting etc. having those digital media skills is nice and you would have to use in doing year book, or a school paper, magazine, etc but those skills are usually taught by the ICT teacher or there is a dedicated design technology teacher.
First if you want to be taken seriously as an art teach by an IS you need a portfolio. An english degree (with art minor) does not establish credibility for you as an art teacher. Schools are going to want to see that you have the skills and talent.
You need to become a lot more "comfortable" with digital media. These positions are usually advertised as design technology (though this also describes positions that are more of a "shop" type of nature as well). Adobe for 2-D, web designa and 3-D modeling apps is the "it" focus right now. You also would increase your marketability if you could develop some more traditional skills such as dark room, photo, litho, flex, etc. Would go well with a literature teaching focus as well, in that you could then offer a school a faculty sponsor for year book, or the literary magazine, etc.
IB matters, it matters a lot id include this on your resume and focus on the IB aspect and less on the "after school" enrichment part of it. If the school trained you that would go a long way to supporting that on your resume.
Substituting, volunteering, ESL and most corporate work (including yours in this case) doesnt count. Only post certification experience in a classroom matters.
DoDDS wouldnt touch you. You have no experience and will barely be certified when you apply. Your just not competitive and DoDDS positions in art are very uncommon. Most of those teachers stay a very long time, and most schools have a VERY small art department (like a single teacher), so there isnt a lot of opportunity.
If you get married your elementary (primary) would become marketable, but so would the other two. Really without several years experience preferably in PYP, an elementary position isnt going to happen and doesnt really make you marketable. Everyone or their spouse has a primary certificate.
The problem with art as a package is that its very hard to get the minimum experience and without a specialized teaching record in art, your not really a very competitive candidate. Your just a girl with a certificate and a couple courses who can draw.
Most schools either care about their fine arts department and would have far more qualified candidates to choose from, or they dont care about their art department and would just hire a local someone to basically hand out paper and colored pencils.
I see too paths:
The "Good":
The most marketable pathway for you is in literature. At least you have a background and degree in that, coupled with a certificate, theres going to be a lower tier school somewhere that will take a chance on you. Your art skills would really help you expanding into drama (such as in stagecraft) and some of the more artistic requirements for journalism.
The "Bad":
If you could branch out into digital media and computer science, design technology would be a very good compliment to your art skills. You could self teach yourself the other digital media forms and Web Design certificates, etc are relatively cheap and easy to get. I would find a community college with a decent art program and more art classes in more specialized skills. Really every art teacher can do traditional 2-D, you need specialized skills and to impress a recruiter with your lack of experience.
The "Ugly":
Warning this involves deception (lying).
At the end of the day what matters to a recruiter outside your teaching experience is your portfolio. Preferably an online portfolio. There is nothing though that says it has to be yours. You could very easily find a K-12 school with a strong art program, and "visit" as part of your certification or substituting or for a variety of reasons and take photos of the students art projects they invariably put on display in the school. These could now become "your students" art projects from your after school enrichment program, which your supervisor im sure will verify that you taught.
You can also hire other artists and professionals very easily and cheaply online to create projects using other artistic forms (such as digital media, or more expesnsive and specialized projects (such as virtual/3-D printing) as well as web design etc. Very few designers code HTML by hand anymore in. They just steal patches of other peoples code online and clue it all together in a GUI web design and editing software. You could easily pay or flirt your way into getting someone to code a web page a portfolio for you.
This works because while it impresses a recruiter, very few schools actually make the investments into expensive and more specialized art forms. Traditional 3-D tends to be the height of a schools Art department, and even then the vast majority of schools use ceramics as opposed to casting etc. having those digital media skills is nice and you would have to use in doing year book, or a school paper, magazine, etc but those skills are usually taught by the ICT teacher or there is a dedicated design technology teacher.
You do not need a portfolio in order to be taken seriously as an art teacher in a K-12 school, any more than and English teacher needs to be published. The school is looking for someone who can teach the content and understands current practices.
You do need to be properly certified in order to be hired by decent schools.
You do not necessarily need a lot of technology experience to get a good job. There are plenty of schools that keep visual arts separate from the technology aspect. That said, I did lose out on a really good job because the person they hired had experience with digital yearbooks (which has nothing to do with teaching art).
There are schools that will train in-house for the IB program. Don't assume you're not marketable without it. Art is an important component in IB and they need qualified teachers for it.
You do need to be properly certified in order to be hired by decent schools.
You do not necessarily need a lot of technology experience to get a good job. There are plenty of schools that keep visual arts separate from the technology aspect. That said, I did lose out on a really good job because the person they hired had experience with digital yearbooks (which has nothing to do with teaching art).
There are schools that will train in-house for the IB program. Don't assume you're not marketable without it. Art is an important component in IB and they need qualified teachers for it.
Reply
Sure you dont need a portfolio if you have a great teaching record and are fully qualified, the OP in this case has none of those. Shes not certified, doesnt have an art degree, and has no teaching experience. Shes looking for a short cut, and short of coming back in a couple years shes going to need to show a recruiter that she would be valuable to them, without anything else a portfolio is going to demonstrate she has the technical skill set of a qualified art teacher.
English teachers may not need to be published (wouldnt hurt though) but they too would bennefit from a portfolio.
No amount of IB training equals any amount of IB experience. There are schools that will train a qualified teacher in house in IB, its better and makes you more competitive and marketable if you already have IB experience. Im not saying its not possible and doesnt happen but all else being equal a teacher with IB experience is more competitive then one without.
English teachers may not need to be published (wouldnt hurt though) but they too would bennefit from a portfolio.
No amount of IB training equals any amount of IB experience. There are schools that will train a qualified teacher in house in IB, its better and makes you more competitive and marketable if you already have IB experience. Im not saying its not possible and doesnt happen but all else being equal a teacher with IB experience is more competitive then one without.
PsyGuy
HAHAHAHA Yes it is not one of my better usernames. I didn't even realize the silliness of it until you pointed it out.
Thank you everyone for the advice you've given for me.
Thank you Calipro...if I need advice I'll definitly contact you.
I actually do have a portfolio, though it's not very big. I could easily add more art pieces to it, but it only consists of paintings and drawings using different mediums. I'm not exactly trying to take shortcuts to getting hired as an art teacher. I've had friends get hired strait out of their BFA programs without a history in displaying their art and from my research, universities are the ones that really try and look at your exhibition record. Of course this is in America. I'll be certified by the time I start applying. I'd like to have a dual certification by the time of hire. So the best option would be ELA and Art?
Heyteach, what did you do to market yourself as an art teacher? And where around the world would I be most marketable as an art teacher?
Also PsyGuy, I could focus on the IB aspect if the school. Though, it was a separate program that partnered up with the school so I'm not sure if Ib was even involved in the program in an instructional way? How would you go about marketing this on a resume?
HAHAHAHA Yes it is not one of my better usernames. I didn't even realize the silliness of it until you pointed it out.
Thank you everyone for the advice you've given for me.
Thank you Calipro...if I need advice I'll definitly contact you.
I actually do have a portfolio, though it's not very big. I could easily add more art pieces to it, but it only consists of paintings and drawings using different mediums. I'm not exactly trying to take shortcuts to getting hired as an art teacher. I've had friends get hired strait out of their BFA programs without a history in displaying their art and from my research, universities are the ones that really try and look at your exhibition record. Of course this is in America. I'll be certified by the time I start applying. I'd like to have a dual certification by the time of hire. So the best option would be ELA and Art?
Heyteach, what did you do to market yourself as an art teacher? And where around the world would I be most marketable as an art teacher?
Also PsyGuy, I could focus on the IB aspect if the school. Though, it was a separate program that partnered up with the school so I'm not sure if Ib was even involved in the program in an instructional way? How would you go about marketing this on a resume?
Comment
Your portfolio needs to have both pieces youve done and pieces your students have done. They want to see what your skill set is but more importantly they want to see how you can transfer those skills to your students. Thats why the suggestion of "taking the photos" at a local school.
ELA is going to be your most marketable (you have a degree in English). I understand you want to do Art, but your resume in regards to art as youve described it is pretty thin and weak.
Well was the school an IB authorized school? Thats what matters. If an outside program partners up with an IB program, its up to the authorized school to integrate or compartmentalize that program from its IB program. It really depends what the supervisor or senior administrator (principal) say in your reference letter.
I would just insert "IBO" into the job title/description. If your job title was "Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art" Id rewrite it to say "IBO Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art". Or insert IBO in the job description with one of your bullet points.
Thats going to be your problem, there are a lot of teachers (such as heyteach) that are so much more qualified then you, that not having something as a hook or angle is going to amount to your resume and application being discarded. As I wrote before, for an art teacher your resume says nothing more then your a girl who can draw...
ELA is going to be your most marketable (you have a degree in English). I understand you want to do Art, but your resume in regards to art as youve described it is pretty thin and weak.
Well was the school an IB authorized school? Thats what matters. If an outside program partners up with an IB program, its up to the authorized school to integrate or compartmentalize that program from its IB program. It really depends what the supervisor or senior administrator (principal) say in your reference letter.
I would just insert "IBO" into the job title/description. If your job title was "Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art" Id rewrite it to say "IBO Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art". Or insert IBO in the job description with one of your bullet points.
Thats going to be your problem, there are a lot of teachers (such as heyteach) that are so much more qualified then you, that not having something as a hook or angle is going to amount to your resume and application being discarded. As I wrote before, for an art teacher your resume says nothing more then your a girl who can draw...
Re: Comment
[quote="PsyGuy"]Your portfolio needs to have both pieces youve done and pieces your students have done. They want to see what your skill set is but more importantly they want to see how you can transfer those skills to your students. Thats why the suggestion of "taking the photos" at a local school.
ELA is going to be your most marketable (you have a degree in English). I understand you want to do Art, but your resume in regards to art as youve described it is pretty thin and weak.
Well was the school an IB authorized school? Thats what matters. If an outside program partners up with an IB program, its up to the authorized school to integrate or compartmentalize that program from its IB program. It really depends what the supervisor or senior administrator (principal) say in your reference letter.
I would just insert "IBO" into the job title/description. If your job title was "Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art" Id rewrite it to say "IBO Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art". Or insert IBO in the job description with one of your bullet points.
Thats going to be your problem, there are a lot of teachers (such as heyteach) that are so much more qualified then you, that not having something as a hook or angle is going to amount to your resume and application being discarded. As I wrote before, for an art teacher your resume says nothing more then your a girl who can draw...[/quote]
Thank you for your advice. I'd prefer not to lie on my resume about my students work, so taking pictures of art students that are not mine is not an option.
By the way, how familiar are you with the art industry? Because your answer does not seem to line up with things I have researched for years. More than not, jobs in the art field do not require an art degree. It is a portfolio that matters. Why? Because students without a degree can easily be just as good or better than students strait out of college. I know my skills are pretty darn good and I know my skills are equal to that of some of the graduates coming out of school. If anything, I could market my portfolio and build it up. I said I do have pictures of my students work, I just don't have a lot of them so I may just use those.
What I didn't know was the nature of the art teacher industry in the international realm, but job descriptions back at home looking for art teachers has never asked for business experience in the art world. As I said before, I've only seen that for professorships. Most K-12 positions have only asked for a portfolio. Considering in my state in the US I don't need a degree nor credit hours for subjects I want to be certified in I did not feel the need to double major. Yes, formal instruction is helpful, but not always necessary. At least in my state and the jobs I have looked at. So your statement about me being just a "girl who can draw" is a little misguided.
ELA is going to be your most marketable (you have a degree in English). I understand you want to do Art, but your resume in regards to art as youve described it is pretty thin and weak.
Well was the school an IB authorized school? Thats what matters. If an outside program partners up with an IB program, its up to the authorized school to integrate or compartmentalize that program from its IB program. It really depends what the supervisor or senior administrator (principal) say in your reference letter.
I would just insert "IBO" into the job title/description. If your job title was "Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art" Id rewrite it to say "IBO Extra-Curricular Coordinator of Art". Or insert IBO in the job description with one of your bullet points.
Thats going to be your problem, there are a lot of teachers (such as heyteach) that are so much more qualified then you, that not having something as a hook or angle is going to amount to your resume and application being discarded. As I wrote before, for an art teacher your resume says nothing more then your a girl who can draw...[/quote]
Thank you for your advice. I'd prefer not to lie on my resume about my students work, so taking pictures of art students that are not mine is not an option.
By the way, how familiar are you with the art industry? Because your answer does not seem to line up with things I have researched for years. More than not, jobs in the art field do not require an art degree. It is a portfolio that matters. Why? Because students without a degree can easily be just as good or better than students strait out of college. I know my skills are pretty darn good and I know my skills are equal to that of some of the graduates coming out of school. If anything, I could market my portfolio and build it up. I said I do have pictures of my students work, I just don't have a lot of them so I may just use those.
What I didn't know was the nature of the art teacher industry in the international realm, but job descriptions back at home looking for art teachers has never asked for business experience in the art world. As I said before, I've only seen that for professorships. Most K-12 positions have only asked for a portfolio. Considering in my state in the US I don't need a degree nor credit hours for subjects I want to be certified in I did not feel the need to double major. Yes, formal instruction is helpful, but not always necessary. At least in my state and the jobs I have looked at. So your statement about me being just a "girl who can draw" is a little misguided.
Reply
In my past life (before teaching) I was the CCO for a marketing agency. I have a BFA. All that means very little though because this isnt the art industry, this is the teaching international teaching profession.
This industry cares less about what you can do (whether an artist, chemist, banker, writer, etc) and whether or not you can teach it. Just about every contributor on this site and in the profession has a story about someone who was brilliant in their field, but couldnt teach a cow to poop.
Talent is certainly an important aspect of an artist, but a degree says more about you then what your major was. Most of us who want to liberal arts schools only have about a years worth of study (30 or so hours) that composed our major.
You may feel that your skills are equal or better to some graduates, but your opinion doesnt really matter (arent artists supposed to be their own worst critic) what matters is that you can prove to a recruiter that you A) have the skill set and B) can transfer that skill set to your students. In this profession we do that in a combination of A) our credentials (degrees, transcripts, teaching certificates) and B) Our Teaching Experience.
Im not trying to offend you, im trying to give you a realistic assessment of your competitiveness and marketability in this environment. I have no doubt that your skills arent impressive, the issue is that so is everyone else's. This isnt a commercial art house with hundreds of artists. This is IS with in most cases a single art teacher. Why should they hire you over someone with not just a demonstrable portfolio and skill set but a work record of success in the classroom with students.
Its not the candidates who cant draw your competing with, its those that can draw AND have a degree, AND are certified AND have specific curriculum experience AND are experienced, successful classroom teachers. There are a lot of those above you in the great stack of ITs.
This industry cares less about what you can do (whether an artist, chemist, banker, writer, etc) and whether or not you can teach it. Just about every contributor on this site and in the profession has a story about someone who was brilliant in their field, but couldnt teach a cow to poop.
Talent is certainly an important aspect of an artist, but a degree says more about you then what your major was. Most of us who want to liberal arts schools only have about a years worth of study (30 or so hours) that composed our major.
You may feel that your skills are equal or better to some graduates, but your opinion doesnt really matter (arent artists supposed to be their own worst critic) what matters is that you can prove to a recruiter that you A) have the skill set and B) can transfer that skill set to your students. In this profession we do that in a combination of A) our credentials (degrees, transcripts, teaching certificates) and B) Our Teaching Experience.
Im not trying to offend you, im trying to give you a realistic assessment of your competitiveness and marketability in this environment. I have no doubt that your skills arent impressive, the issue is that so is everyone else's. This isnt a commercial art house with hundreds of artists. This is IS with in most cases a single art teacher. Why should they hire you over someone with not just a demonstrable portfolio and skill set but a work record of success in the classroom with students.
Its not the candidates who cant draw your competing with, its those that can draw AND have a degree, AND are certified AND have specific curriculum experience AND are experienced, successful classroom teachers. There are a lot of those above you in the great stack of ITs.
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westcoaster
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:51 pm
I agree with Psyguy. You need to have suitable curriculum and instruction training in your subject area especially something as specialized as art. I have observed a couple of middle school art classes and there is no way I could teach that subject without training even if I was a talented artist. Art teachers have to make sure they meet all of the prescribed learning outcomes of whatever curriculum they are using. If you really want to teach art I would start taking some university art courses and art education courses if possible.
If I were you, I would focus on ELA as your subject. You already have a BA in English, EFL experience (though this won't count towards international teaching experience but still useful to include on your CV), and you will have certification in ELA. From what I understand from this forum, ELA seems to be a growing area and full of opportunity.
If I were you, I would focus on ELA as your subject. You already have a BA in English, EFL experience (though this won't count towards international teaching experience but still useful to include on your CV), and you will have certification in ELA. From what I understand from this forum, ELA seems to be a growing area and full of opportunity.
Thank you westcoaster and psyguy for your input.
I guess I'm still at odds with what you are suggesting. I don't mean to be stubborn, but in all honesty, I'm not fully comprehending why English is a better route for me than art. It seems to me the only reason you are suggesting English is because it was my major. So many times people go through alternative certification programs and choose to teach in subjects that were not of their major. For instance, a business major will choose to teach history/economics. Or a Psychology major will choose English. I'm an English major with credits and teaching experience in art choosing English and art to be certified in. How crazy is that??
Most art students choose one field to focus on in their degree and sometimes must take an additional class in a different field. They may choose painting and drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, ceramics, graphic design, or even computer animation. You're telling me to be competitive I need to go back and study all of these fields?? It just seems illogical. I know I must understand the processes of most if not all of these fields, but you can't tell me that art teachers need to be masters in all of these disciplines.
So, I have 7 months of part time teaching experience for teaching art. I have none for ELA. I don't have a degree in art, but as I said before I am self-taught. If a school feels the need for me to have a degree in art even if my portfolio is comparable to that of students graduating from their art programs, then that goes against everything I have researched for positions in art fields. Though if you say it is a must, I'll trust your word and go back to school to take a few more classes to make myself more competitive.
Yes, unfortunately at the moment I am not certified. I've been accepted into the teacher ready certification program and it starts in two weeks. I will be finished in July/August. As I said before, I took all but one of the education classes I needed to be certified in Secondary Education, but I didn't complete my student teaching. I'm not a complete newbie when it comes to current practices of teaching in the classroom. Looking at the teacherready curriculum, I feel as though I'm just repeating everything I have already learned, but hey, why not have a good refresher.
Also, this is a quote from www.searchassociates.com
[b]Who has a better chance of getting a job, a Science or an English teacher?[/b]
[quote]Teachers in specialist fields have the best chances of success due to a smaller teacher supply in relation to the number of jobs. Specialist areas include: music, art, library, early childhood, science and mathematics, and advanced level teachers (such as IB Diploma, AP, GCE A-Level). Specialists do have an advantage over English and ESL teachers, fields in which the supply is large, but schools are always looking for outstanding teachers in all areas.[/quote]
So you're saying this fact from searchassociates is wrong? Or you're saying that just for my circumstance, ELA is a better gig even though I have teaching experience in art? Or maybe that art teachers do have a better chance over English teachers, but the people I'd be competing with for art will have more experience? Even though it's likely the same circumstance as well when it comes to English for me? lol
I want to be dual certified so as to be more competitive and marketable. The four areas I was considering were, ELA ESL, Art, and elementary education. I want to do at least two fields. ELA is one, I am trying to figure out the other. If you feel I need to have more studio art credits, then I will look into getting more. What other field would you suggest then. Psyguy, you already said not elementary ed., so then maybe ESL?
I guess I'm still at odds with what you are suggesting. I don't mean to be stubborn, but in all honesty, I'm not fully comprehending why English is a better route for me than art. It seems to me the only reason you are suggesting English is because it was my major. So many times people go through alternative certification programs and choose to teach in subjects that were not of their major. For instance, a business major will choose to teach history/economics. Or a Psychology major will choose English. I'm an English major with credits and teaching experience in art choosing English and art to be certified in. How crazy is that??
Most art students choose one field to focus on in their degree and sometimes must take an additional class in a different field. They may choose painting and drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, ceramics, graphic design, or even computer animation. You're telling me to be competitive I need to go back and study all of these fields?? It just seems illogical. I know I must understand the processes of most if not all of these fields, but you can't tell me that art teachers need to be masters in all of these disciplines.
So, I have 7 months of part time teaching experience for teaching art. I have none for ELA. I don't have a degree in art, but as I said before I am self-taught. If a school feels the need for me to have a degree in art even if my portfolio is comparable to that of students graduating from their art programs, then that goes against everything I have researched for positions in art fields. Though if you say it is a must, I'll trust your word and go back to school to take a few more classes to make myself more competitive.
Yes, unfortunately at the moment I am not certified. I've been accepted into the teacher ready certification program and it starts in two weeks. I will be finished in July/August. As I said before, I took all but one of the education classes I needed to be certified in Secondary Education, but I didn't complete my student teaching. I'm not a complete newbie when it comes to current practices of teaching in the classroom. Looking at the teacherready curriculum, I feel as though I'm just repeating everything I have already learned, but hey, why not have a good refresher.
Also, this is a quote from www.searchassociates.com
[b]Who has a better chance of getting a job, a Science or an English teacher?[/b]
[quote]Teachers in specialist fields have the best chances of success due to a smaller teacher supply in relation to the number of jobs. Specialist areas include: music, art, library, early childhood, science and mathematics, and advanced level teachers (such as IB Diploma, AP, GCE A-Level). Specialists do have an advantage over English and ESL teachers, fields in which the supply is large, but schools are always looking for outstanding teachers in all areas.[/quote]
So you're saying this fact from searchassociates is wrong? Or you're saying that just for my circumstance, ELA is a better gig even though I have teaching experience in art? Or maybe that art teachers do have a better chance over English teachers, but the people I'd be competing with for art will have more experience? Even though it's likely the same circumstance as well when it comes to English for me? lol
I want to be dual certified so as to be more competitive and marketable. The four areas I was considering were, ELA ESL, Art, and elementary education. I want to do at least two fields. ELA is one, I am trying to figure out the other. If you feel I need to have more studio art credits, then I will look into getting more. What other field would you suggest then. Psyguy, you already said not elementary ed., so then maybe ESL?
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westcoaster
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:51 pm
Cherrypop- Probably not crazy... I am just basing my opinion of your situation upon my province's teaching certification. you see, I'm Canadian so teaching certification is a bit different from your state's credentials. I typically can only teach subjects that I have a fair amount of university coursework in. I could probably teach a different subject in a remote location but definitely not in my school district.
I think the only way to find out whether or not you can get an art position is when you start applying for jobs.
In the meantime, try to get some teaching experience in the other subjects that you are planning on getting credentials for.
I think the only way to find out whether or not you can get an art position is when you start applying for jobs.
In the meantime, try to get some teaching experience in the other subjects that you are planning on getting credentials for.
CP, you're being confounded and led astray by someone with pretty minimal teaching experience (though certainly in a lot of different schools--I've only taught in five schools in 27 years) and most certainly none of that in art education.
Please re-read my first post in this thread. In all my years of teaching, I have never been asked for a portfolio of my own personal work. I do, however, have a representative sample of student work and samples of units and lesson plans that state the standards and outcomes as well as minutiae such as materials and prep work needed. What interviewers almost universally want to know about are my classroom management skills, how I motivate low performers or students insecure about their art abilities, how I deal with students and parents who expect easy As for art, and whether I can write curriculum--these are typical questions from both my U.S. and international experiences.
In other words, NO, you do not have to be a master of all media. But you should be able to teach a variety of 2D and 3D media. You should be able to explain how you deal with different classroom issues, and how you adapt lessons to meet individual needs. You should definitely get something on your certificate that says you are qualified to teach whatever it is you want to teach (I have a basic secondary cert with endorsements in K-12 art, reading, ESL, and secondary English). That will probably mean picking up some credits in subject-specific methodology. You'll be competing with people not just with experience, but with certification. You are not yet an art *specialist* but someone who has taught art, part-time, a short while.
I'm sure you could find schools that would take any warm body to teach something or other, but a decent school wants to see that qualification to teach the subject.
Please re-read my first post in this thread. In all my years of teaching, I have never been asked for a portfolio of my own personal work. I do, however, have a representative sample of student work and samples of units and lesson plans that state the standards and outcomes as well as minutiae such as materials and prep work needed. What interviewers almost universally want to know about are my classroom management skills, how I motivate low performers or students insecure about their art abilities, how I deal with students and parents who expect easy As for art, and whether I can write curriculum--these are typical questions from both my U.S. and international experiences.
In other words, NO, you do not have to be a master of all media. But you should be able to teach a variety of 2D and 3D media. You should be able to explain how you deal with different classroom issues, and how you adapt lessons to meet individual needs. You should definitely get something on your certificate that says you are qualified to teach whatever it is you want to teach (I have a basic secondary cert with endorsements in K-12 art, reading, ESL, and secondary English). That will probably mean picking up some credits in subject-specific methodology. You'll be competing with people not just with experience, but with certification. You are not yet an art *specialist* but someone who has taught art, part-time, a short while.
I'm sure you could find schools that would take any warm body to teach something or other, but a decent school wants to see that qualification to teach the subject.