Should I go for Geography or Economics, Teaching IBDP?

[Phil]

I have a master of education for teaching philosophy and civics. I have also done two semesters each in economics and geography, and I´m contemplating studying a third semester in one of those if I don´t find a job this year. Which one would be most useful in landing a job?

[shadowjack]

Economics and Business and Management (two courses) are more commonly taught than Geography, in IBDP internationally.

[hallier]

I agree with Shadowjack.

In my experience, Business has been the subject with the strongest growth in recent years. Economics is probably taught more in international schools, but Business is catching up.

I worked at a school that introduced Business and within a few years, it had more sections than Economics and History combined. Geography ended up being scrapped because it could only attract a handful of students.

[Phil]

Is it a great disadvantage teaching Economics but not Bussiness and Administration? (i.e.will most Bussiness and Administration teachers also teach Economics, and hence be replaced by another teacher who can also teach both subjects?)

[shadowjack]

Business and Management and Economics are the two to go for. Out of the two, I agree with hallier - Business. Our Econ program started equally with our B and M, but within a year, went down to one Econ and four B and M. Precious few of the students who want to go into business really realize how important it is to have Econ, which is seen as a "harder" course.

[auntiesocial]

Economics is frequently taught by non-specialists and, in my opinion, often taught badly as a result. I've seen many poor teachers of economics. It's a discipline, like many others, where students really benefit from having a knowledgable teacher. Many of the technical concepts are glossed over when teachers are not completely comfortable and familiar with core principles. Business and Management is a subject area which requires less technical knowledge on behalf of the teacher. It's easier to learn business principles. Also, ironically, students tend to perform better in Economics globally. Furthermore, more academic schools, as well as schools with specialist economics teachers tend to have high proportions of students taking the subject.

If you are a good economics teacher, you will be highly sought after. However, make sure you really know the subject well.