As an Education major, you’ll learn the skills you need to become an effective and inspirational teacher—someone who has the ability to influence young children and teenagers in life-changing ways. A teacher’s job is all-important in our faster and faster-paced society because the knowledge each student needs is constantly evolving. For example, more of an exception than a rule a decade ago, computers are very much a part of today’s classroom. At a time when schools are being blamed for poor test scores and problem children, good teachers are needed more than ever. If you are creative, dedicated, enthusiastic, and compassionate, schools need you.
Although much of your coursework will be general Education material, most states require you to choose a specific grade level you’d like to teach. Choices usually include some variation of early childhood education (preschool), primary education (kindergarten through eighth grade), secondary education (ninth through twelfth grade), and special education. Your student teaching experience, in which you spend a semester or more in a sponsoring classroom, will be in the field of your choice.