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I'm seriously considering becoming a teacher. I already have my BS, however, not in education. I need to get my Masters of Teaching. I will be 48 years old when I graduate. This will be a bit of a financial hardship for my family and I do not want to go through getting my Masters, only to find out I can not get a job. MY QUESTION IS: Do schools prefer to hire young people out of college or a mature, responsible 48 year old with life experience?
I previously worked at a nonprofit that granted teaching fellowships. I know for a fact that *some* school districts are looking for mid career changes and those with life/work experience outside of teaching. But this is a new notion. In the past, most everyone wanted teachers just out of college.
I used to work for a large school district. They never hired "older" new teachers, they were all either right out of college locally, or right out of college from out of state. The reason for that is that they will take any school that's offered to them. I have a friend that has been substitute teaching since 1996, and has never been able to get a contract. She even had a principal try to hire her, and HR said, "No, we'll find you someone."
In NYC there is a program where older adults with life experience can get jobs as teachers and the school system pays for their masters degree. I think the teacher has to pledge a certain amount of years of service in a contract. However, with the bad economy I don't know if they are even doing this lately. As for your age, yeah, it may be an obstacle. Also, there are plenty of people who are already teachers and cannot find a job. If I were you I would try and talk to teachers, principals, etc., in the area you would be looking for work and get their advice.
In NYC there is a program where older adults with life experience can get jobs as teachers and the school system pays for their masters degree. I think the teacher has to pledge a certain amount of years of service in a contract. However, with the bad economy I don't know if they are even doing this lately. As for your age, yeah, it may be an obstacle. Also, there are plenty of people who are already teachers and cannot find a job. If I were you I would try and talk to teachers, principals, etc., in the area you would be looking for work and get their advice.
The bolded is key and I agree with the advice offered. There are a lot of qualified teachers with experience being laid off and lots of new grads unable to find employment. Explore the market in your area VERY carefully before making the investment in time and money.
The key is, are you willing to teach children in Special Education? This is a group of diverse kids, who need help, and the perspective of an older person, who has more patience and life experience would be welcomed in this area. I taught special ed for over 20 years, and had a great career. You would find a job teaching special education, especially if you specialize in working with severe needs children, behavioral/emotionally disturbed children, or even mild to moderate. Go for it. Many school districts will even help you get certified in SPED while you are working if you want to start teaching now. You would be surprised that you can be hired as a long term sub in special education without a certificate, as long as you are working towards one. I would look into this if you are interested.
Last edited by jasper12; 10-09-2010 at 12:42 PM..
Reason: additional info
In my wife's district, they've found that hiring youngsters right out of teacher's college isn't neccesarily the cheapest route. Younger teachers need maternity leave and require long term subs more than older teachers. So I believe you're better off in that respect. The advice above about doing some research about employment in your local area is a good one. I would think that being a lot older (and I mean that in a positive way!) than your students and having plenty of "life experience" would also work in your favor.
In my area, experienced teachers with masters degrees are NOT hired because they are too expensive. My daughter-in-law with a masters degress applied for a department head position (athletics) in a suburban school and they hired instead a newbie with a couple years experience and no masters degree for budget reasons she was told.
What most second-career beginners often struggle with is their expectation that the world give them 'credit' for life experience, and the subsequent expectation that they not be treated as an entry-level worker. Since you mention this 'life experience' I do think you may need to work on your mental outlook in restarting your career. You will be entry-level when you finish your degree. Period. If you can't handle that, then perhaps you shouldn't start a new career.
As for discrimination, I don't think most employers think of workers with twenty years of work left in them to be 'old'.
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