The Education of Education: What to Expect When Getting an Education Degree

Are you looking to take the first steps into a career in the education sector? Congratulations, education is a remarkably rewarding field to work in. Whether you choose to work as a primary school teacher, provide support as a teacher’s aide, or take on the nuanced complexities of high school teaching, education is a diverse and rewarding field. 

You may be unsure of what to expect when taking an education degree. So let's dispel some myths and explore what it takes to get educated when undertaking an education degree such as an online masters in education.

From understanding the skills you'll learn, learning that education is more than simply reading a book, to gaining valuable exposure to live teaching practices with a school of your peers, an education degree can seem multi-faceted. Let’s explore all facets of an education degree, and understand what it takes to become a teacher. After all, a well-rounded exposure to teaching can be incredibly powerful in getting you ready for a career in teaching.

There’s More To Learning Than Reading A Book.

It may seem like teaching is as simple as reading a book, walking into a classroom and being handed a badge that says ‘I’m a teacher - listen to me!’. In reality, teaching is a little bit more complicated than that. A teaching degree will empower you with the skills to not only teach students but also manage your classroom.

In your coursework, you will be learning how to teach core content skills such as reading, writing and numeracy skills. Additionally, you’ll begin to understand the skills and techniques that enable you to provide direct instruction to students, so they feel supported and guided in your classroom. 

By understanding effective pedagogical practices, or the teaching styles that are most effective in moulding young minds, you’ll get an insight into the strategies that are vital to the success of your students. You will be able to understand what it takes to seed knowledge within the minds of young people, and how you can then use your teaching knowledge to then retrieve that information from students so that when they're in a classroom, they not only learn invaluable information, but they're also able to retain it for future use.

Gain Valuable Exposure to Teaching Practices

While you’ll be learning the strategies and techniques that make teaching successful, a teaching course goes beyond that. You will also gain valuable exposure to current teachers, and understand how they have applied their knowledge to successfully run classrooms. You’ll spend time observing how a classroom works, observing how a teacher does their job in a real school environment. This allows you to get a feeling of how different teachers manage different classrooms, as well as get an understanding of the different strategies and schemes that they may use to drive learning outcomes. You also get some time to reflect, and consider how you can also employ the skills learned within both your studies and your peer practice, within your classroom. This sort of on-site, in-environment exposure is incredibly valuable to give you an idea of what's going on before you get started in a classroom on your own.

Spend Time In The Classroom

Once you've spent some time understanding what teaching practices work, and getting an idea of how other teachers are in their craft for the classroom, you'll have time to practise your own strategies in a guided environment as a student teacher. For 12 weeks over your degree, you will spend time leading classroom discussions, whether running a literacy or numeracy class, or a specialisation in which you have demonstrated competencies. This embedded placement provides you with a valuable on-the-ground learning experience to understand exactly what you need to do to succeed. But also to allow you to test and trial things. In a way that benefits you.

Curiously enough, you'll not only be judged by your peers but you will also be judged by the students that you try to teach. You will be empowered to use your learning skills to practice and apply what you learn.

Hone Your Craft 

Once you've done all the coursework, you’re not quite done. Teaching is typically a two-year course and offers a number of different learning opportunities in a school environment as you're completing your degree.

Don't feel like you need to learn everything immediately. If you don't feel like you've learned everything within the first few months of classroom work, that is totally OK. You're going to pick up and learn things over time, and have a fantastic set of great teachers to hone your craft over time. It's OK not to know everything all at once - what's important is that you are willing to take feedback and you use that feedback to improve your teaching style. It will become second nature over time, but for now, enjoy teaching your craft!

If you've read this article and you are interested in pursuing a career in teaching, get in touch with a career advisor. Whether you come from an industry-heavy background or just looking to pivot into a new career, teaching can be incredibly rewarding, particularly if you are interested in moulding the young minds of tomorrow.