The nature of education is everchanging; it is like a living creature: growing, moving, and maturing. To be a successful teacher, it is important to be adaptable to keep up with the constant evolution happening.
Think about all the reasons teachers must continue their education. One year you could be teaching the state’s adopted curriculum standards, and the next, a new set could be released that you will need to teach. You could masterfully prepare your students for the state’s mandatory high-stakes tests, and the next year, the state could switch to a different assessment where you must prepare your students for an entirely different type of assessment.
You could have thought that you had a handle on the fundamentals of teaching, and then the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe. In an instant, all the rules and expectations of teaching and learning transform, and now you have to continue to move forward with students who needed you more than ever and parents looking to you for guidance and stability.
Teachers will never have it all figured out. Change is inevitable, and adaptability is key. There is good news, though: teachers can continually learn and transform with the world through continuing education, and continuing education has never been more readily available.
Why Teachers Continue their Education
There are a variety of reasons that teachers continue their education. Some reasons are altruistic in nature. Teachers are generally the embodiment of lifelong learners, desiring to expand their knowledge base. Teachers may want to continue their education just because they want to be the best version of themselves or because they truly enjoy the educational process.
Other times, teachers may need to continue their education because it is required of them. For example, in Ohio, to renew a five-year teaching license, a teacher must complete six semester hours of graduate credits or acquire 180 contact hours in continuing education exercises. More than not, teachers continue their education to keep up with changing trends, strategies, and expectations because they want to be the best version of themselves for their students.
Ways to Continue Your Education as an Educator
Graduate Degree
There are many ways for continuing your education as an educator. Of course, there are always options to pursue a master’s degree, doctorate degree, endorsements, or certifications. This can be done all online or in-person; whatever works best for you!
Virtual Networking
Some options are informal and free. If you use social media such as Facebook or Instagram, you can easily find a network of other teachers worldwide and look for fresh and new ideas and strategies, all from the comfort of your couch!
Collaboration
If you prefer face-to-face interaction, collaboration with other teachers in your own district or county might be a better fit for you. Some of the best practices and strategies I have learned, have come from observing and collaborating with my co-workers. Learning from and with other teachers can be transformative. Who better to learn from than people undergoing the same experiences as you?
Professional Development
Other times teachers will partake in continuing education though professional development provided to them though school district. This professional development might be from textbook companies pushing their products or required by the department of education on training for certain subjects like Dyslexia screening or supporting social-emotional welfare for our students.
Higher education is another version of professional development in which one can participate. There have never been so many ways to earn college credit than now: online, in-person, in a cohort, on your own, via videos, on a set schedule, on your time frame, or through traditional learning pathways. Teachers can find any number of courses or programs to study as a means of bettering themselves and growing professionally.
Conferences
Conferences are another way to grow professionally. Like working with your co-workers at school, going to conferences to hear topics of your own selection is also a great way to grow as an educator. You will learn from an expert, while having the ability to network with other educators interested in topics important to you. These conferences can be in person, via video conferences, or pre-recorded. The options are endless!
Benefits of Continuing Education
There are many benefits of continuing education. First, the opportunity for a promotion at work may happen with additional education. Suppose you decide to get a graduate degree in teacher leadership, curriculum and instruction, or educational leadership. In that case, you can be promoted to an administrative position such as a principal, curriculum director, or intervention specialist. Leaving the classroom could lead to another benefit of continuing education, enhanced benefits.
With new job opportunities comes the possibility of a higher salary, paid health insurance, and better retirement packages. There may be some tradeoffs like less time off in the summer or higher pressure for performance, but a higher salary is enough for many to continue their education.
Having more education or training, can also contribute to you becoming a more marketable employee within a district by standing apart from other candidates for positions as they become available such as lead teacher, reading specialist, or mentor teacher roles. These roles do give teachers opportunity for movement within the field of education.
Finally, another benefit of continuing education may be in the form of becoming a different form of yourself. You may be inspired to step out of your old routines and habits to try different strategies and challenge yourself to step out of the box you have resided. By experimenting and pushing yourself, you have the ability to become an altered version of yourself, and you, your colleagues, your school, and your students have the potential to benefit from the transformation.
Benefits of Receiving Continued Education at OAESA with Concordia University Chicago
I started to feel complacent in my job as a middle school teacher after 18 years. I loved teaching and knew that I was in the right field of work, but I needed a change. I felt stuck in a rut and needed a challenge to reinvigorate myself.
I am the epitome of a lifelong learner; I love to read, learn, and explore. So, after reflection on how I could pivot mid-career, I knew that I wanted to gain a graduate degree and set my sights on a change in position, still in the world of education, but outside the classroom. I gained my master’s degree through OAESA with Concordia University Chicago.
With the completion of this degree, new avenues could be opened for me to become a school leader using my new skills and fresh perspective: reading specialist, curriculum director, testing coordinator, or principal. Through my master’s program, my passion for education was revived, and within nine months of acquiring my educational leadership degree with principal’s license, I was hired as Curriculum Director and Testing Coordinator.
Today, I feel more fulfilled, challenged, and deeply satisfied with my new career. I don’t know where future education will take me, but I do know that I am not done learning or growing. My book is not over, just another chapter completed.
Looking to advance your career and continue your education? Check out our available graduate degree programs and get started today!