Anyone doing/thinking about/did the grad school thing?

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Originally posted by BoBVila
And by the time you actually GET your PhD (if you do), you're going to pretty much need to get a degree in education if you want to teach...unless a) you're lucky or b) you don't mind relocating. Most universities aren't going to say "Oh, you have a PhD in math? Well, why don't you teach this class?"

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You don't need any experience in teaching to become a university professor, in the sense that it isn't required. It is highly recommended that you be a dedicated teacher and not someone with a BA in [insert degree title here] who decides he wants to teach. If you have two or more degrees in the same field it's even better.

I personally wouldn't want to take a class with someone who isn't an educator by profession. Knowing a shitload about something means squat in the classroom if you aren't trained and knowledgeable in how to convey it.

Well thanks for the clarification people. Sounds like BobVila was talking out his ass... not that Im surprised or anything.

Just to reiterate what everyone else has been saying ... you def don't need an education background to become a university prof. You just have to look at any job postings to figure that out. Minimum requirement is usually a phd. Plus I'm sure a hell of a lot of research / publications is often required as well.

Education training is necessary when you teach below the university / college level. At least that's what it's like here in Canada.

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Originally posted by icepop
Just to reiterate what everyone else has been saying ... you def don't need an education background to become a university prof. You just have to look at any job postings to figure that out. Minimum requirement is usually a phd. Plus I'm sure a hell of a lot of research / publications is often required as well.

Education training is necessary when you teach below the university / college level. At least that's what it's like here in Canada.

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It is here as well.

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Originally posted by Melf
You don't need any experience in teaching to become a university professor, in the sense that it isn't required. It is highly recommended that you be a dedicated teacher and not someone with a BA in [insert degree title here] who decides he wants to teach. If you have two or more degrees in the same field it's even better.

I personally wouldn't want to take a class with someone who isn't an educator by profession. Knowing a shitload about something means squat in the classroom if you aren't trained and knowledgeable in how to convey it.

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All true, but actual experience in education means little to nothing to university departments. What matters is the degree held and publications. Hell, plenty of TAs in big schools are grad students who speak little English and have no training before setting foot in the classroom.

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Originally posted by BoBVila
Ask new professors...most will have some sort of education in education (heh). Times change. Demands get higher.

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It certainly couldn't hurt your resume, and if you want to go that far by all means do, but I'm afraid you don't really know what you're talking about. For one thing, it would be ridiculous for schools to demand that you have another degree on top of the already mandatory 8-9 years in postsecondary education. For the salary you end up with and the fact that tenure is by no means guaranteed, you'd have to be an idiot or a fanatic to do it.

Secondly, your teaching skills really have very little to do with whether you get a professorship or not. The watchphrase is always "publish or die". The school mainly wants to see what kind of academic prestige you can bring them - if you're doing groundbreaking research in your field, you're in. Otherwise you've got an uphill climb.

Anybody looking to become a prof should get as much published as they can, and do a thesis in a (meaningful) area that has yet to be addressed in your field.

Anybody (who can make it through grad school, anyway) can get a teacher's certificate, but far fewer are able to advance their field. Harvard and Stanford didn't become prestigious because their profs are all fun lecturers.

You don't even have to publish a lot. Recommendations are what get you good university jobs, as far as I can tell.

The friend of mine that will be teaching at Tulane wasn't getting published all over the place or anything. She walked in the graduation ceremony in 2002, and it took her almost a full year after that to actually complete and defend her thesis. She's brilliant, of course, but not mind-bendingly so.

She went to a good grad school, she's got a fantastic personality, knows a lot of people, and probably had excellent interviews. She has a lot of accolades in her history, too (#1 college student in Ireland, Fulbright, I guess some other stuff like that.)

Really, though, if you want to get a good professorship, I think it's mostly about going to the right graduate school and making the right friends.

"Well thanks for the clarification people. Sounds like BobVila was talking out his ass... not that Im surprised or anything."

You're still miffed about that whole Half-Life thing, eh? Good god...grow up. People have said it here: if you can't teach or aren't a big shot, you aren't going to teach at most places. You've already said you have a year and a half before you even get ONE degree, and that you haven't taken the "big" courses yet. You're in for a rude awakening.

The ability to teach cannot be taught. Education degrees are worthless. You are either a natural teacher or you are not. I work with a bunch of education majors, so I've seen this in effect.

Most colleges (read: regular ones, not ivy league or MIT or prestigious or what-have-you) will require a masters or PHD in the field you want to teach. They typically don't bother with education degrees, unless the job is for education classes. I have seen some humanities teaching jobs that require education degrees, but on the whole it's not a concern.

If you want to teach, but don't yet have your masters or PHD, get an adjunct teaching job. Yes, you will need a real-world job to suppliment it, but if it's for something like business, compsci or any real-world discipline (no, not things like history), experience from the workplace will be invaluable in preparing your students for how things actually work.

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Originally posted by BoBVila
"Well thanks for the clarification people. Sounds like BobVila was talking out his ass... not that Im surprised or anything."

You're still miffed about that whole Half-Life thing, eh? Good god...grow up. People have said it here: if you can't teach or aren't a big shot, you aren't going to teach at most places. You've already said you have a year and a half before you even get ONE degree, and that you haven't taken the "big" courses yet. You're in for a rude awakening.

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No, I am annoyed that you came into a thread I made to ask honest questions about life's possibilities in higher education, then you came in, talked out your ass, said shit you had no clue about, and you still stick to your points even though six (seven, including Lhaddat) people who do know more than you, and who have some experience in it (what is your experience again?) have told you you are wrong. STFU. You are clueless. You have no point saying anything in this thread. Hell, the very reason why I made the thread is because it's still early enough for me to plan ahead and make sure I can do what I want when the time comes. You are not contributing anything to this. Stop spamming the thread.

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Originally posted by Lhadatt
The ability to teach cannot be taught. Education degrees are worthless. You are either a natural teacher or you are not. I work with a bunch of education majors, so I've seen this in effect.

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Im not tooting my own horn, but many, many people have told me Im a great teacher and I really help them when they ask me questions about their classwork. This is, in part, one reason why I want to pursue this path.