I’ve got a soft spot for teachers. I used to be a middle school history teacher, my mom worked in a middle school library (not the same one!), and my wife used to be an administrator of a private school. Not surprisingly, I’ve got a lot of friends in the profession.
And y’all get the short end of the stick. But you already knew that.
In order to really progress, or even to stick around in perhaps the most disrespected profession in America, you’ve got to have more education than the typical politician making policy decisions based on what you teach.
And way more than the typical parent.
However, what really grinds my gears is the audacity of masters degree programs in this country targeted to teachers. They romanticize the grind of not getting enough sleep, being broke, and going into more debt in order to make a few more thousand dollars a year.
Seriously, to hell with those types of masters degrees.
Instead, if you’re going to consider going into debt for such a qualification, then you should strongly consider going abroad. Not only is it an incredible opportunity to broaden your horizons, but the degree will almost always cost less than what you’d spend at a lot of places in the United States.
Now there are some exceptions. If you need to qualify as a teacher with your masters, this probably isn’t the option for you. However, if you’re already certified and just need that MA or MS after your name, you can do this.
Best of all, and I’m not saying this should motivate you, but in a lot of countries (including the UK!), teachers make substantially more, with more vacations, better health insurance (hello NHS), and actual support. Additionally, teachers are considered highly skilled professionals, so they are fast-tracked to getting visas for the right to remain.
We say it every so often, but it bears saying again: if you’re an educator, you should absolutely consider doing your degree overseas. It just makes sense.