Don't Become the Principal: How to Grow your Teaching Career Without Becoming Admin

Have you been teaching for a number of years? Are you feeling stuck, realizing you don’t want to be an administrator, but you want to keep growing in the field of education?

Think back to your undergraduate college experiences. What activities were most influential in shaping you into the teacher you are today? You may remember practicum experiences or a tutoring job that helped cement your career choice. Maybe a teacher or professor invested in you and encouraged you to pursue teaching.

Have you ever thought about working with colleges or universities to serve the education profession, share your knowledge and experiences, and expand your impact?

There are many ways you can do this. Some involve staying in the classroom. Others might involve leaving it. This blog presents a variety of options for teachers who are looking for ways to grow professionally and increase their impact by working with colleges or universities BUT don’t want to become administrators.

Become a Mentor Teacher

One of the most common ways to work with higher education is by serving as a mentor teacher and allowing pre-service teachers to work in your classroom. These experiences are varied. Introductory placements may include more observation hours and be shorter in time. But as undergrad students get further into their program they greatly benefit from 25 – 60 hours in K-12 classrooms. Oftentimes during their senior year, undergrad students may spend 60 – 150 hours in classrooms prior to student teaching. These experiences have the potential to benefit everyone. Students benefit from having more help from teachers. Mentor teachers benefit from new ideas undergrad students share, and it may build confidence as a future teacher is mentored. Undergrad students learn so much about effective teaching and student differences by doing this real work with real people.

Partner with a Professor

Connecting with professors can happen in a variety of ways. Check for opportunities for continuing education credits or course work towards a master’s degree. Use these opportunities to get to know the professors. Many states require professors to spend hours in the K-12 classroom in order to stay current in the field. Inviting a professor to help or co-teach in your classroom can be a win for everyone. Many professors are searching for classrooms using research-based instruction to meet the varied needs of students. You could open your classroom up as a model classroom for professors to share with their students. In-person or video sharing options are appreciated by professors and allow future teachers to see how classrooms today function.

Co-Teaching a College Class

Another option for working with the college community is co-teaching. Co-teaching occurs when two teachers work together to deliver content to a class. The co-teachers might be made up of a variety of pairs: professor and classroom teacher, classroom teacher and undergrad student, or a triad involving classroom teacher, professor, and undergrad student. The beauty of co-teaching is that everyone wins! Students win because they get more assistance with a second adult in the room. The teacher wins because he/she gets to share the responsibility of teaching and gets assistance in meeting students’ needs. The professor wins because he/she gets a chance to sharpen or refresh teaching skills and work with younger learners.

Work as an Adjunct Professor

You might also serve as an adjunct professor, teaching on a part time basis either in the evenings or working around your teaching schedule. Online teaching may also be an option. Many universities have face-to-face, synchronous online classes, or asynchronous online classes.

Become a Professor

You might be asking yourself, how do I become a professor?

Here is a little of my story.

I had a wonderful undergrad experience at Dordt University. I remember walking out after graduation thinking to myself, someday I want to work here and share my love of teaching with the next generation of teachers.

I taught elementary school for five years. Then, when I was about to have my second child, I shifted to being a part-time preschool teacher. This allowed me a little more time to focus on my family, yet I was able to use my teaching skills with young children. I ended up having four children in six and a half years and I taught preschool for 11 years. When my youngest daughter was one year old, I began my master’s degree. During this time, I realized I enjoyed working with adults who were passionate about education. When I finished my master’s degree, I began supervising student-teachers for the university and eventually became an adjunct professor for the university. This worked well because I had shifted to teaching kindergarten about 80% time. I loved teaching, and I was not ready to give it up. But the daily pace was challenging. After doing this for a few years, an opportunity arose for me to serve as a professor. I applied for the position, and I have been a professor ever since.

I love being a professor for many reasons. I love building relationships with my undergraduate and graduate students. I love learning together. I love having time to delve into topics such as how the brain learns to read and to share that knowledge with other passionate educators. I have conducted research and shared the results at local, state, and national conferences. My colleagues are wonderful experts who encourage me to keep learning and leading. I love meeting people and serving my community. I love helping my university accomplish their goals. My mind is expanded each day as I work at the university.

If you are wondering if you would like being a professor, I would suggest that you work towards your master’s degree and seek out opportunities to share your knowledge and expertise. You may be able to share or coach within your school. Be active in professional organizations. There may be local or state conferences or organizations that are looking for presenters. These opportunities allow you to make professional presentations and see if it is something you enjoy. Many universities seek out teachers in the field to serve as adjuncts or to co-teach university courses. Universities want to work with teachers who have records of excellent teaching. They also value diverse teaching experiences, so don’t be afraid to try a new teaching assignment at your school. Universities love to find people that are life-long learners as this is more conducive to scholarly work. It is highly important that you know the university you want to work with and make sure that your perspective and goals align with their vision. When you and the university share a common vision, you can accomplish a lot!!