If you’re new to teaching or you’re only just starting to consider that it might be a good profession to get into, you might not realize that there are promotions available; perhaps you think that once you are a teacher, that’s the only level of work there is.
The truth is that there are numerous levels of teaching, and although some people are more than happy to remain teaching their core subject to their specific grades and age ranges for their entire careers, others will want to progress. If you fall into the latter category, or you know you will once you start your teaching career, how can you find those all-important promotions? Read on to find out some of the ways to do it.
Keep Educating Yourself
When you want to be promoted and become an education leader or similar, you’ll need to demonstrate a passion for education and becoming as good as you can possibly be. One way to do this is to focus on your own personal development as well as that of your students. While you might be teaching classes, it’s also crucial to keep educating yourself, ensuring that you are always up to date on new teaching methods and curriculum updates.
One option here is to take an MA education distance learning programme to achieve as much as possible. Not only will this and similar degrees and qualifications help you to teach in a more well-rounded, modern, effective way (and therefore, it will help your students), but it will also look good when it comes to your career progression. By showing that you are interested in and passionate about learning more in terms of your chosen profession, you are showing that you are willing to go the extra mile.
Take On Extra Responsibilities
No matter what stage you are at in your career, whether you’ve just qualified or you’ve been teaching for years, it’s never too late (or early) to start looking ahead for opportunities to progress, assuming that’s what you want to do. One way to do this is to take on extra responsibilities. If you do this – and if you are good at doing the extra tasks you’ve taken on, of course – then the senior managers of your school will see this as a positive thing, and you’ll get noticed.
When you’re ready for promotion or when a role becomes available, you’ll be in their minds already because they know you’re willing to take on extra work and responsibilities in the cause of your career and to help others.
Extra responsibilities could be anything from after-school programs to lunch duty to administration jobs and much more.
Be An Excellent Teacher
It should probably go without saying that if you want to gain any kind of promotion in your teaching career, then you need to be an excellent teacher, but it’s still an idea that’s worth expanding on. Only the very best teachers will get the higher positions, so simply being a ‘good’ teacher, while useful when it comes to your own satisfaction and your class’s happiness and ability to learn, might not be enough.
An excellent teacher will have to go further and do more. This will include taking on the extra tasks we mentioned above, but there is more to it than that. Being able to teach is a crucial skill, but you must also have other skills, including being able to have students respect you and care about you as much as you care about them. You need to be as inspiring as possible, not just to your students but to your colleagues as well.
Be A Leader
Is there any kind of leadership in teaching? Surely you work alone, teaching a class, and you don’t have to be in a team or be a leader at all? This might be how it seems and perhaps even feels from time to time, but the truth is that teachers must be good leaders if they want to progress in their careers and get the promotion they are seeking.
Teaching is not a job that can really be done alone. At the very least, you need students to actually teach, but as well as this having a support team behind you, so you know you have somewhere to turn for advice and help when required is crucial. If you can be the person to whom others turn, then you will be in a better position to get the promotion you want.
Go To Another School
Even if you have done everything you can, such as gaining new qualifications and keeping up to date with teaching methods, being an inspiration to your students, and helping out as much as possible in all aspects of school life, you might not be chosen for promotion. It could be that the school you’re teaching at simply has no open positions, for example, or it could be for a variety of other reasons. If you know you’re qualified, then the only other option is to look at other schools.
This can be a hard thing to do, as teaching is very much a community, and you are sure to have made friends and be comfortable in your workplace, but sometimes finding somewhere else to work will be the only way to progress.
If this is something that appeals to you, don’t just limit yourself to schools in your local area. It might be that you personally need to relocate for the best opportunities, perhaps even moving abroad. If you have a family, you’ll need to speak to them as well, as it will affect everyone.
You’ll need to think carefully about what is most important to you. If your career is the top priority, then you should certainly explore all avenues in terms of a job. If, however, job security and comfort is what you like best, then you may need to be patient and stay where you are. Take some time to truly delve deep into your reasons for wanting either option so you can be sure you’re making the right choice.