Masters in Early American History

[ColdInCanada11]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

The capstone of any master's in history is a thesis. As for being able to teach middle/high school (public school at least) with an M.A. in History, I beg to differ. The job market in education has changed so drastically in the last 10 years. The poor economy and changes in legislation requiring all teachers to be Highly Qualified means that you really need to have a degree in education that will lead you to a regular teaching certificate. If the woman Honeychile is referring to has an undergrad degree in education, then she might be okay if she decides to teach as a career (I have no idea, just speculating ) However, today, social studies or history teaching positions are rare to find. Also, most administrators want to hire someone who is Highly Qualified (able to obtain regular teaching certificate, not temporary, has passed the state licensing exam in their content area, etc) so that they can make sure their school meets the mandates under No Child Left Behind. If anyone wants to have a shot at getting a job in education today, I would encourage them to seek certification in math, science, or special ed. SLP's also seem to be in high demand in my neck of the woods.

I graduated with a BA in History and decided right before graduation that I wanted to teach HS or MS social studies. I found out what I needed to do to qualify for a temporary teaching certificate in my state, fulfilled as many of the requirements as I could, and started applying and interviewing for teaching jobs. I couldn't find anything in Social Studies! I had to take a job as a paraprofessional and enrolled in a teacher ed program. (I decided to get certified in English and Social Studies to give myself options). I was hired the next school year to teach..English!

Thanks for all of the info, Xidelt! The Canadian school system is quite different, a degree in education is mandatory without exception. Are there a lot of teachers with Master's, or is that a dying trend?