Teaching high school science with an engineering degree?

It's uncommon, but if you have a teaching certification you can. Most engineering programs will get you very close to the coursework needed for a physical science teaching certificate, but you will need to take the education courses. A few years back when there was a severe shortage of science teachers in some regions, engineers and scientist were sometimes hired without a teaching certificate, but I think those days have largely passed. Some private schools may still do it, however.

overqualified wrote:

Can you teach high school science with an engineering degree? How common is this?

I looked into this about 10 years ago when I was between engineering jobs. The answer is, yes, you can do it.

I suspect job requirements vary with state and other things, but at the time (2002) I was qualified to be hired to teach HS science/math with a bachelors degree in engineering with no other requirements. This was for public school in Georgia. I think I looked at some other states as well and the requirements were the same.

why, on earth, would you want to do this? you would do so much better doing actual engineering work.

summers off, short work days, cushy job...why the hell not?

keanu wrote:

why, on earth, would you want to do this? you would do so much better doing actual engineering work.

I taught science and I agree. Don't do this. Go work for a utility.

I went to a private school where it was pretty common for teachers to be on their second career. I had several English or History classes taught by former lawyers and several math or science classes taught by former engineers. All of these people were really good because they had life experience outside of academia and they were in teaching because they really wanted to be. None of them people had education courses or degrees. Many private schools do not require them and since it was a selective school full of smart and self-motivated students they didn't need to learn how to babysit or special tricks for reaching the dumb kids.

As others have said, in public schools you have to be certified. Many states have alternative certification or some kind of waiver for people with the academic qualifications but not certification. Private schools can do whatever they want.

So the answer is a qualified yes. I don't think engineers teaching high school is very common, but I have no real source for that opinion.

Two key points:

1) There is no longer a shortage of science teachers as there was for many years in the past. In this tighter labor market it is much harder to get hired without a teaching certification. In addition, states are cutting back on "alternative" certification processes.

2) Private schools are not required to follow state certification, but most do so. However, if you have a degree from a prestigious university, elite private schools may still be interested, even in a competitive labor market.

It goes without saying that teaching can be good or bad depending on the teacher's abilities, attitudes, and background and the characteristics of the students and school. Working for a utility may be a viable alternative for an engineer, if that's the kind of thing you like.

I teach a high school Human Anatomy & Physiology class, and I have a medical degree (M.D.). I teach for an hour then spend the rest of the day doctoring. I love to teach but turned it down as a career due to low income. It is a private school. The state association issued me a lifetime teaching certificate after reviewing my college and med school transcripts. However, the class is now dual enrollment meaning the local state-owned community college is giving college credit for the class; and the local public high school is trying to recruit me to teach there. Neither the CC nor public school have mentioned any Education course requirements.

Incidentally, after teaching there, I volunteered as assistant XC coach, and have now been promoted to head coach after the head coach left.

Why don't you think about teaching engineering with your engineering degree? Project Lead the Way is a pretty well known national high school engineering program that offers students the opportunity to learn what engineers do at their careers. Everything from keeping an accurate engnineers daily notebook, product design, civil engineering and architecture,digital electronics, principles of engineering, aerospace engineering, biotechnical, computer integrated manufacturing etc....

This will be our 8th year in the program and the kids really like it as our enrollment has grown quite a bit from only requiring one teacher to 3. One of our teachers was an aerospace engineer prior to joining the staff and really brings a lot to the kids from his experiences but struggles a little in classroom management but the topic combined with the better math/science students enrolled keep things moving forward in a positive direction. He's pretty patient and still gets the job done but it could be a bit of a shock for someone coming from industry to education.

Teaching kids engineering is a pretty cool experience because they get to see what all that math and science can do for them when applied to real world project based learning activities. The field trips are great as well as the contacts we've made at both the workplace and regional universities. The subject matter is such that the students can build confidence in problem solving and working with others of all genders, cultural variations etc... through guided exercises until they are assigned projects that requre their own research, design, build, test, evaluate etc... process. I live in a very diverse university town and it's fun to see kids from all walks of life learning and working together. A little bit of a carrot is the fact that the kids can earn college credit for their efforts. This program is also in Junior Highs and is now heading for curriculum to be included in the grade schools. Our job isn't to produce engineers but to turn kids onto the idea of problem solving with social skills, academics and technology.

I was a traditional industrial arts/technology/CTE teacher prior to starting this program. I still teach several traditional classes and have taught just about every subject in the last 25 years. I also coach track and cc. It's fun getting kids from both areas to take classes in each discipline and also the art department to help them find out how much fun it is to work in a problem solving environment. There are a lot of options and directions they can go after high school if they choose to do so.

df;jwien wrote:

Why don't you think about teaching engineering with your engineering degree? Project Lead the Way is a pretty well known national high school engineering program that offers students the opportunity to learn what engineers do ...so.

This

You're not overqualified at all. Just the opposite.

Until you learn how to teach - differentiation, assessment for learning, IEPs, 504s, accomdations, interventions, and on and on - you'll have no clue how to connect with 14 year olds.

You're assuming that all you need in order to teach is knoweldge of a subject. You're neglecting the fact that teaching in and of itself is a refined, professional skill. It's what the "those who can, do..." crowd don't understand. And probably never will.

Until you start thinking about teaching CHILDREN instead of ENGINEERING, you'll never be qualified.

Sorry you let so many of the negative threads here bother you. Even if the "overqualified" thread poster name may have offended you, I just overlook it and reply to anyone that might have thought about moving from busniness/industry into education. Happens all the time and I think it's a good thing in a lot of cases. Most of them have had their own children by the time they do make the career move so they have quite a different view of teenagers by that point or soon will. Obvioulsy, an adult with business experience will have to show an interest in child development and demonstrate a lot of patience that would be different than a regular 9-5 job but have you ever worked with many adults that aren't patient or courteous in business? A lot of adults lack social skills and professionalism.

I've taught for 25 years, tried to get as much experience from local business and industry during the summers which I happen to feel has more value than my masters degree to my students because I always have to stay up to date on the ever-changing technology I use. I attend a monthly evening software session led by someone using it in industry to allow for great demonstrations and answers to questions I can't get from taking classes at the university or community college. Everyone I've worked with in business whether it be for training or just supplying materials or even giving a tour to students has been very helpful due to the lack of qualified workforce including student that have gotten their undergraduate degree. They are eager to see young people take an interest in design, manufacturing, maintenance, construction etc... As a fulltime instructor, I feel like it's important to give the students insight on learning and practicing expected soft skills required to function in the workplace as well.

I would say that my biggest complaint is that administrators can't or won't always do whatever it takes to get the funds or additional FTE's to meet the demand of the students. Because they are elective courses, they will never hire another tech teacher over a science, math, english teacher but that's just the way it goes. Fewer kids are being served in that area meanwhile the music department gets whatever they need to grease that squeak. It takes a lot of work to drum up support from parents, businesses and post hs to get major funding but if you can dedicate that kind of time and effort, it's worth it. Even with a new area education center being constructed to provide expensive courses and college credit classes to our county school districts, our school is very strong in it's offerings and I don't see any less support in the near future. So, you would have to consider the limitations on your resources in the community that you would be teaching in as well.

i am a recent engineering grad, and can say with certainty that my two best/most influential high school teachers were former engineers! they are why i went into the field i did. power to you :)

There is some truth to what you write, but the research evidence suggests you are largely incorrect. Teacher training coursework, certification, teaching experience, and advanced degrees have only very weak links with student learning. However, in subjects like advance high school math and science, the teacher's own achievement test scores and the prestige of the university they graduated from are predictive of student performance. In other words you have to be smart and well training in the curricular content to be effective in teaching complex subjects. The above reasons are why the teach certification methods do little to assure a teacher will be effective. As cliche as it sounds, teaching is a very complex activity and it is very difficult to know how effective a teacher will be in terms of student learning until s/he actually teaches.

got it backwards wrote:

You're not overqualified at all. Just the opposite.

Until you learn how to teach - differentiation, assessment for learning, IEPs, 504s, accomdations, interventions, and on and on - you'll have no clue how to connect with 14 year olds.

You're assuming that all you need in order to teach is knoweldge of a subject. You're neglecting the fact that teaching in and of itself is a refined, professional skill. It's what the "those who can, do..." crowd don't understand. And probably never will.

Until you start thinking about teaching CHILDREN instead of ENGINEERING, you'll never be qualified.

Of course much of what you say is true. However, it's an arrogant assumption on the part of those who've never set foot in a classroom that expertise in a subject area is the primary requirement for teaching excellence.

This may be true in advanced subjects, engineering included. However, the VAST majoriy of teaching jobs require delivery of material that most of the population mastered many years ago.

A 4th grade teacher doesn't need a masters in english. A 7th grade teacher doesn't need a Phd in history. These professionals need degrees in teaching. In education. In instruction.

The very classes and education that you decry as useless and unfounded are the most important classes that teachers can take. In rare situations - and yes, they're rare - a private sector expert may come in and do a nice job.

These would be advanced electives in high school, and probably only in the math and sciences. To suggest that these positions speak, if you will, for the entire profession is simply wrong.

You continue to be largely misguided in your viewpoints on this issue. Most of the research I allude to is based on elementary school teachers. There is a large body of scholarship on this that goes back many years. It is based on large samples of teachers and a vast number of variables measuring that backgrounds and teaching practices and the characteristics of the students they teach and the schools they teach in. This research was conducted by top economist and educational researchers and published in rigorous scholarly journals. It is important that educators understand this rather than operate under a set on myths.

Student wrote:

You continue to be largely misguided in your viewpoints on this issue. Most of the research I allude to is based on elementary school teachers. There is a large body of scholarship on this that goes back many years. It is based on large samples of teachers and a vast number of variables measuring that backgrounds and teaching practices and the characteristics of the students they teach and the schools they teach in. This research was conducted by top economist and educational researchers and published in rigorous scholarly journals. It is important that educators understand this rather than operate under a set on myths.

Post a link to the research. I have a million studies and a thousand emperical examples (I'm a teacher with 20 yrs experience) that demonstrate the effectiveness of said practices.

Start with Marzano. Once you understand his work (really, a compilation and synthesis of others' research), you can move on to more challenging material. Maybe Marie Clay next.

I don't consider Marzano or the other you mention to be scholars. They lead commercial enterprises that are for the purpose of making them money. They design their programs for commercial appeal. Apparently your district bought some of their materials or services?

The research I referred to was done by scholars employed at research universities and published in top peer-review journals. I'm not going to provide citations, because I did some of the research myself and I will not self-disclose, but here is one link to get you started.

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/cepr/research/

Many educators fall into the trap of thinking that their personal and professional development experiences puts them in a special position to understand and evaluate research on what works and to know better than others how to evaluate who is an effective teacher. My main point is that the work by the very top and most respected scholars in education does not support this.