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Current Trends Impacting Teacher Jobs

With rapid changes in the educational landscape, like the rise of bite-sized or microlearning modules (where classes focus on one key objective, like learning about COVID-19 health outcomes through digital videos), it’s not surprising new trends keep popping up that can affect the teaching industry’s job market.

Forbes contributor Enrique Dans says blended learning, in particular, will change education, with its combination of e-learning tools, face-to-face instruction, webinars and simulations providing access to concepts in new ways to many more kids. The rapid escalation of technology in the classroom has also opened doors to new types of jobs and people who may not have previously considered teaching, like subject matter experts in science, computing and languages who can now teach from their home through Zoom or Google Meet. Due to the pandemic, job listings for teachers who can combine education with technology and communication have nearly quadrupled. And most experts believe those numbers will stay up long after this period. According to a U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics report, there will be a rapid surge in job openings for teachers over the next 10 years.

The competition will continue to be intense for tenure-track positions in the near- and long-term, especially in high-level graduate education, but expect many more opportunities for part-time professors.

6 Top Soft Skills for Teachers

Every teaching job demands a blend of technical and soft skills that can be learned on the job. Technical skills such as email management and curriculum development, however, might be easier to acquire than soft skills such as problem-solving, student-teacher communication, and team-building, which are often extensions of personal character traits. And since so much of the job is about teaching kids about how to be adults, helping to develop their emotional intelligence as much as their critical thinking, a good teacher really needs to get this part of the job right.

Below, we provided a quick overview of six vital soft skills necessary for teachers:

• Leadership

  Teachers should have leadership qualities that help them maintain classroom decorum and gain respect from students, parents and peers. This includes the ability to stay calm, to diagnose proper classroom behavior at all times, and to impart the correct way to learn a subject. While teachers should always be kind and helpful towards students, they should clearly demonstrate the repercussions of poor behavior.

• Good oral and written communication

  These are vital for two critical reasons: to deliver your message effectively and to pass on feedback, in a clear, thoughtful and supportive manner that helps students make progress.

• Clear-minded

  Teachers often come across issues that arise inside or outside of the classroom that affect the learning process. Whether it is learning how to reconcile a conflict or knowing how to get past it, teachers should always be ready to take up challenging tasks and should know how to resonate properly with their students in any situation.

• Adaptable

  There are a lot of unforeseen situations in teaching. Kids lose their parents in accidents. There are natural disasters. Students may get injured or suffer mental health issues. Good teachers know how to take these situations and not only know how to deal with them, but how to make them a teaching lesson.

• Cultural awareness

  Students in the U.S. come from all types of diverse cultures, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds. So a good teacher works on developing a broad and diverse knowledge of their students’ backgrounds in order to better connect with them. This awareness also helps teachers to maintain a respectable cultural learning environment.

• Effective multitasking

  Teaching is not restricted to following the curriculum and grading students. Teachers should be able to perform multiple tasks including numerous ones outside of subject-specific teaching such as developing department reading material, coaching sports, serving as chaperones for dances, and managing social groups.

Educational Requirements for Teaching Jobs

Other than entry-level teacher’s aides positions, most all jobs in teaching require a bachelor’s degree in education. Depending on the school district or state requirements, teachers are often given the opportunity to advance their education while teaching through scholarships and other financial support, including getting their master’s degree. Teachers who focus on higher-level grades and manage several classes in a subject such as biology, chemistry, calculus or history are required to take competency exams in their specific subject (usually known as the PRAXIS II tests or state regent’s exams).

Teachers may also be required, depending on their district, to take additional core exams that test their general knowledge of teaching pedagogies, policies and ethics.

In addition to educational degrees from universities or colleges, teachers can also pursue various teaching-related certifications that may help them improve in one or more subjects, such as in technology. The International Society for Technology in Education Certification (ISTE) is one type of certification that can pave the way for new opportunities in your career, but it is not the only one. We recommend you look in your nearest district’s education government website and get in touch with an official to find out your options.