Career Corner

Teachers are invited to join many professional organizations. Should you join or not? Only you can answer that definitively, but here are a few thoughts I have.

The two largest general teacher organizations in the U.S. are the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Both these organizations are sometimes referred to as “unions” or “the union.” AFT is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and is, in fact, a union. Chances are that one of these organizations has a chapter in the district where you teach or will teach and represents local teachers in the collective bargaining process.

Both organizations have functions beyond representing you in the bargaining process. They are professional associations that generate policy statements on education issues, which are often in the news. They provide professional development activities for members. They lobby Congress and state legislatures for education interests. They generate and encourage research in the education field. They provide important benefits for members.

One of the most important benefits is liability insurance. It is critical that educators carry insurance to protect themselves in the event of litigation over some action or inaction in the line of duty. Such insurance is available individually through private companies but is usually less expensive through professional organization group plans. Membership may also entitle you to access to legal counsel through the organization, which also could be a real advantage over securing your own attorney.

Beyond the “unions,” there are hundreds of professional organizations for educators, usually centered on subject or grade level. Your challenge is to wade through them and decide which, if any, are worth investment of your resources. Many have excellent professional development opportunities, including conferences and workshops. Others may offer discounts on professional materials. I once belonged to a subject-centered organization that offered liability insurance much like that from NEA and AFT. Most offer the opportunity to network with your colleagues nationally and internationally.

How do you decide? Look carefully at what the organization offers. It may be hard to attach absolute dollar value to the benefits, but consider what they are worth to you. If you are still a student, you may be able to join for a reduced, often very small, membership fee to help you decide. Look for testimonials on the organizations’ websites; you will not see the downsides there, of course. Consider what your needs and interests are and which organizations might match them. Best of all, talk with your colleagues in the field about the organizations to which they belong and do not belong and why.

There are literally hundreds of education organizations recruiting teachers as members. Professional organizations are valuable for many reasons, and I encourage you to join those that provide the opportunities and resources that best meet your needs.

--Kent McAnally, Director
Washburn University Career Services, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

About a year ago, I wrote an entry for this blog on holiday tips for the job seeker. One thing I mentioned was using the post-holiday sales for wardrobe development, both for teaching and for interviewing. This topic, however, has nothing to do with retail shopping. Instead, I refer to what I call “job shopping.”

The fall Education Interview Day at our institution was a couple of weeks ago. I overheard an administrator exclaim to an interviewing “candidate,” “I hired you last week!” The candidate shared that she, indeed, had been hired by the administrator’s district, but had been advised to take her pre-scheduled interviews “for practice” rather than cancel them at the last minute. Fortunately, that advice did not come from the career services office. Whoever advised this candidate is dead wrong.

Several years ago, the “shopping after hiring” topic came to my attention through a group of administrators and career services professionals in my area. Some colleagues in another metropolitan area were having a rash of hirees requesting release from contracts or signing contracts with other districts because they had a “better offer.”

Such action by a person already contracted is ethically and legally improper and could be grounds for revocation of a license. The Ethics Statement of the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE) is very clear on this matter:

“Candidate obligations include:…Accepting an offer of employment in good faith, signing only one contract, and, upon signing, cease interviewing and other job search activities.”

As a career services professional and member of AAEE , I have always advised candidates this way, and I even go one step further. A letter of intent is, in fact, a contract. I find that districts vary considerably on the importance placed on the letter of intent, but my interpretation is that the “intent” is “intent to sign a contract.”

Be an ethical job seeker. Stop your “shopping” once you have signed.

--Kent McAnally, Director
Washburn University Career Services, on behalf of AAEE

Posted by AAEE at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When sitting on the sidelines, it is easy to second guess the coach’s play calling. But, when you’re put into the position of making the calls yourself, you quickly find out it’s not as simple as it looks. The same is true when you become an administrator, decisions that looked like “no brainers”, are not so clear cut when you’re the one that has to make the call. So, how do you know if becoming the “coach” is the best career move for you?

Here are some ways you can find out if moving into administration is the right move for you.

Talk with some “coaches”. Seek out administrators that will give you an honest assessment of what it’s like to be an administrator.
• Chose administrators with varied levels of experience and different strengths.
• Ask if you can shadow to see firsthand what a “day in the life” is like.
• Develop a list of questions to be asked of each of them so you can get different perspectives on the same issue/topic.
• How did they deal with the transition from day-to-day interaction with students to sometimes limited contact with them?
Think outside the box.
• Not all teachers have to follow the traditional path to administration (i.e., assistant principal, principal, etc.).
• Find out what administrative positions exist on the non-instructional side of the house (i.e., business services, transportation, facilities, etc.).
Properly prepare yourself.• Do you hold (or are you eligible for) the proper certificate/license? If not, find out what course work, etc. you need and set a realistic timeframe in which to complete it.
• Do you have the experiences and background necessary to be affective?
• Do you have the personal support system needed to make a career shift?
Weigh the Pros v. Cons
• Is this the right time in your life to make a career move?
• More money vs. increased time commitment.
• Limited interaction with students vs. more interaction with public

Although making the transition from player to coach can be challenging, these simple steps will help you in developing a game plan that’s right for you.

Pamela Murphy
Sr. Manager of Human Resources
Harford County Public Schools
Bel Air, Maryland

Posted by AAEE at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

A special education job candidate came up to me at a job fair not long ago and said with a huge smile, “I didn’t think that anyone besides my mother could love me this much!” At the same job fair, I encouraged job candidates in social studies, elementary education, and health and physical education to not take the disinterest of school district representatives personally. Of course, these candidates had been warned when they declared their major that their job search would be extremely competitive; now they were experiencing the challenge of finding a job in an area of teacher surpluses.

Each year AAEE (American Association for Employment in Education) publishes the results of a nationwide survey gauging the demand of teachers by certification and geographic area. For years, a number of areas have experienced a surplus of teachers while others have a shortage of teachers.

As you choose your certification area(s), you need to balance the passion you have to teach a particular area with the reality of the competition you’ll face to find a job. If you are experiencing sharp competition (or expect to) for a full-time teaching job, you do have some options to make yourself more marketable.

According to school administrators, the best way to increase your chances for full-time employment is to earn additional certifications. In general, there are more opportunities for those in foreign language, math, science, special education, and ESL (or ELL). Surpluses of teachers are usually found in elementary education, HPE, social studies, and art. Other fields may be more balanced between supply and demand. For elementary candidates, an excellent dual certification is special education. Middle school math will increase the chances of employment for those with social studies certification. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, make it relatively easy to earn a second certification in many areas by passing the appropriate Praxis II test; other states require additional coursework. However, never get certified in an area where you do not want to teach.

Your other options include being willing to substitute teach and being willing to move. Some urban and rural districts need teachers in all areas. If you choose to substitute teach (even districts with a surplus of candidates for full-time positions often experience a shortage of qualified substitutes), remember that each day of subbing is, as an administrator recently told me, a job interview. Either you are showing the administrators, teachers, and students in that school that you are an outstanding teacher or just an average one. Average teachers may be good enough to sub, but there will be better choices when a full-time position is posted.

There is no guarantee that subbing will lead to a full-time position, but it will give you the opportunity to network with and to show school personnel that you have what it takes to be an outstanding professional. Serving as a para-professional may provide the same opportunity.

Your least effective course of action when competing in an area where there is a surplus of teachers is to take a job outside of education. Sure, this job may pay more than daily subbing and it will probably be less stressful, but it is removing you from the field of education, and there will be plenty of candidates to take your place in the employment process line.

John F. Snyder
Co-Director of Career Services
Slippery Rock University of PA

Posted by AAEE at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)