When you embark on any career in education, it is important to have a plan (where possible). You want to be able to push yourself, and you want to be able to help as many students learn (with a passion) as you can. To ensure this happens you need to focus on progression. Keeping your eyes on advancing your career in education, and on the future is crucial. To be sure that this happens, here are a few decisive steps you should take.
Focus on Advancing Your Education
To advance the lives of others, you are first going to need to advance yourself. Your advanced education will hold the key to your promotion, or your next career move. When it comes to focusing on advancing your career, you need to decide what you want to achieve. At this stage in your career, you are going to need to know what specialist subject or field you wish to pursue and why. For instance, are you passionate about teaching and developing young minds, if so, you will need to study for an elementary and special education dual certification. This certification will allow you to take your passion and drive into the classroom, and into the lives of young learners, which is what is needed.
Invest in Building Your Skills
A career in education is about more than learning and studying. While this plays a key role, you must also remember to invest in building your skills as well. Your skill set, together with your knowledge and awareness will make you an unstoppable force. When it comes to building your skills and your skillset, you need to establish where there are gaps for improvement. For instance, do you find that you need to improve your delivery skills? Are you fully engaging when you speak, or is this a skill that you need to practice and develop? You may find that working on your soft skills just as much as working on your hard skills boosts your confidence.
Gain Additional Experience
Experience can count for a lot when you are pushing and advancing your career. To gain additional experience, you may wish to look at taking up an additional voluntary role within your current educational setting. Or, you may wish to find another opportunity outside of your current position, something that is complementary to what you are teaching, or what you are learning and putting into practice. Additional experience is going to allow you to diversify your skillset, and she’s which career path is right for you. It is also going to allow you to put your newly found knowledge and awareness into action, and this can once again give you the confidence boost you need.
Mentoring and Learning from Other Educators
You do not have to feel like you are alone in teaching and education. There are always opportunities to have a mentor and learn from other educators. Gaining valuable knowledge and experience from a mentor, or shadowing other educators will allow you to decide what type of educator you wish to be. Plus, how you wish to handle yourself, and your career. Learning from others’ expertise and experience will save you time, and it will help you gain clarity on what you want.
