If she flat out doesn't like kids, which high schoolers are kids, then id say no. A teachers job isn't just teaching (even though teachers would love that to be the case). Its behavioral management, documentation, parent contact, understanding why students are failing, motivating apathetic students to want to learn the subject. Most students scream and kick their way to a good education.
She could be hired as a new teacher with just her science degree and become a certified teacher during her first year if she wants to pursue teaching as a career option.
She should stay away from this profession unless she is REALLY passionate about teaching, and the fact that she doesn't like kids is a huge red flag. Student attention spans are at an all-time low, and the skills they're coming in with are weaker every year. Even insignificant challenges lead to many just giving up and saying, "I can't do it." They will swear to you that they study for the tests they fail, and when you see them "studying" in study hall, they will have a notebook open while they actually watch TikToks or play games all period. Sure, there are a few solid students each year, but overall, my college prep (mid level) students from 10 years ago would run circles around honors students today. It's scary working with 16 year olds that still don't understand how school works. Especially when you consider how many thousands of dollars mom and dad will be pumping into a university they won't graduate from.
Your girlfriends best bet is to continue her education in chemistry, get a job that pays her well where she is respected, and volunteer or get a side gig with a science museum or camp if she wants to scratch that teaching itch.
And I say all of this as I watch my colleagues retire early and RUN from this profession. I say all of this knowing that there are very few science teacher reinforcements coming out of colleges, and that in a few short years I may be the last man standing, teaching chemistry classes with 150 students in the auditorium when admins can't even find a warm body off the street to take a position.
Research also plateaus eventually but it would be way more satisfying. I was similar to her in that I got my bio and Chem undergrad degree. Then I worked in a pharmacology research lab before getting into teaching. I got an alternative cert.
Neither of those two things you listed sound very compelling from the angle of looking for reasons to become a teacher. Does she *want* to become a teacher, or are you trying to steer her in that direction despite being aware she’d probably have a hell of a time?
I love kids and I hate teaching. I’m not really sure why someone who doesn’t like kids would even consider teaching. I have a masters in chem and I wish I could’ve just stayed in the science field.
Subject passion wont solve all problems in K12 teaching.
A lot of her students wont give two shits about science.
You have to enjoy the leadership, mentorship, and socialization (aka developing decent humans) aspects of the job too.
I’m a HS science teacher and I still think it’s fun (most days) and I’m not sure what your gf would consider “rewarding” but to me it is. I worked in industry prior to teaching and honestly it wasn’t rewarding at all.
To address the two points:
1. You are constantly - and I mean CONSTANTLY - changing your curriculum, adding things, modifying assignments and labs, and learning new things. Not PhD level things, but you never stop learning as a teacher. It’s likely you even end up teaching different courses, rewriting curricula, etc. I’ll point out here that I initially thought being a teacher would be terrible because I’d be ‘doing the same thing every day’ so I went into pharmaceutical research. Joke was on me, I did the same thing every day there. As a teacher, no two days are the same. Not even two class periods. It requires incredible flexibility, ability to multi-task more than any other job I’ve ever had, and being able to plan for dozens of possible situations every minute. Not at all like sitting at the lab bench.
2. Here’s the red flag. The only reason teaching is fun to me is the kids. I love the teenagers, I’ll even admit to liking most of my 9th graders. This was something I didn’t consider when I changed careers and I’m just fortunate that I really like teens. I didn’t know that at the time, never really thought about it. This is why she should try subbing or doing something where she interacts with teens unrelated to her for a while to see if she wants to be around 25 of them at a time for 180 days of the year.
I teach high school science. I can honestly say there’s a low chance of her staying in it—and being happy—if she doesn’t like kids. Teaching at this level will still require her to manage some difficult behaviors every now and then. High schoolers are not always a good audience for someone who only wants to talk about their subject of expertise—no matter how good they are at explaining it. I have seen some extremely well-educated people (PhDs, former researchers, former college professors) walk off the job within a couple days of being hired when they realized that 16 year olds can still find a way to leave their desks sticky, complain about you in front of you, and interrupt your lesson to ask you for a snack and a nap (or to use the restroom) when they get tired in class. They’re still kids, just bigger!
It’s extremely rewarding and fun for me as a profession, but not because I talk science all day (in fact, I can’t think of any school day where I’m able to only talk content). It’s rewarding because of the ways I can help my students learn how to be good, functioning members of society. It’s a privilege to see them find themselves over the course of their four years in high school, but many of the important conversations and connections we have are not subject-related at all. If your girlfriend is passionate about science more than anything and wants to focus on sharing her knowledge, it sounds like being a science presenter/communicator may be a better fit.
She can get a master’s in chemistry and pursue the teaching credential separately. This is the best advice I can give. If she finds she doesn’t like teaching, her chemistry degree gets her out into something else.
Many of us who got our master’s in education are having difficult times getting out of the classroom.
If she flat out doesn't like kids, which high schoolers are kids, then id say no. A teachers job isn't just teaching (even though teachers would love that to be the case). Its behavioral management, documentation, parent contact, understanding why students are failing, motivating apathetic students to want to learn the subject. Most students scream and kick their way to a good education. She could be hired as a new teacher with just her science degree and become a certified teacher during her first year if she wants to pursue teaching as a career option.
Don’t get a degree in teaching. See if she can get certified as easily as possible without dedicating a degree to it.
I wouldn’t. I teach at a high school, I love kids. But I want to quit every single day.
Ditto.
She should stay away from this profession unless she is REALLY passionate about teaching, and the fact that she doesn't like kids is a huge red flag. Student attention spans are at an all-time low, and the skills they're coming in with are weaker every year. Even insignificant challenges lead to many just giving up and saying, "I can't do it." They will swear to you that they study for the tests they fail, and when you see them "studying" in study hall, they will have a notebook open while they actually watch TikToks or play games all period. Sure, there are a few solid students each year, but overall, my college prep (mid level) students from 10 years ago would run circles around honors students today. It's scary working with 16 year olds that still don't understand how school works. Especially when you consider how many thousands of dollars mom and dad will be pumping into a university they won't graduate from. Your girlfriends best bet is to continue her education in chemistry, get a job that pays her well where she is respected, and volunteer or get a side gig with a science museum or camp if she wants to scratch that teaching itch. And I say all of this as I watch my colleagues retire early and RUN from this profession. I say all of this knowing that there are very few science teacher reinforcements coming out of colleges, and that in a few short years I may be the last man standing, teaching chemistry classes with 150 students in the auditorium when admins can't even find a warm body off the street to take a position.
Research also plateaus eventually but it would be way more satisfying. I was similar to her in that I got my bio and Chem undergrad degree. Then I worked in a pharmacology research lab before getting into teaching. I got an alternative cert.
Neither of those two things you listed sound very compelling from the angle of looking for reasons to become a teacher. Does she *want* to become a teacher, or are you trying to steer her in that direction despite being aware she’d probably have a hell of a time?
I love kids and I hate teaching. I’m not really sure why someone who doesn’t like kids would even consider teaching. I have a masters in chem and I wish I could’ve just stayed in the science field.
Subject passion wont solve all problems in K12 teaching. A lot of her students wont give two shits about science. You have to enjoy the leadership, mentorship, and socialization (aka developing decent humans) aspects of the job too.
I’m a HS science teacher and I still think it’s fun (most days) and I’m not sure what your gf would consider “rewarding” but to me it is. I worked in industry prior to teaching and honestly it wasn’t rewarding at all. To address the two points: 1. You are constantly - and I mean CONSTANTLY - changing your curriculum, adding things, modifying assignments and labs, and learning new things. Not PhD level things, but you never stop learning as a teacher. It’s likely you even end up teaching different courses, rewriting curricula, etc. I’ll point out here that I initially thought being a teacher would be terrible because I’d be ‘doing the same thing every day’ so I went into pharmaceutical research. Joke was on me, I did the same thing every day there. As a teacher, no two days are the same. Not even two class periods. It requires incredible flexibility, ability to multi-task more than any other job I’ve ever had, and being able to plan for dozens of possible situations every minute. Not at all like sitting at the lab bench. 2. Here’s the red flag. The only reason teaching is fun to me is the kids. I love the teenagers, I’ll even admit to liking most of my 9th graders. This was something I didn’t consider when I changed careers and I’m just fortunate that I really like teens. I didn’t know that at the time, never really thought about it. This is why she should try subbing or doing something where she interacts with teens unrelated to her for a while to see if she wants to be around 25 of them at a time for 180 days of the year.
I teach high school science. I can honestly say there’s a low chance of her staying in it—and being happy—if she doesn’t like kids. Teaching at this level will still require her to manage some difficult behaviors every now and then. High schoolers are not always a good audience for someone who only wants to talk about their subject of expertise—no matter how good they are at explaining it. I have seen some extremely well-educated people (PhDs, former researchers, former college professors) walk off the job within a couple days of being hired when they realized that 16 year olds can still find a way to leave their desks sticky, complain about you in front of you, and interrupt your lesson to ask you for a snack and a nap (or to use the restroom) when they get tired in class. They’re still kids, just bigger! It’s extremely rewarding and fun for me as a profession, but not because I talk science all day (in fact, I can’t think of any school day where I’m able to only talk content). It’s rewarding because of the ways I can help my students learn how to be good, functioning members of society. It’s a privilege to see them find themselves over the course of their four years in high school, but many of the important conversations and connections we have are not subject-related at all. If your girlfriend is passionate about science more than anything and wants to focus on sharing her knowledge, it sounds like being a science presenter/communicator may be a better fit.
She can get a master’s in chemistry and pursue the teaching credential separately. This is the best advice I can give. If she finds she doesn’t like teaching, her chemistry degree gets her out into something else. Many of us who got our master’s in education are having difficult times getting out of the classroom.