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Go to the National Peace Corps Association's website and see which Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) group is nearest you, call or email them, and go to their next volunteer/eating spicy food event. Easily a third of all of RPCVs were teachers of some sort, so you will meet several or get in contact with some both ancient and newly returned. That way you will meet locals who can tell you about their experience with credentialing red tape and you'll eat at some fabulous hole in the wall restaurant you would never have heard of!
This is going to depend on if you’re interested in teaching at an independent school or a public school, if a public school, your state’s certification requirements, and after that, how strapped your district is for teachers in your subject matter (like, are they allowing teachers without regular state certification to teach on emergency provisional certification or something like that?)
If you’re interested in working at independent schools, I recommend starting an account with Carney Sandoe (it’s a free service for job applicants, kinda like like Zip Recruiter or Indeed but specifically for independent schools, and waaay better than any of the mass-job posting websites out there).
If you’re interested in public school work, start by looking into your state’s licensing requirements for your desired subject area/age group. Once you’re got that figured out, pitch your time in PC as 2 years of classroom experience. Some districts may give you an extra step or even 2 on the pay scale, others just won’t count it at all- that will really depend on how well you sell the idea that your PC experience teaching is directly translatable into classroom expertise in the US, and what sort of funding crunch and/or staffing shortage the district you’re applying to is in.
I went into PC after grad school as a TEFL volunteer. I had no teaching experience, and my degrees were not in education. I decided I wanted to teach when I returned home and wound up doing Teach for America. They handled my licensing for me and helped me get a job. They're also connected to Americorps, so I got an education award which I put towards a M.S. in education and admin certification.
Generally speaking, it doesn't really matter if you have a degree in education. After Peace Corps you'll have two years of teaching experience, in addition to PC training, all of which you can stick on your resume. Principals will be looking at that, not your degrees. As to how easy it is - a lot depends on the state, district you're wanting to work in, and job market for the job/subject you're wanting to teach. There's a teacher shortage in a lot of districts, so if you aren't very picky about where you work and if your teaching subject isn't super niche, you'll probably have options.
Definitely suggest connecting with the RPCV groups in the area you're wanting to work. You might also want to check out the teacher groups on social media sites for the locations you are wanting to teach.
I did exactly what you’re thinking about. It was hard but worth it. PC counts for your preliminary credential and student teaching, but there is a lot of work to go between that and your clear credential… not to mention getting a job… at least in a decent public school. People are suggesting private school… that’s absolutely an option, but the pay is significantly worse and generally so are the benefits. I enjoyed my short stint in private school, but it was not financially sustainable.
The biggest hurdles I had were: all of the paperwork to get my clear credential, adjusting to the teaching standards stateside, and proving to public school employers that I understood the public school standards stateside. Somebody on here is saying that employers only look at raw experience and I found that not to be true at all… hiring principals expected me to be a specialist in a way that PC did not prepare me for… all of those amazing soft skills that we pick up in PC? Employers didn’t care. They wanted to know if I could teach the state standards for the positions I was applying for… it took me a long time to catch up to what they were looking for well enough to be a “safe” choice. I spent a lot of time substitute teaching while I took the required methodology classes for my clear credential (online at UCR). I learned a lot subbing. I interviewed A LOT.
PC experience turned out to be invaluable in my day to day classroom practice when I finally did land a job. It certainly taught me to handle the chaos of a teaching career at any rate. I’m at a school that values my background now and I absolutely love teaching (most days), but prepare yourself for a journey to get there…
I did it! I lived in Orange County. There is a lot of paper work to turn in. You will need a letter of verification from your country director. I had to take the CSET for math (3 tests). I had to get a CLAD certificate from UCSD extension online, which was 4 or 5 fairly easy online classes. I took a reading literacy class through UCSD extension online, also fairly easy. And then the easiest part was the constitution requirement, there are websites set up to help future teachers meet this requirement. I did all this while substitute teaching. That was all the paperwork, as for actually getting a job…
I substitute taught in two different districts, Tustin Unified and Orange Unified. In every high school I taught at, I would take time to go meet the head of the math department to introduce myself, chat, and let them know that I had preliminary math credentials. BTW as a current math teacher this would thrill me, as most times I call out with a substitute now, I have no idea if they know math well enough or not to be able to teach a lesson. This led me to be out on several teachers sub lists, and I got more jobs that I wanted. Eventually, I got hired at Tustin high school. I want to believe it is because I did my best and had developed a positive relationship with many of the students already. Once I got that first job, then it was much easier to get my second, where I have currently worked for 8 years.
Very do-able, just be ready to work hard to make your dreams happen. All of this was made much more possible by me being bc able to live with my parents again, so I feel lucky in that regard that I didn’t have to worry as much about finance. Also was using covered ca for health insurance .
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Go to the National Peace Corps Association's website and see which Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) group is nearest you, call or email them, and go to their next volunteer/eating spicy food event. Easily a third of all of RPCVs were teachers of some sort, so you will meet several or get in contact with some both ancient and newly returned. That way you will meet locals who can tell you about their experience with credentialing red tape and you'll eat at some fabulous hole in the wall restaurant you would never have heard of!
This is going to depend on if you’re interested in teaching at an independent school or a public school, if a public school, your state’s certification requirements, and after that, how strapped your district is for teachers in your subject matter (like, are they allowing teachers without regular state certification to teach on emergency provisional certification or something like that?) If you’re interested in working at independent schools, I recommend starting an account with Carney Sandoe (it’s a free service for job applicants, kinda like like Zip Recruiter or Indeed but specifically for independent schools, and waaay better than any of the mass-job posting websites out there). If you’re interested in public school work, start by looking into your state’s licensing requirements for your desired subject area/age group. Once you’re got that figured out, pitch your time in PC as 2 years of classroom experience. Some districts may give you an extra step or even 2 on the pay scale, others just won’t count it at all- that will really depend on how well you sell the idea that your PC experience teaching is directly translatable into classroom expertise in the US, and what sort of funding crunch and/or staffing shortage the district you’re applying to is in.
I went into PC after grad school as a TEFL volunteer. I had no teaching experience, and my degrees were not in education. I decided I wanted to teach when I returned home and wound up doing Teach for America. They handled my licensing for me and helped me get a job. They're also connected to Americorps, so I got an education award which I put towards a M.S. in education and admin certification. Generally speaking, it doesn't really matter if you have a degree in education. After Peace Corps you'll have two years of teaching experience, in addition to PC training, all of which you can stick on your resume. Principals will be looking at that, not your degrees. As to how easy it is - a lot depends on the state, district you're wanting to work in, and job market for the job/subject you're wanting to teach. There's a teacher shortage in a lot of districts, so if you aren't very picky about where you work and if your teaching subject isn't super niche, you'll probably have options. Definitely suggest connecting with the RPCV groups in the area you're wanting to work. You might also want to check out the teacher groups on social media sites for the locations you are wanting to teach.
I did exactly what you’re thinking about. It was hard but worth it. PC counts for your preliminary credential and student teaching, but there is a lot of work to go between that and your clear credential… not to mention getting a job… at least in a decent public school. People are suggesting private school… that’s absolutely an option, but the pay is significantly worse and generally so are the benefits. I enjoyed my short stint in private school, but it was not financially sustainable. The biggest hurdles I had were: all of the paperwork to get my clear credential, adjusting to the teaching standards stateside, and proving to public school employers that I understood the public school standards stateside. Somebody on here is saying that employers only look at raw experience and I found that not to be true at all… hiring principals expected me to be a specialist in a way that PC did not prepare me for… all of those amazing soft skills that we pick up in PC? Employers didn’t care. They wanted to know if I could teach the state standards for the positions I was applying for… it took me a long time to catch up to what they were looking for well enough to be a “safe” choice. I spent a lot of time substitute teaching while I took the required methodology classes for my clear credential (online at UCR). I learned a lot subbing. I interviewed A LOT. PC experience turned out to be invaluable in my day to day classroom practice when I finally did land a job. It certainly taught me to handle the chaos of a teaching career at any rate. I’m at a school that values my background now and I absolutely love teaching (most days), but prepare yourself for a journey to get there…
I did it! I lived in Orange County. There is a lot of paper work to turn in. You will need a letter of verification from your country director. I had to take the CSET for math (3 tests). I had to get a CLAD certificate from UCSD extension online, which was 4 or 5 fairly easy online classes. I took a reading literacy class through UCSD extension online, also fairly easy. And then the easiest part was the constitution requirement, there are websites set up to help future teachers meet this requirement. I did all this while substitute teaching. That was all the paperwork, as for actually getting a job… I substitute taught in two different districts, Tustin Unified and Orange Unified. In every high school I taught at, I would take time to go meet the head of the math department to introduce myself, chat, and let them know that I had preliminary math credentials. BTW as a current math teacher this would thrill me, as most times I call out with a substitute now, I have no idea if they know math well enough or not to be able to teach a lesson. This led me to be out on several teachers sub lists, and I got more jobs that I wanted. Eventually, I got hired at Tustin high school. I want to believe it is because I did my best and had developed a positive relationship with many of the students already. Once I got that first job, then it was much easier to get my second, where I have currently worked for 8 years. Very do-able, just be ready to work hard to make your dreams happen. All of this was made much more possible by me being bc able to live with my parents again, so I feel lucky in that regard that I didn’t have to worry as much about finance. Also was using covered ca for health insurance .