You need to complete a student-teaching semester in your final year of college as a requirement for hands-on experience. All colleges require this to fulfill graduation requirements in an education major. In addition to education major requirements, you can interview an educational consultant, volunteer at a social service agency, or work as a counselor for children with disabilities to get insight into their work before you pursue it.
If your campus doesn’t offer introductory teaching courses or if your schedule is hectic, you can find teaching classes online. You can search your campus’s course catalog for teaching classes.
Some ways to know if an activity focuses on honing your teaching skills is if your role will be referred to as “teaching” or “teaching assistant. ” Working part time at a tutoring agency or as an independent tutor also counts. Extracurricular teaching activities may ask for commitments of up to 5 hours per week. It depends on the program offering it. Summer teaching internships usually involve teaching in summer school in a K-12 setting. Working at a summer camp for college credit is also an option. [6] X Research source The activity may require you to make lesson plans just like a professional teacher.
Internships allow you to apply your education to real world experience while training you in teaching. Internships are a good opportunity to learn about yourself, and they encourage personal development. They can help you form, achieve, and understand your goals as an aspiring teacher.
As an educational consultant, you’ll work with diverse audiences, so you should have a concentration in positive reinforcement, psycho-educational assessment, evaluation of students with disabilities, applied behavior analysis, intelligence testing, special education, or human development. [9] X Research source
Two main contacts for their educational consultant program are listed on the side of the webpage. Call them for specific information about certification requirements.
When you are ready to submit documentation to your state certifying agency, speak to a staff member of your teaching preparation program for details on how and when to apply for your license.
Being an ESL instructor, lecturer, or preschool teacher also amounts to teaching experience. [15] X Research source
Universities with education consulting programs include, but are not limited to, the UC Irvine Program, UCLA Program, and the UC Berkeley Program. You can apply to these programs on their websites. [17] X Research source You may acquire educational consultant certification through the American Institute of Certified Educational Planners (AICEP), as well as other organizations. [18] X Research source The application process requires an assessment of the candidate’s expertise, education, training, and professional activities. Candidates will also take a written assessment to test their ability to understand students’ needs and recommend colleges for students.
Many educational consultants work freelance as independent contractors hired by parents, but some work for firms or are hired by school districts or colleges.
You can learn about these opportunities from organizations such as SOPHIA, Atomic Learning, and Scholastic.
Job postings list requirements for educational consultants, such as coordinating counseling and testing, improving curricula, improving technology usage in classrooms, keeping career and educational development opportunities up to date, clerical duties, and promoting educational programs.
Highlight your most relevant job and educational experience in your resume. In your cover letter or job interview, talk about how you may have organized an academic conference or lecture series on your campus. Demonstrate that you promoted the event and put it all together. This experience will reflect your organizational skills. For instance, in a cover letter, you could say “As an educational consultant, one of my greatest strengths is curriculum development and assessment. ”[23] X Research source If you worked on a committee or in student government, use that to reflect your ability to deal with multiple tasks and personalities. This also shows off your organizational skills, which are extremely important.
Examples of administrative work could be work in your department or your experience putting together a dissertation committee. For example, state that you, “Designed and presented comprehensive workshops for parents, and collaborated with educators to create effective instructional materials. ”[25] X Research source
For example, you can write in a cover letter, “I’ve worked as a fifth and third grade teacher, and I’ve worked closely with a diverse group of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and government officials to effectively implement new policies and programs. ”[27] X Research source Talk about what you learned early on as a teaching assistant and how that helped you in your career as a teacher or college professor. In a cover letter, discuss your goals as an educational consultant. [28] X Research source Describe what you’ve been doing up through your present job. Write about your experience implementing new policies or programs in your school district, what you’ve accomplished as an educator, if you have curriculum development experience, and so on.
