Transitioning roles for teachers who love to be in Education

lthough most people enter the field of education with the intention of remaining in the classroom as a teacher, there are many other options available for those with teaching experience and credentials. If you're interested in pursuing a different career path, here are some options to consider:

School Administration: Many teachers choose to move into school administration roles such as principal or assistant principal. This can be a great way to have a larger impact on the education system while still working closely with students and teachers.

Role of School Administrator

A school administrator is a non-teaching professional who manages teachers, staff, buildings, and school finances at practically every educational level. They frequently supervise the day-to-day operations of a school or school district, overseeing programming and curriculum, employing teachers, and making choices that influence the school community, depending on their role.

Some Roles that come under the School Administration

• Principal, Vice-principa, Assistant principal, Superintendent, Program director etc

Important skills that you must have for being in School Administration:

• Enthusiasm
• Active listening
• Collaboration
• Adaptive
• Interpersonal skills
• School policy knowledge

Getting a job as a school administration can take time, as some schools test you for too long before they offer you a position in the school administration.

2. Education Consultant: Those with extensive experience and knowledge in the field of education may choose to become consultants, providing advice and guidance to schools and districts.

Educational Consultant work with students - advising them on career decisions and planning their future. They also work with with educational institutions such as schools, universities, and nonprofit organisations. Educational consultants may give knowledge and advise in areas such as curriculum creation, classroom management, and administration in these jobs.

What are they required to do?

Educational consultants mostly work as Advisors. They examine how instructors and districts conduct their educational operations, then provide recommendations for more efficient methods of completing those responsibilities. Alternatively, they might conduct a larger assessment, searching for flaws across the board to uncover vulnerabilities that existing administrators have yet to notice. They can help develop long-term strategic plans for changing a district's trajectory or changing curricular requirements.

Skills required for Education Consultant:

• Project management skills
• critical thinking
• Solutions and decision making
• Relationship management
• Communication skills.

Tips for becoming the best Educational Consultant

-Pick a speciality and become an expert.

-Use you core strength to advertise your offering.

-You need to have business mindset to sell your ideas and show how your service can impact an organisation.

- Either Consultants work with schools and organisations or they choose to work independently, selling their ideas through books, workshops or offering training classes.

3. Educational Researcher: Educational researchers conduct studies on everything from teaching methods to educational policy. This is a great option for those who want to stay engaged in the field of education but don't necessarily want to work directly with students.

A person having passion to research and learn more in education should be the ideal candidate for pursuing a job as as a educational researcher.

The work as an for an educational research can involve:

-gathering data and figures from a sample population,analysing what the numbers imply, and then applying the findings to the development of tests or curriculum.

Some researchers conduct all of these tasks, while others specialise in a certain field. There is something in this subject for practically everyone; nevertheless, anyone interested in education research must be comfortable dealing with numbers and have a strong interest in education.

4. Education Policymaker: Another way to have a broad impact on the education system is to work in education policy. Policymakers develop and implement policies at the local, state, and federal level that affect everything from school funding to curriculum standards.

A person interested in working as a education policymakers can choose to work as

-Education policy analysts who are in charge of assessing, evaluating, and reporting on all aspects of educational programmes, including finances, personnel, content, and structure. Most have a graduate degree (such as a master's or a doctorate) and have worked in education before.

-Education Policy makers who are part of a team that work with administrators and elected officials are generally education policy advisers.

The expertise needed for a particular job can be gained in many ways, including internships, volunteer gigs, and part-time work.

5. Education Journalist: Education journalists report on all aspects of the education system, from new research findings to controversial policy debates. This is a great option for those who want to communicate their knowledge of the field to a wider audience.

The job of an education journalists is to increase awareness about the education system. Usually, the target group for education journalism is students, researchers, and teachers.

Education journalists can work with online education blogs, magazines as content creators as well.

6. Teacher Trainer: Those with experience teaching can share their knowledge by becoming teacher trainers. Teacher trainers work with new and experienced teachers to help them improve their teaching practices.

They work at schools and colleges to assist instructors enhance their abilities. They usually conduct evaluations and offer coaching and guidance. Teacher trainers also observe courses, offer curriculum advice, and help teachers develop goals.

Other responsibilities of teacher trainer might include:

-Providing instructors with feedback, assistance, and one-on-one training sessions.

-Organizing seminars, training sessions, and events for teachers to be inspired by guest speakers.

-Setting weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual goals for instructors and students, as well as offering counsel and support to help them achieve their objectives.

7. Education Advocate: Education advocates work to promote policies and initiatives that they believe will improve the education system. This can be done through lobbying, media work, or grassroots organizing.

Many teachers who are passionate about a philosophy, go out and practice what means a lot to them in education. It can be helping teachers to skill themselves or helping schools to practice a philosophy.

Education advocates can choose to work independently.

8. Education philanthropist: Education philanthropists provide financial support to organizations and programs that they believe are making a positive impact on the education system. This is a great way to use your wealth to make a difference in the world of education.

Though philanthropy is often associated with wealthy individuals who donate large sums of money to various charitable organizations, anyone can practice philanthropy by donating any amount of money, time or other assets to groups or people in need.

Steps to become a philanthropist

1. Determine the source of the problem.

2. Take into account the outcome

Consider what you want to accomplish with your generosity.

3. Decide on your contribution

Decide how much money you wish to donate to your charity.

4. Keep an eye out for prospective chances

You may start investigating and vetting specific organisations or groups as the focus of your philanthropy once you've created a logical framework that includes prospective causes, commitment quantities, and desired results.

5. Create a philanthropic strategy

Set out a strategy for how you'll help the organisation on a regular basis once you've chosen an organisation to concentrate your philanthropic efforts to.

6. Consider long-term donating.

Examine your charity efforts.

9. Social worker: Many teachers choose to leave the classroom to become social workers. Social workers provide support and services to families and individuals who are struggling with a variety of issues.

Teachers can explore to work with communities choosing to work in the area of their expertise like creating reading programs for children, work with organisations to collect books, clothes etc for children in orphanages. There are many roles that can be explored as a social worker.

Teachers are great with organisational skills, community development, teaching hence this can be a great area to explore.

10. Counselor: Counselors work with students to help them overcome personal, social, and academic challenges. This can be a great way to use your skills as a teacher to make a difference in the lives of individual students.

Someone interested to work with students,and have an interest in psychology, school counselling is a great opportunity to combine the two. School counsellors can also serve as mentors, but their job focuses on assisting kids in achieving academic objectives or overcoming social or behavioural challenges.

5 qualities a teacher needs to transition into a school Counselor

Here are five skills that transition from the classroom to the school counselor office.

-Organisation

School counsellors are responsible for scheduling appointments, keeping track of students' progress, filing reports, and communicating with proper parties about their contacts with children.

-Empathy

School counsellors understand what kids are going through, whether it's a social or personal issue, an academic obstacle, a learning handicap, or a behavioural problem.

-Maintaining Relationships

For school counselling to be effective, kids must be open and responsive to the advice of a counsellor. Students' trust in school counsellors must be earned, and they must be educated on the advantages of their advice.

-Understanding

When a school counsellor knows the challenges that children experience throughout their school careers, their job becomes easier and more successful.

-Collaboration

School counsellors, like teachers, must collaborate with a range of people in their jobs.

Teachers are multi-taskers, they do a lot in their roles as a teacher.  They educate, administrate and take care of their students. They are also counselors and social workers, dealing with the  challenges their students face every day. They are patient and strong, with a never ending supply of energy and love for teaching. Hence they are fit for various roles but its important to understand what you are really good at.

It's important to ask oneself, :What roles that I have enjoyed the most being a teacher in the school?  and What are the roles outside of teaching, that I have enjoyed and would like to do in future.