One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

by Harold Morse Dunphy

It is said that teaching is hard on the eyes and the nerves and the lungs, so that people suffering seriously from either eye, nerve, or lung trouble should hesitate to go into teaching as a life work, unless there are prospects of early recovery. It is further stated that a higher percentage of deaths occurs from tuberculosis among teachers than among persons in other occupations, although the mortality from this disease is higher for female teachers than for male teachers. Teachers, especially beginning teachers, frequently suffer from nervous strain. Almost 50 per cent of the nervous cases are said to appear during the first 5 years of teaching, while during the first 15 years of teaching 87 per cent of such cases occur. Nevertheless it is to be noted that insurance companies class teachers among their good risks.

Training Required

Men who have gotten no farther than the eighth grade in their general education might be fitted to teach some vocational subjects. Teachers of elementary subjects, either in the ungraded rural schools or in the graded city schools, should have the equivalent of a high-school education, and teachers in high schools should have the equivalent of a college education with emphasis placed upon the subject taught. Teachers in normal schools should have a year or two of work beyond the college course, and teachers in colleges and universities are generally expected to have from one to four years of post-graduate work.

In addition to this general training in subject matter one should have professional training dealing with the methods of teaching and supervising. The demand for men with this special training in the teaching profession is growing. The minimum general education required for a principalship of a school is graduation from a good high school. In addition to this there should be at least two years of study, which is largely professional, such as one would get in a normal school or in the department of education in a college or university. Even further study than that, of course, is desirable, and the best positions generally go to men who have spent several years in study beyond college graduation. Recent studies show that men who have received even a small amount of professional training advance more rapidly than those who have depended alone on their native ability and general education.

For the positions that are largely administrative and supervisory men who have already had experience in the field of teaching may secure the necessary technical preparation by taking a year’s training in any of the numerous colleges of education or normal schools which prepare for these fields. Present-day courses in theory and practice, leading directly to positions named above, offer unexcelled professional training in these fields.

Various States of the Union have different laws governing the certification of teachers. Some of the States require a definite amount of education of a general nature, plus education of a professional nature, plus an examination. Other States depend more upon the examination. The present tendency is to raise the requirement for a general education, to add to the requirement for a professional training, and to lay less stress upon the examination. Anyone who is thinking of entering the teaching profession, however, should before doing so look up very carefully the laws in force in the State in which he plans to teach.

Applicants for teaching positions in educational institutions of any grade must generally show the authorities in control that they possess whatever qualifications may be considered necessary, including education, training, experience, and personality.

In general, the higher the grade of the institution, the higher the requirements. Colleges, technical schools, and universities all practically require for the lowest teaching positions on their regular staff at least a degree equal to that granted by the institution. Schools of secondary grade do not, as a rule, set the standard as high, while schools of intermediate grade set up intermediate qualifications.

The requirements for teachers in schools of secondary grade vary widely. If under private control, no definite statement can be made, since each school sets up its own standards. Good privately controlled schools, however, tend to set up about the same requirements as schools of corresponding type that are under public control.

In the great majority of States teachers in schools under public control must be certified before they can be employed. This certificate is usually granted after some form of examination has been successfully passed and is commonly given by the State educational authorities. Usually certificates are granted only to persons having certain educational and other qualifications. The requirements, examinations, subjects, etc., are usually given in bulletins issued free by the departments of education of the different States. Some large cities have certifying systems of their own.