Teacher Ed student seeking advice..does your minor matter?
Hello!
Sorry if this thread is in the wrong place..
I am currently in my junior year of college majoring in Secondary Education. I've had some questions recently and I have talked to the advising office at my school but I didn't feel like they could give me as complete answers as someone actually IN the field could..
My question is mostly about my minor. My major is in English and I've started to minor in Biological Sciences. I really like Biology and I've heard science teachers are more in demand, so I thought this was a good route to take. BUT then I found out about a lot of prerequisites for the biology classes I need that will push back my graduation date pretty far, and are classes that have been difficult for me in the past (chemistry and math). I've been considering switching to an "easier" minor.
My question is, does your minor really matter when going into education? Can you teach what you minor in? If so, is it a terrible idea to switch my minor? I was thinking about changing it to Health Education or Mass Communications...but I'm aware that there isn't much demand for either of these fields. Everyone tells me that no one is hiring for English teachers, so I was hoping to minor in something that would make me more hireable. In your experience, is it very difficult to get a job as an English teacher? Should I even be worrying about my minor?
In my experience your minor really won't affect your future in education. After your BA/BS you will need a teaching credential anyway. Maybe it's different if you choose a single subject, but I doubt it. I have my BA in Philosophy and my minor in Anthropology. IMO they just want to see that you have an advanced degree.
I'm in Canada, so things are different up here, but minors CAN matter here. I have two teachable majors in History and Language and a teachable minor in English. Therefore, when I go to apply for jobs, I can say that I have a background in those subjects. It adds to my application points, which may bump me up to get an interview.
HOWEVER, I'm in my 7th year teaching and the majority of my teaching assignments have been for anything BUT those subjects. The past five years have been a mixture of math and science.
If your major is "Secondary Ed", then your minor could absolutely matter. Here in my state, you probably won't be able to be licensed in any subject without major or minor coursework (24-36 credit hours, minimum). "Secondary Ed" is not an area of licensure, although Biology and English definitely are.
Most of the job postings I've seen just required a Bachelors Degree (and of course proper credential), but without mentioning major. Some of the jobs mentioned a desired/preferred or even required major, but gave several choices. For example for English it could be anything relating to English, including linguistics, and even education.
So far none of the job postings mentioned a minor, of course that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
This is in California; this could be very different in other states.
I've had a few dozen interviews and only one of those interviewers ever said anything about my minor, so I don't think it matters too much. Then again, I did minor in Chinese...
