Too Late At Age 53 To Become A Teacher? (career, degree, business)
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Is it too late to go to school at age 53 to become a teacher? My passion my entire life, since childhood, has been botany and horticulture. If I could lose myself to something, it is botany.
I also like languages. I find these very, very easy to learn. It's just the way I am. My other greatest regret is not majoring in a language. I could go into this more later, but it is very late right now.
Unfortunately, I never pursued science as a course of study or career. I had a very low self-esteem due to abuse as a child/teen and even later. I also found science and math difficult to learn because it never came easy to me. Also, the school I attended just didn't help with a student who learned differently. I don't know how else to describe it. I had some very nasty, cruel teachers. A good friend ( a retired teacher) and I talked about this. He said they only taught me how not to teach. It was long ago. I don't know what things are like today. However, I found as an adult, when I am determined, I can learn anything with some old fashioned hard work. I attended a 2-year college part-time when younger. I always earned a 4.0 average. I studied accounting and business because I thought I had to study both of these. This is the topic for another post.
I could see myself returning to school for a degree in education and botany. The colleges and universities in the area ( I'm located outside Philadelphia, PA) have adult programs. At the least they don't discourage adult students. I would have to attend school during the daytime. Sure, the attending school part would not be difficult. Let's be realistic, they aren't going to turn away a tuition. It is the employment after graduation part I am concerned about. How realistic is it for a mature adult to enter the profession? For that matter, how difficult is it for me to plan on beginning ANY career?
I would also love to return to school to major in a language. Languages are my next passion, shortly after botany. I feel I am too old to ever do anything with it, however. Wouldn't it take years to truly master another language? I have taken Spanish and Italian for 2 years. I still review them. Now that it is after the new year I am going to work with a tutor and join a local group that is dedicated to Spanish or Italian. I haven't decided which one to pursue fully at this point. Regardless of my concerns, I have to move forward. I dunno. Maybe I am wrong. A friend said the school system in his area has a great need for speakers of other languages because students there must be taught regardless of the language they speak.
What are your thoughts on all this? My retired teacher friend seemed against the idea when I ran this by him awhile ago. Yes, it did discourage me.
There is more I need to say, but it is after 4 a.m., so I must stop!
Last edited by katnip kid; 01-25-2015 at 03:07 AM..
I entered the teaching profession at 47 after a career in engineering and I would also discourage you. Like you I was/am passionate about what I teach but it turns out that teaching isn't about your content area. You will not be able to teach it the way you want to. What you teach and even how you teach will be mandated to you. Your measurable will be how well the lowest kids in your classes perform. Teaching is more about your connection to the kids than what you teach. No one really cares whether or not you actually know your content. Also, you don't know what you will end up teaching. If you're legal to teach it, you'll probably teach it some day. Right now we have a biology teacher teaching physical science because the state no longer allows chemistry and physics majors to teach physical science and she has a DI (general science) cert. That makes her the only one in the building legal to teach it even though she'll be the first to tell you that she is not qualified.
If your desire is to teach your content, my vote is no. If your desire is to teach kids no matter what you're asked to teach them, go for it. Trust me, kids who are forced to sit in school for 7 hours per day, day after day, and to take classes they don't even want to take don't care about what you know. There will be kids who do care but they will be few and far between. If you're doing this because you want to be the expert, don't bother. If you want to teach the content, volunteer to teach a class at a senior center or teach at a community college where what you know might actually be appreciated. In public schools being able to motivate the unmotivated is the skill you need.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 01-25-2015 at 04:50 AM..
I agree with Ivory. It has nothing to do with age; it has to do with the environment for teachers. If you are still not sure, get a sub license and see if you can find a long-term subbing position in the field you want to teach.
Is it too late to go to school at age 53 to become a teacher? My passion my entire life, since childhood, has been botany and horticulture. If I could lose myself to something, it is botany.
I also like languages. I find these very, very easy to learn. It's just the way I am. My other greatest regret is not majoring in a language. I could go into this more later, but it is very late right now.
Unfortunately, I never pursued science as a course of study or career. I had a very low self-esteem due to abuse as a child/teen and even later. I also found science and math difficult to learn because it never came easy to me. Also, the school I attended just didn't help with a student who learned differently. I don't know how else to describe it. I had some very nasty, cruel teachers. A good friend ( a retired teacher) and I talked about this. He said they only taught me how not to teach. It was long ago. I don't know what things are like today. However, I found as an adult, when I am determined, I can learn anything with some old fashioned hard work. I attended a 2-year college part-time when younger. I always earned a 4.0 average. I studied accounting and business because I thought I had to study both of these. This is the topic for another post.
I could see myself returning to school for a degree in education and botany. The colleges and universities in the area ( I'm located outside Philadelphia, PA) have adult programs. At the least they don't discourage adult students. I would have to attend school during the daytime. Sure, the attending school part would not be difficult. Let's be realistic, they aren't going to turn away a tuition. It is the employment after graduation part I am concerned about. How realistic is it for a mature adult to enter the profession? For that matter, how difficult is it for me to plan on beginning ANY career?
I would also love to return to school to major in a language. Languages are my next passion, shortly after botany. I feel I am too old to ever do anything with it, however. Wouldn't it take years to truly master another language? I have taken Spanish and Italian for 2 years. I still review them. Now that it is after the new year I am going to work with a tutor and join a local group that is dedicated to Spanish or Italian. I haven't decided which one to pursue fully at this point. Regardless of my concerns, I have to move forward. I dunno. Maybe I am wrong. A friend said the school system in his area has a great need for speakers of other languages because students there must be taught regardless of the language they speak.
What are your thoughts on all this? My retired teacher friend seemed against the idea when I ran this by him awhile ago. Yes, it did discourage me.
There is more I need to say, but it is after 4 a.m., so I must stop!
First, do not study language as a major. That is a waste of money. Spanish is useful only as an extra qualification, especially for teaching. By itself, a degree in language is unemployment.
53 is definitely not too old to become a teacher. But what did you want to teach? It's fairly easy to become a preschool teacher or a teachers assistant, although it doesn't pay well. Do you work now? In my state, a teaching certificate in certain subjects (like special ed, for instance) is pretty much a guaranteed job unless there is something really wrong with you. Age is not a factor. I have heard other states are different though, so you might have to move.
I don't know what anyone would do with a botany degree. There are no jobs for horticulturists. You'd be better off becoming a certified arborist (it's just a course) or something like that, if that's what you are interested in.
Mom wanted to be a teacher all her life. So she got certified to be a TA and subbed for 3 days. Then she realized that teaching is nothing like she had envisioned and happily went back to being a social worker.
Teaching is very much like acting in an unscripted show. Except you write the script every weekend and go into class prepared to follow the script. Then all the other actors start ad-libbing and eventually you just want to throw the script out the window.
90% of my job is paperwork. 10% is time spent educating. I HATE paperwork- especially since very very very little has to do with bettering my students. But that 10% of my time is why I put up with all the rest.
I became certified after I retired. What I do is tutor now in various public schools.
With the high stakes testing I have plenty of work especially in Title 1 schools because they get extra money for RTI which is how I get paid. I like it better then subbing. I work at the same school for months at a time with part time hours. I get paid more and I work with small groups of students and I am able to have the disruptive students removed.
I became certified after I retired. What I do is tutor now in various public schools.
With the high stakes testing I have plenty of work especially in Title 1 schools because they get extra money for RTI which is how I get paid. I like it better then subbing. I work at the same school for months at a time with part time hours. I get paid more and I work with small groups of students and I am able to have the disruptive students removed.
I want your job. Disruptive students are a PITA to deal with. They know they have teachers over a barrel. If we send them to the office it's US who get reprimanded for failure to control our classroom.
Maybe I can do this when I retire. I love working with the kids who want to learn. I just don't know what to do with the ones who don't want to learn.
Age is not the issue, the issue is that most people have no clue what it is really like to teach. No. Clue.
Teachers who retired ten years ago have no clue how incredibly stressful teaching has become. No. Clue.
If you think you might want to teach this is very solid advice:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Everdeen
I agree with Ivory. It has nothing to do with age; it has to do with the environment for teachers. If you are still not sure, get a sub license and see if you can find a long-term subbing position in the field you want to teach.
You need to make sure it is long term and one where you are expected to fully fill the role of teacher. I sub now, the difference in the work and stress level are immeasurable. What makes teaching so hard anymore isn't the kids - it is all the other crap. Teaching was a sheer joy with occasional pockets of frustration when I first started. By the time I retired, all the extra crap had sucked the joy out of teaching, although there were glimpses of the former joy.
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I want your job. Disruptive students are a PITA to deal with. They know they have teachers over a barrel. If we send them to the office it's US who get reprimanded for failure to control our classroom.
Maybe I can do this when I retire. I love working with the kids who want to learn. I just don't know what to do with the ones who don't want to learn.
Uhm, Ivory, those kids are mostly the ones that have resisted learning.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
My passion my entire life, since childhood, has been botany and horticulture. If I could lose myself to something, it is botany.
OP I think you might have better luck if you explore other ways to make this dream come true.
For example, do you have a Master Gardening program in your area? What do they do in your state? In some of them, they give lectures to the gardening public and help out on the phone lines during the summer in the co-op extension. That is a type of teaching.
Do you have a botanical garden in your area? Do they have job openings? Do they use volunteers for their tours? Giving tours and presentations is another type of teaching.
What sorts of jobs does your co-op extension have that interest you? Besides the Master Gardener program, there might be some youth programming that works needs adults to teaching horticulture or other sorts of programs that would interest you.
How about the community garden? Is there a community garden program in your area? If not, maybe you should start one and teach people how to grow things.
I'm sure that there are other related jobs that I'm forgetting! I don't know where you are, exactly, but does your state school have an ag program? You might want to chat with an adviser in the ag program for additional ideas. I know Ohio State has one and some fairly extensive programs. I don't know about PA.
[I didn't forget the rest of your post, but I don't know anything about learning languages or employment in teaching of same . . .]
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