Students interested in becoming teachers attended an informal three day orientation at Long Beach City College that offered information on what steps were needed to successfully enter the education field.
During the orientation in building L-175 at LAC, education professor and coordinator for the Reading and Teaching program, Megan Kaplinsky provided an overview in the different teaching pathways for students.
“There’s many pathways to become a teacher, so it can be confusing because anything that leads to a bachelor’s degree, can lead to a teaching credential program at the end of that bachelor’s,” said Kaplinsky.
The first step to becoming a teacher is to obtain a bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
Those interested in secondary teaching can earn a degree in the subject they wish to teach in.
A liberal studies degree is the most common for those interested in elementary school education.
Potential educators may also take the California Educator Credentialing Exam and consider enrolling in a credentialing program.
At LBCC, students are required to take education courses such as Education 10, an Introduction to Teaching and Learning and Education 20, an Introduction to Elementary classroom teaching, both offered in the fall.
Students taking Education 10 are required to do 10 hours of fieldwork while those taking Education 20 are required to do 45 hours of fieldwork.
According to Kaplinsky students must be available to volunteer in an elementary school classroom in order to complete their 10 or 45 hours of fieldwork.
Elementary Teacher Education major Julia Ortiz attended the orientation to ensure that she was on the right track.
“I’ve always been interested in teaching, before this I actually got a certificate in medical billing, but it didn’t feel like my passion was there and then I recently was visiting my teacher and I just felt back in love with the way of helping the kids,” said Ortiz.
Former LBCC student Christopher Rivera currently attends Cal State Long Beach as a liberal studies major.
Rivera, who had Kaplinsky as a professor, wanted to gain more information on what steps he should take to further his teaching career.
“I’m a male and there’s not a lot of males in liberal studies major, so I just want to be a male role model for little kids,”said Rivera.
Those interested must complete an Interest Form online at www.lbcc.edu/teacher-preparation or email Professor Kaplinsky at mkaplinsky@lbcc.edu for more info.