Being an educator doesn’t mean you can only aspire to become a classroom teacher.
There are plenty of educator career paths to explore, especially if you’ve developed skills that you could apply to non-teaching jobs.
So let’s have a look at 5 educator job opportunities you could consider.
1. Curriculum Designer
Curriculum designers develop teaching materials and instructional plans, and they take care of what is learned as part of an educational program.
Their work involves determining the topics and the order in which they’re taught.
Becoming a curriculum designer could be an alternative career option for English teachers, especially those who have completed Cambridge Delta Module 3 (the module involving the design of a course programme).
2. Educational Consultant
Educational consultants work with schools and administrators to help them make strategic decisions.
They may work on a variety of projects such as teacher mentoring, curriculum design, test development, technology integration, and so on.
Several ELT professionals made a teacher career change to become consultants.
Educational consultants may work independently or for companies.
Here are three consultancy companies you might want to check out.
3. Materials Writer
This is one of the most common non-teaching jobs for educators.
Materials writers usually create textbooks, workbooks, and digital content. If you’ve always loved creating your own lesson plans, handouts, and audio recordings, this may be a rewarding job for you.
It’s usually recommended that you have a good grasp of different aspects of materials development as well as theories of language acquisition and pedagogy.
4. E-Learning Designer
E-learning designers work with tutors, trainers, or development teams to create online courses and digital learning resources.
Their job may also involve analysing learners’ needs and adapting multimedia materials to help students learn.
An e-learning designer could be a non-teaching job for educators who love working with technology.
5. Editor or Proofreader
If you’re a language teacher, you may secretly be an editor.
Your experience in providing feedback on writing assignments might have helped you develop many of the skills editors use (e.g. improving text clarity, spotting errors, reorganising the structure of a piece, and so on.)
Because editors work with writers and publishing houses to develop books, magazines and other textual content, this is an interesting alternative career option for teachers who love reading and writing.
If you want to hear the story of an English teacher who successfully made a teacher career change and became an editor, Lacey Smith is a good example.
A Final Thought on Transferable Skills
You don’t need to work as a classroom teacher for the rest of your life if that’s not what you want.
As a language teacher, you may have acquired a variety of skills you can apply to other jobs.
For example, you may already have one or more of the following:
- Expertise in grammar, punctuation, and syntax
- Experience providing constructive feedback on writing
- An ability to create engaging, well-structured content
- Materials development and lesson planning skills
- The ability to manage large groups of people and build rapport with them
- Familiarity with e-learning platforms and tools
- Patience (I bet you do have that)
- Empathy
If you’re planning to make a career change, it’s useful to start listing all the skills you already have, and then think how these can open the door to new opportunities beyond the classroom.
Good luck!
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