Teaching Jobs

[tyrannothesaurus]

Hi all,

I’m a prospective undergrad looking to plan forward a couple years. I’ve recently been accepted to study Music Education at Frost SOM and UT at Austin, pending responses from the Jacobs SOM and UNT, and have my heart wholly set on teaching music. I’ll do whatever it takes to have a career, whether that means branching out and performing and arranging regularly, taking on private lessons, or following the jobs where they are.


My question is exactly that - my education could take me to Florida, Texas, or Indiana. I know their is big music education in Texas, and a fairly impressive bandmaster’s circuit in Florida. Where are the best places to teach in the US however? Is it worth keeping licensure in one of these states and sticking out the music Ed scene, or planning on moving to a new area after my bachelor’s?

My ultimate hope is that I can stay a part of the scene in Miami if I can study at UM - but this is one of many possibilities. Thanks all for your thoughts! clever:

[Redthunder]

You are asking a broad question, and in order to get a clearer picture you need to specify some things for yourself.

"Where are the best places to teach in the US?"

Best, in terms of what? Pay scale? Resources? Quality of life? Respect? Advancement opportunities in the classroom and beyond? State and local investment in education? And those are just some of the general teaching profession factors that affect the day to day life of any teacher.

You also need to consider the music side of it and decide what is important to you. The lifestyle and workload of a music teacher can vary a lot. Within one single district you can find music teachers working in general music at all levels, band at all levels, orchestra, choir, music appreciation, theory, technology and any combination of these roles, etc. And district to district, state to state, region to region, the priorities can be very different. High School Marching Band vs beginner vs places that want more "Modern" band etc...

What are your goals for yourself?

And a lot of these factors can change from year to year and decade to decade because education is a profession that is inseparable from politics, be it local, state, or federal.

[Wilktone]

Redthunder's points are good food for thought.

Broadly speaking, there are systems between states for teaching license reciprocity, although the requirements will vary depending on what state your teaching license was awarded and where you are moving to teach.

The education department in any school that offers a music ed degree should be able to help you learn what is needed to transfer a license. If you have an idea what state you'd like to end up in, it's easiest to earn your degree from a school that state, but it's not usually that difficult to transfer your license, although it may (or may not) require that you take some course or three that is required. Some states will allow you to begin teaching full time in public schools while you take a course or three, if needed to obtain your teaching license in that state.

Dave

[JLivi]

My two cents, don't go get a teaching degree at a school that's as expensive as Frost, unless you get a significant scholarship and or financial aid.

I know plenty of people that got their degrees/certifications in different states and moved and retook the exam to get certified in another state. It doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. So go where you want to go, but keep in mind that student loans can be crippling. But this isn't a personal finance forum

[jthomas105]

Texas teacher here. I have taught band and elementary music during my 40 career. If you want to be a band director in the Texas there are other schools to consider. If you are already accepted to UT in Austin you should have no problem being accepted into other schools in Texas. UT is a great school but there are others that prepare you to teach band better. University of Houston is one of the best to prepare and help you make connections for teaching band in Texas. A smaller school in a small town but also doing a great job right now is Texas A&M Commerce in Commerce, TX. In Texas every school has their own following of who is the best. (I went to school out of state) Others to consider, UNT in Denton, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin. All of the schools I mentioned put out a lot of good band directors every year. Search youtube for the different marching band shows for each and also wind ensemble concerts. UT and UNT are all some of the best wind ensembles but most of the performers at those are grad students and performance majors compared to under grad music ed majors at the other schools.

Texas is a great place to teach music because of the funding and support we get in most places. Our suburban area band programs in Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio are some of the best anywhere. Rural areas can sometimes be a challenge. Be aware that it is very competitive in Texas. Look at past programs for Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinics, there are bands from Texas accepted there every year.

The trombone studios at most of the schools in Texas are all really good. Also, I only mentioned public universities, a lot of people go to Baylor, SMU and TCU for music ed but tuition is outrageous unless you get really good scholarships.