Introduction

Career growth is a major aspect that decides how satisfied you are about your career. Everyone aims to keep the career growth graph inclined; no doubt that the teaching profession is more about passion and respect than money and fame. We emphasize the importance of career growth of teachers as it is directly linked with better learning of the students. This article discusses how you can grow in your career as a teacher

What shall a teacher expect with growth in career?

The definition of career growth can be very subjective, a best fit definition can be “The improvement in the skill, knowledge and expertise of an academician that directly impacts a student’s life”. As for other careers, the career growth in teaching profession also involves the promotions to better posts in institution hierarchy. 

The better posts (roles/designations) provide better freedom to teachers to teach in their own way and take certain decisions about the institutions.

Why is career growth important?

The job satisfaction comes by delivering the output, the key output teachers strive for is the better learning of students. Although the teacher aims for better learning of students as a key output, there are certain other factors too, which influence job satisfaction.

Giving promotion is the most significant of recognition and appreciation. The same applies to teachers. According to an article published in Inc, the career satisfaction is directly linked with the productivity of the employees. The productivity is thus largely dependent of the job satisfaction

If we connect the dots, it is evident that career satisfaction is dependent on promotions, career satisfaction is linked with productivity. Better career growth, better productivity!

How can I grow in my career as a teacher?

1) Keep Learning!

Learning is a lifelong process, teachers must keep learning more and more about their subject, this helps them to deliver the concepts more effectively.

Earn a doctorate

The best and a systemic approach of continuous learning can be opting in for a PhD. PhDs are specially designed to enhance the skills, knowledge and expertise of the scholars, if you are the one who wants to expand the horizon of knowledge, PhDs can serve the purpose.

Try microlearning

“Slow but steady wins the race”, microlearning is a scientifically proven learning method, microlearning involves the learnings which are delivered within a span of a few minutes. There are various micro learning resources available on internet that can help you to enjoy this “bite sized learning”

Explore MOOCs and open source learning platforms

The Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are learning platforms that are widely recognized, in fact the governments of various countries have their own MOOCs, for example, the Government of India has its own MOOC portal, SWAYAM.

Attend certification courses

The learning is easier than ever with the online learning platforms, these platforms are similar to MOOCs; but are famous for the courses available for niche topics which may not be available in MOOC. LinkedIn learning is one such platform that can greatly help in learning new skills and enhancing knowledge

Industry collaborations

Academics and corporate are two totally different streams, both go in totally opposite direction. The corporates have mindset of business while academicians have mindset of innovation, if we bring them together, that can give a multivisionary and diverse team. Industry collaborations can make you learn a lot and importantly, can impart a new vision in you. Not only teachers, but also the students get immensley benefitted with industry collaboarations.

2) Consider Doing MBA

Teachers are not inclined much towards business, are they?

That can be true but MBA is not just about the business, the teachers can learn MBA to advance their career. Here are certain roles that teacher can grab after opting in for an MBA

Work as academic coordinator

Yes, you read it right, a teacher with an MBA is an ideal combination that one would search for when hiring an academic coordinator. Academic coordinators have their critical role in aligning the academic schedule, managing the relation with parents and ensuring that the teaching in an institution is upto the mark.

Be a student counselor

As a teacher, you understand students more than anyone else. With an MBA, you can improve your communication skills and other required traits as a counselor. As a cherry on the top, this profession can be opted as a freelance work, without compromising on your passion.

Be a better teaching professional

MBA adds value to your academic credentials and can help you to get promotions to the administrative positions as well, this way, you can create a positive impact on the student’s lives by implementing the scientific methods to make school function better.

Work as a domain expert for Edtech companies

MBA helps you to improve your business knowledge, it is really a great combination when you know how the business works and you are from education background. The edtech sector is one of the fastest growing industry worldwide, you can find the application of your knowledge in Edtech industry. The domain experts (aka SME i.e Subject Matter Expert) are dedicated leads who help the business to grow and contribute in aligning the business strategy by utilizing domain knowledge.

There is much more to explore in MBA

As it is said, Learning is a journey and not a destination, the majority of learning in an MBA is based on the experiences that you get in those two years. Those two years can give you time to re-explore yourself with better and wider perspectives. No doubt there are hundreds of other options apart from mentioned ones. Once enrolled, you can find your own way to go ahead in your profession.

3) Focus on Publishing the Research and Review Papers

Publishing the paper can help you in advancing the career in multiple ways, the publications can portray you as an expert of the subject. There are three ways with which you can portray your expertise

Research papers

These are the papers which contain the original information that is collected and analyzed for the sole purpose of experiment. The research papers are the most reliable sources of information. Publishing the research paper not only adds value to the subject, but also makes your profile stand out of the crowd.

Review papers

If you are not conducting any of the primary researches, you can still write the review papers, review papers are usually written on the niche topics to put together the latest advancements and summaries of the research article, in conclusion parts of the review article, you can put forward your view on the topic as an expert.

Conference papers

If you get to attend any conference, with the permission of the presenters, you can publish the conference papers, the conference papers are the summaries of presentations and Q&A sessions delivered by the research scholars in the conference.

4) Expand Your Network

A better network brings better opportunities

As a teacher, you believe in knowledge sharing, you can catch up with people of similar interests to make your network broader. Here are certain effective ways to expand your network

Online forums and communities

The easiest way to connect with the like minded people is to join the online forums and communities, the spaces on Quora, reddit and LinkedIn are widely accepted worldwide for connecting the people with similar interests. Education related Blogs are yet another way to get in touch with the like minded people.

Workshops and seminars

Offline meets are far better than the online calls, the workshops and seminars can act as catalysts to bring the like minded people together. The knowledge sharing is the core of these workshops and seminars. There are certain websites which notify you about such workshops and seminars. LinkedIn is one of the most trusted platforms to find reliable information about local workshops and seminars.

As a teacher, the horizons are broad, and life is meaningful. With the clear objectives in mind, one can leverage the skills and expertise at its maximum potential. The listed methods can surely help you to advance in your career by starting implementation easily within a short span.