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Originally posted by JoenOcoee
PS-note that in many states you do not have to have a degree in education to teach. You can apply for a provisional teaching certificate that is good for one year. If you like it, then it is very easy to take the handful of education courses that you need to get the certification. Of the 26 people I took my last 3 education courses with at University of Georgia about 5 are still teaching.
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Out here in sunny California, we have something called an emergency credential, which basically means that you have a four year degree, pass a test or two, and you're in. But it is starting to become an endangered species, as apparently the federal "No Child Left Behind" act mandates that all schools should have "highly qualified teachers" by some date in the not-to-distant future, and "highly qualified" means graduation from a teaching program, not an emergency credential.
Still, rules for admission to a program vary by state -- those "hoops" somebody alluded to, above. In California you can enter some teaching credential programs if you've got _any_ four year degree under your belt, with no prior education or child development courses -- once you pass this monster of a content-knowledge test called the CSET.
There's also an option in California called internship, which is a lot like an emergency credential except that you go thorugh a credential program at the same time as you teach, and end up with a real credential. It's kind of grueling, but I talked to a guy who liked it fine. And of course, you're getting paid.
At any rate, if you're interested in teaching, I suggest you see what paths there are into the profession in your state. There may be several, as in California.