Every teacher enters the profession for a unique reason, and most teachers are proud to serve as stewards of knowledge and skill for the next generation. Still, teaching is not always the most rewarding career; many teachers find themselves looking for new challenges, especially those that can provide prestige and career possibilities beyond the classroom.
Earning a PhD in Education is not easy, but for many teachers, it is a necessary credential for achieving their dreams. Here are a few good reasons that teachers choose to pursue a PhD in Education, often while maintaining their positions at the head of their classrooms.
You Want to Improve Your Impact in the Classroom
Few professionals have such outstanding opportunities to influence the next generation as teachers do. Over the course of a career, a single teacher might touch thousands of young lives, and many teachers want to ensure that they have as positive an impact as possible to ensure that their students experience success in the classroom and beyond.
Though the teaching profession has existed for thousands of years, new discoveries continue to help teachers improve their strategies and techniques for imparting knowledge and skill to students. Doctoral degrees in the field of education provide teachers with the most cutting-edge information about learning and instruction, so teachers equipped with PhDs have the potential to provide greater positive influence on their students.
You Want to Unlock a Higher Earning Potential
No teacher joins the occupation expecting to earn a fortune. Low salaries are notorious across the teaching profession, and teachers often need to pay out of pocket for essential supplies like paper copies and dry erase markers. Most teachers accept the low wages as a necessary evil of the good work they provide, but some teachers work tirelessly to increase their earning potential while remaining in the education system.
Increasing one’s education credentials is one of the more straightforward ways for teachers to increase their wages. Most school systems have salary schedules that demonstrate higher earning potential for teachers with more advanced degrees. What’s more, a PhD in Education widens a teacher’s employment opportunities, allowing them access to classroom positions in private schools or colleges that offer higher pay.
You Want to Leave the Classroom and Stay in Education
Leading a classroom is hard work, and many teachers find that they are ill-equipped to do it for the entirety of their careers. Still, many teachers burnt out in the classroom want to continue engaging with the education system and contributing to the growth and development of students.
There are many ways for teachers to leave the classroom but remain committed to the education system — and earning a PhD is one of them. A PhD in Education qualifies ex-teachers for advanced positions within school administrations, where they might influence policies and procedures to improve the system for teachers and students.
You Want to Contribute to Pedagogy Discourse
PhDs provide such an advanced level of understanding about a specific topic that many PhD holders continue to contribute to their field through research. Teachers who earn a PhD in Education may or may not return to the classroom, but many will continue to engage in pedagogy discourse by publishing papers reflecting on various teaching techniques.
Publishing helps to increase a teacher’s reputation within the education field, which in turn can qualify teachers for more exciting (and higher-earning) career opportunities. However, it can also ensure that teachers remain connected to the latest and greatest insights regarding pedagogy, which could improve their processes in the classroom and result in better outcomes for their students.
You Want to Fulfill a Lifelong Goal
Many teachers pursue a PhD in Education purely for the challenge of earning the highest possible degree in their field. Though a bachelor’s degree might be all that is required to function as an educator, this four-year degree can be relatively easy to obtain; almost 40 percent of American adults have bachelor’s degrees, which tend to cover introductory concepts to ensure a worker has a foundational knowledge to begin a certain career. Many educators want to go above and beyond the fundamental aspects of education and study complex and niche topics — because they can and because they want to.
No two teachers have exactly the same reasons to pursue a PhD in Education, and all reasons are absolutely valid. With dedication to the hard work and a realistic idea about their prospects after graduation, teachers seeking PhDs will find great success.
