Education and Training

Careers in this cluster

Cluster definition

If you answered yes to two or more of the questions above, you might be interested in considering a career in education and training.

In the Education and Training cluster, you would have the opportunity to guide and train young people. As a teacher, you could influence young lives. In addition, you could support the work of the classroom teacher as a counselor, librarian, or principal. If you are interested in working with adults, you could provide training to employees in a business. Each of these settings provides you with the chance to help people learn and improve their lives.

Pathways

Administration and administrative support

For a school to operate smoothly, someone must be in charge. In the Administration and Administrative Support pathway, you would manage all the activities in a school. You might also run preschools, daycare centers, colleges, and universities. On the other hand, you might support the work of teachers and administrators.

Professional support services

The Professional Support Services pathway includes occupations that are important for the success of schools and learners. You would assist learners with physical, personal, and family needs. These needs might be barriers to success in school. Or you might guide learners as they develop educational and career goals.

Teaching and training

As an educator in the Teaching and Training pathway, you would teach others about a subject you love. You could inspire young learners. This would require you to have the ability to communicate with and motivate learners. To do this, you would have to understand their diverse needs and individual differences. To help each learner achieve, you would use a variety of teaching methods and tools.

Level of education and earnings

The training and education requirements to work in the occupations included in the Education and Training cluster depend on the specialty and the type of work performed. Some occupations require less than one month of on-the-job training; however, some teachers and administrators need a doctoral degree.

The information provided in the table below, presents the level of education or training required to work in the occupations related to this cluster and the median wages for those occupations. Note that some occupations may have more than one required level because the type of work performed may vary in specific jobs.

Earnings for people working in some of the occupations in this career cluster can vary greatly during the year because some of the jobs in these occupations are part time or nine months.

Also, keep in mind that there are non-wage benefits that workers receive. For example, these types of benefits are health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, and retirement plans. It is important to consider these benefits when you are looking at pay. Some benefits, such as health care, are worth a lot of money. You should carefully weigh a job that pays well but does not have many benefits against one that has good benefits and lower pay. Remember, how much an occupation pays is only one factor to consider when making career choices.

Employment & outlook

Most of the openings in education will result from workers and educators retiring. In the future there may not be enough teachers graduating from college to fill the job openings. Positions in math, science, bilingual, and special education will continue to be difficult to fill.

However, many state governments and local school districts are facing budget problems. As a result, schools are cutting support services and some educational programs. If these financial problems continue, more schools will combine and more programs will be cut. As a result employment may grow more slowly.