If I don't get a TT offer, will it be easier to find teaching jobs (philosophy, social studies, ect.) at private prep schools with a PhD? How does the pay compare to working at a university?
political science job rumors » General Job Market Discussion » Political Theory/Philosophy Job Rumors and Discussion
Teaching at private prep school if can't find TT
(15 posts) (1 voice)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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No, those jobs are just as competitive as assistant professorships, if not more so.
Less prestigious HS jobs are less competitive, but more likely to require teaching credentials, which would require more years of eye-bleedingly stupid Ed. dept coursework.
Either way, life would be hell on earth. HS students are horrible people, and you have to spend your whole day with them, five days a week, rather than 5-10 hours a week in college. It's not a good life.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I so much regret doing a PhD, and doing PT to boot.
Posted 1 year ago # -
It's possible but tough. I had a friend with and Ivy League PhD in the Classics and was hired at a prestigious prep school in CT (pay was amazing!) but they hired him because he had won several national squash titles and they needed him to coach. True story.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Cool story, bro.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Private prep school students are even worse people than your average HS students. Don't do it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Can't be worse than the ghetto, though!
Posted 1 year ago # -
It's tough because you need more than your academic qualifications (sports, music, etc.) and you need to convince them that you actually want to work with HS students.
Posted 1 year ago # -
What are the publishing requirements? I've never seen "Exeter High School" as an affiliation.
Posted 1 year ago # -
^^^^^^^ Never too late for law-school. Take an LSAT course.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Getva data analyst job. They pay 6 figs
Posted 1 year ago # -
thanks god I switched to fenance!
Posted 1 year ago # -
If you've finished a PhD, you'll have to work hard to convince the headmaster and the board that you are not irredeemably academic, too theoretical and so forth (you probably are). You'll also have to have a good argument about how your doctoral training prepared you to teach elite secondary students (it certainly didn't). The administrators are suspicious about these things and they have good reason to be.
Elite prep schools are tough to crack, because sometimes you are competing with very experienced, high-quality, award winning public school teachers who are ready to make a lateral move to an elite private. Hard to compete with them.
If you want to kill a year or two, it's much easier to get work in an American school abroad, which always have a mix of expat brats and rich elite locals. The pay and housing arrangements are often surprisingly attractive because they find it hard to get people to move (there is a huge amount of turnover at these places). Plus you might spend a year or two in some fascinating city abroad.
Either way, if you want to come back to academia, you'll have some explaining to do to that future search committee.
Posted 1 year ago #