Adult Literacy, Remedial Education, and GED Teachers and Instructors
If you love to teach, but aren't thrilled about the idea of working with kids, you would probably love to be an adult literacy teacher!
Adult literacy, remedial education or GED teaching is a good career path for people who have a passion for teaching but are not necessarily interested in working with children.
Adult literacy and remedial education teachers spend their time teaching adults, and some youth who are not in school, reading, writing and math. Their goal is to help people increase their education and skill level so they can find a rewarding and lucrative job.
The distinct difference between teachers in this field and teachers at public schools is the age of their students. Some people find adult literacy teaching rewarding because working with older students means working with people who are self-motivated and more experienced.
Not only will you teach your students academic subjects, but you will help them find community resources, health care, employment, opportunities for additional education and more.
There are different levels of education in adult literacy programs so as as teacher you could specialize in basic education or secondary education. Some teachers teach English to students whose first language is not English.
To become an adult literacy teacher you will need your bachelor’s degree and maybe a master’s degree, depending on your area of focus. Most states require licensure: either an adult education teaching license or a public school teacher license.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this field is expected to grow quickly. The average hourly wage is about $22 but some teachers make as much as $38 an hour.