Here’s something I did right during my time obtaining my PhD in Math Education: teaching.
The thing I appreciated most about the UW program was the opportunity to teach several classes in several different modalities. Because I live an hour away from UW I was able to teach on-campus sporadically as both a Temporary Lecturer and a Teaching Assistant. I taught several math for elementary teacher classes as well as graduate level courses.
These experiences were invaluable in helping me figure out and remind myself that yes: I want to teach at the post-secondary level. This is my life goal. It’s the thing I look forward to most.
If you can secure a teaching assistantship, that would be ideal. During one of my final semesters I had the option of teaching under an assistantship or as a temporary lecturer. It made more financial sense to teach via an assistantship when you consider tuition remission.
I taught the following courses throughout my time at UW:
Math for Elementary Teachers (1 hour seminar course, in-person)
Geometry for Elementary Teachers (3 hour, remote)
Numbers, Operations, and Patterns (3 hour graduate level course, remote)
Assessment (3 hour graduate level course, in-person summer mini-mester)
Statistics for Science Teachers (3 hour graduate level course, in-person summer mini-mester)
In addition, I taught at the local community college where I taught College Algebra and Developmental Math.
I’m grateful I had the opportunity to teach such a wide array of classes. This reassured me that I did want to teach, and also helped broaden my CV.. While teaching I also learned the differences in teaching online versus in-person. Now I have both of those experiences in my background.
Rachel, who knows a thing or two about teaching and teaching at the post secondary level, chimes in, suggesting it is indeed helpful to be able to teach several courses.
I also now have a wealth of student evaluations in my back pocket. Universities do pay attention to these student evaluations (as I understand it). I was able to say when I graduated I had received universally positive reviews from students. That’s right: I (so far!) haven’t had a single negative comment/review from a student. I don’t believe that will last too much longer and it’s not like one bad review is earth-shattering (except to your self-esteem), but I have a bank of positive student comments that I can add to my CV and discuss in interviews.
It might also be good to get experience teaching at the post-secondary level. You may find you like or dislike it versus K-12 instruction. I find it a mixed bag. I felt like I was at my best when I had freedom to create my own material, rather than work from a pre-determined text and assessments. At UW I was able to have projects, essays, and portfolios be my assessments, while some of my Community College courses were more scripted.
While it wasn’t a teaching opportunity per se, as a graduate assistant I also helped design and launch the UW Rural Teacher Corps. This was a cohort of 8-12 students interested in teaching in rural environments upon graduation. I co-facilitated monthly get togethers and helped design school visits and an end-of-year retreat.
It’s hard to say how much any or all of these teaching and cohort experiences led to eventually securing a full time gig, but I’m sure they didn’t hurt.
When you’re evaluating programs to apply to it would be worth interrogating what kind of opportunities a PhD program will have to teach graduate, undergraduate, content, pedagogy, remote and in person courses.
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We’re now 6/9ths (2/3) of the way through this series. The next two posts are going to focus on perhaps the most challenging part of your doctoral journey: the Dissertation.
Takeaways:
- If you have the opportunity, teach
- Teaching can make sense financially if it’s an assistantship
- Garner positive student comments in your end-of-course reviews
- Try to get an array of different teaching modes and levels, including content and pedagogy courses
- When you’re exploring programs, ask about teaching opportunities
All posts in this series:
Part 1: Why (not) to get your PhD in Mathematics Education
Part 2: Finding the right program
Part 3: What a Math Education Doctoral Degree is (and what it isn’t)
Part 4: Do you like to write? You better.
Part 5: Classes, Coursework, and You
Part 7: Let’s Talk About Your Dissertation: the thing that people just don’t want to do
Part 8: Your defense committee: Prelims, Quals, and the moving of mountains
Part 9: What comes next (for me and for you)?
Appendix A: Slow cooker meals
emergent math 