Career Paths in Education
Education is the process by which people acquire knowledge, learning skills, values, beliefs, morals, and social behaviors from their surrounding or society. Education includes all the educational practices used to teach, train, educate and learn. Educational systems include primary, secondary, post-secondary and higher learning institutions. Educational practices include teaching, training, practice, demonstration and directed research. All these processes help people to develop their learning skills and to achieve their goals.
In education policy development, policies are developed to improve educational opportunities for everyone through better teaching quality, development and institutional management. Policy can be federal, provincial/territorial, local and private sector-based. Policy makers must consider the needs of parents, students, teachers, pupils, caregivers, staff and society at large when formulating education policy. Policy makers should strive to create an environment that encourages individuals to pursue career paths that meet the needs of all stakeholders.
There are two major components involved in policy development: that is, the identification and assessment of needs; and that is, implementation of plans. Policy must take into consideration all relevant factors that will affect education programs. These may include teachers, students, parents, other students, parents/ guardians, curriculum, technology and other relevant factors. Policy makers must set priorities so as to ensure that funds are not wasted on ineffective education programs and also maintain effective and efficient classroom teaching positions.
Special education programs are designed to address the unique needs of students who may suffer from any of the above conditions. Special education curriculum focuses on the learning styles of children and teaches teachers how to accommodate the different learning styles of children so that they reach all the potential of such students. It is important to adopt a curriculum model that is compatible with the requirements of the local education system. The teaching position in special education involves supervision of professionals such as teachers and other education professionals, while they carry out their respective jobs.
Informal education refers to activities that aim at promoting social interaction and communication. These can be of informal, structured or hands-on techniques that use any of the techniques for enhancing learning process. The curriculum for informal education usually targets on the basic elements of academic learning such as acquisition of academic knowledge, problem solving, use of technology, communicating, socialization, modification of behavior, use of media etc. The main objective of informal education is to build the critical thinking skills in children. A main component of informal education is community involvement.
There is a lot of scope for career paths in education. Education curriculum development plays an integral role in shaping up the education system of the country. Some of the key players in this sector include school principals, teachers, counselors, school nurses and other professionals. These professionals have to devise a curriculum that will be beneficial for students and their parents. This sector of education requires extensive research in the relevant fields and knowledge in all aspects of curriculum development.