Teacher Discussion Forums

I'm interested in teaching at the Elementary level.

Currently I have a BA in Spanish, and a TESL certificate. I'm interested in teaching Spanish (at the Elementary level) or perhaps teaching a bilingual classroom.

Does anyone know what sort of credentials I would need? I understand that education requirements and other credentials can be vastly different from state to state; but generally speaking, does anyone know?

Right now my plan is to return to school for an MA in education. Does an MA in education with a 'bilingual specialty' even exist?

Thanks,

Bingman

I'd suggest using Google. I tried something like college bilingual education degree and got 485,000 hits, the first college being Texas A & M.

Lorikeet

Texas A&M and Several other Universities in Texas and New Mexico offer several bilingual education programs. Most states offer a program where you can do an MAT (Masters in Teaching) to become certified to teach Spanish. However if you speak with your states certification board they can better instruct you on how to gain certification. I hold a BS in Linguistics and teach in Kentucky under an Alternative Teaching Certificate. I took the Praxis in French, Spanish and English, and passed them. Afterwards they taught me to teach ESL P-12; Spanish P-12; and French P-12.

In California at least, you would need a multiple-subject (that is, elementary) teaching credential with a BCLAD certificate in Spanish. At California state schools you can usually do a teaching credential in conjunction with a Master's program.

Good luck!

There is a masters with specialization in bilingual education through the University of Texas systems at Austin or Edinburg Texas. I am currently getting a reading specialist masters with bilingual ed included. Try UT websites.