The Education and Training Career Cluster focuses on occupations that involve providing instruction, management, counseling, and support to others. Careers in this field require strong communication skills, initiative, creativity, and a desire to help others.

Some educators have careers in Pre-K and early childhood development. Many work in K-12 classrooms where there is always a need for highly skilled, dedicated teachers. At the university-level, teaching jobs are as diverse as the number of subjects taught.  In the corporate world, there are educator positions for trainers who teach employees or customers business skills. There are also careers in this cluster that focus on other aspects of education, such as educational counseling and educational administration.

Career Pathways

Education and Training Career Cluster has three career pathways:

• Administration and Administrative Support
• Professional Support Services
• Teaching/Training

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Teacher Resources

To help students learn more about careers in education and training, download and distribute the Education and Training College and Career Planning Guide. The guide makes an excellent critical reading assignment for students enrolled in an Education and Training practicum course.

The Practicum in Education and Training course is the only practicum course in the Education and Training Career Cluster. The practicum is a field-based internship designed to give students background knowledge in principles of effective teaching and training practices, as well as child and adolescent development principles. Be sure to review the related TEKS before you create the outline of training.

Practicum students work under the direction and supervision of teachers with knowledge of early childhood education and exemplary educators in direct instructional roles with students in elementary, middle, and high school. Students learn to

• plan and direct individualized instruction and group activities;
• prepare instructional materials;
• assist with record keeping;
• make physical arrangements; and
• complete other responsibilities of classroom teachers, trainers, paraprofessionals, or other educational personnel.

 

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If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to bookmark the TEKS for Education and Training.

The Practicum in Education and Training course is recommended for students in grade 12 who are following a coherent sequence of courses. To enroll in a Practicum in Education and Training course, students must have completed these prerequisites:

• Principles of Education and Training
• Human Growth and Development
• Instructional Practices in Education and Training

You should always discuss safety and legal considerations with training sponsors when developing a student's training plan. Typically, the responsibilities for these considerations are organized as follows:

• Training sponsors provide job-specific safety training.
• Teacher-coordinators are responsible for providing general safety instruction to all students enrolled in the course and for ensuring that all training occurs according to schedule.
• Teachers may assign students to research and report on specific safety and legal considerations for their job or industry.

Pre-Employment Requirements

Educators and lawmakers take the protection of children seriously. Consequently, the key issues in this cluster is the protection of young children with whom the practicum students may come into contact. As a result, students enrolled in an education practicum have many pre-employment requirements.

The most common pre-employment requirements are

• background checks;
• fingerprinting;
• CPR/first aid certification;
• age restrictions;
• tests for TB and other communicable diseases; and
• child protection training.

To promote educational excellence in career and technical education, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) launched the Texas CTE Resource Center.

 

 

 

 

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Take a moment to bookmark the Texas CTE Resource Center website. Later, be sure to explore curriculum guidelines and instructional resources for the Education and Training Career Cluster.

Career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) provide students with additional opportunities to acquire and demonstrate skills and abilities related to their chosen career field. The CTSO that is most related to careers in education and training is the Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE).

 

 

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Take a few moments to bookmark the CTSO websites below to explore later. 

Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE)
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)

 

 

Get involved in at least one career and technical education (CTE) professional association. They are excellent sources of career cluster-specific teaching tools, ideas, networking, and mentors. The professional association that most closely relates to education and training is the Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers Association of Texas (FCSTAT).

 

 

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Take a moment to bookmark the FCSTAT website to explore later.