This ad is interesting for a number of reasons. First, it requires an earned doctorate. To apply, you must have your degree in hand. It's a position that has been reserved for tenure line, so scrutiny for candidates will be intense. All the more so because the ad indicates the candidate must display the potential for assuming a leadership role, probably department chair, at some point in the future. Nevertheless, the undergraduate course load stated suggests the position is open to an exemplary new doctorate that may have accumulated significant teaching experience in graduate school.
Some advertisements will encourage the application of ABD (all but dissertation) candidates who have completed all required doctoral course work but have not yet written their dissertation.
The preceding advertisement also indicates that the successful candidate will be balancing teaching with advising, committee work, and participation in university functions. An ABD will generally not pay as well as an earned doctorate and will not lead as directly or as quickly to possible tenure and promotion. ABD candidates will also have to decide how they will finish their degree (the dissertation often being the most time consuming aspect of their academics) and hold down a full time job.
Teaching introductory college math courses is generally part of the teaching load of new college math teachers. Many of your students will be taking some variation of "Introduction to College Math" or whatever the institution requires for students to meet the college's general education requirements. Students enrolled in these courses are taking them because it is a college requirement for graduation and not because they are math majors or have chosen the course. The math department performs a general education service to the entire college in offering this course. Generally, even senior faculty will teach at least one class of first year college math, though as you become more senior in the faculty, you can add courses more directly related to your interests and educational background.
There is also in the ad cited above demand for documentation of college teaching experience. This could come from teaching assistant ships done while working on the doctoral degree. Many students acquire this experience as graduate teaching assistants, part time faculty, lecturers, or adjunct faculty at other colleges.
The road to a doctorate is fairly long and arduous. It is hard work. Along the way, you meet some wonderful people, some who'll be friends and colleagues the rest of your life. Even colleagues separated by long distances have the opportunity to revisit at conferences and symposia. You'll have opportunities to write, teach, and perhaps publish-all before you finish your degree. Take advantage of these opportunities when you can. However, it is possible to become overly involved in some of these opportunities to the detriment of your degree progress. There has been considerable discussion in academic circles of the number of individuals who begin doctoral programs and do not see them through to completion. In fact, Neil Rudenstein, the president of Harvard University, published a book on the issue of improving and tightening up the time requirements to earn a Ph.D., particularly in the humanities, where his research clearly demonstrated the longest time lines between initiating the degree and earning it, with a correspondingly high rate of mortality (dropouts)in candidates. In the science and math areas, he found a higher completion rate and shorter time to degree completion. The more defined parameters of the fields of science and math, with their emphasis on correct process, formula, and execution seem to lend themselves to a doctoral degree process that is crisp, well defined, with clearly expressed expectations and deadlines.
Working Condition High School
The working conditions for teachers of math are dramatically different according to the educational setting. The high school math teacher has a full complement of classes, perhaps as many as five or six a day, and may have study hall or lunch room supervision duties during the week, responsibilities for some after school detention centres, or even a sports activity to supervise. The place of discipline in the secondary curriculum has a major impact in the classroom and is perhaps the single most challenging element of the working conditions for any teacher. Having been a high school student yourself, you realize that attendance is for the most part not voluntary, so students sometimes exhibit some resistance, and acting out through poor behaviour is not uncommon.
The effective classroom teacher is one who has successfully mastered classroom management. For many young teachers, these are the most challenging lessons in teaching to accomplish and make for the most interesting stories as they grow in their profession! The balance between the time spent teaching math and maintaining classroom discipline is seldom in equilibrium and can be particularly frustrating, as when one disruptive student threatens the decorum of a class.
Most public high schools are fairly rigid systems of enforced behavior norms, and the principal agents of that enforcement are the faculty. To elect high school math education as your particular arena is to challenge your ability to maintain your poise and focus on the subject matter while at the same time enforcing and administering the necessary disciplinary elements mandated by your school. These include grades, referrals to the principal, detention, warnings, and parent conferences.
Teaching is a full day with clear starting and ending times and much at home work. Many math teachers correctly incorporate grading of homework by students within class time to provide immediate feedback for work done. Lesson planning is also time consuming, as is maintaining required records of attendance, grades, warnings, progress reports, and other evaluation instruments that may be required in your school district. You will frequently find yourself speaking with parents by telephone from your home in the evenings.
