The Complete Guide to Becoming A Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary

Chapter 1: What Does a Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary Actually Do?

Let's start by clearing away the image you probably have. You're picturing a professor in a tweed jacket, pacing in front of a lecture hall of 300 students, delivering a brilliant monologue about the mysteries of the human mind. That moment exists, but it's maybe 10 percent of the job. The other 90 percent is a mix of preparation, grading, administration, and the kind of quiet, repetitive work that never shows up in the movie version.

A Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary - which is the official Bureau of Labor Statistics name for this occupation - is someone who teaches psychology courses at a community college, a four-year college, or a university. That's a wide net, and the day-to-day reality varies dramatically depending on which of those three settings you land in. But the core responsibilities are remarkably consistent across all of them.

The teaching part (the visible 10 percent)

You will stand in front of a class and deliver lectures. The size of that class depends on the institution. At a community college, you might have 30 to 40 students in an Introduction to Psychology section. At a large public university, your intro class could have 400 students in a tiered auditorium. At a small liberal arts college, you might have 15 students in a seminar room discussing research methods.

But before you stand there, you have to build the lecture. This is where the real hours go. For every hour