Free Sample
The Complete Guide to Becoming A Teacher and Instructor, All Other
What you'll really do, what you'll really earn, and whether you have what it takes to teach outside the K-12 classroom
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Teacher and Instructor, All Other Actually Do?
Let's start with what the government calls you. Every few years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its Occupational Outlook Handbook, and under the broad category of education, there's a catch-all group labeled "Teacher and Instructor, All Other." It's the category that catches every teaching role that isn't a K-12 classroom teacher, a postsecondary professor, or a preschool teacher. It's a surprisingly large bucket — roughly 150,000 people work in it in the United States, and it pays, on average, about $49,000 a year. But that average hides a wide range, and the range is part of what you need to understand before you make any decisions.
So what does a Teacher and Instructor, All Other actually do? The short answer is this: they teach skills to adults and older teens outside the traditional school system. They are the corporate trainers teaching managers how to use a new project management software. They are the adult educators running evening GED preparation classes in a community center basement. They are the vocational instructors in a community college welding shop, the CPR instructors at the local Red Cross, the English-as-a-second-language tutors in a church hall meeting room. They are the people who teach someone how to operate a forklift, pass a real estate licensing exam, or code a basic website. The common thread is that the students chose to be there — which is both the greatest gift and the