Secondary School Teachers

Nature of work

Secondary school teachers prepare and teach subjects at public and private junior and senior high schools. Secondary school teachers who are heads of departments are included in this group. Secondary teachers may specialize in areas like mathematics, English, French, special education, or second language instruction. Secondary school teachers of vocational and trades subjects may specialize in areas like hairdressing or auto mechanics.

Job duties

Secondary school teachers:

• Plan goals and designated outcomes for all students and clearly communicate to those learners.
• Use a variety of teaching strategies like group work, lecture, mini-lessons, exploration, questioning, discussion, and other cooperative teaching techniques.
• Assign and correct homework.
• Prepare, administer, and correct tests.
• Use a variety of assessment strategies to evaluate student progress and discuss results with students, parents, and school officials.
• Identify children’s individual learning needs and adapt curriculum to meet the varying rates, patterns, and needs of all students, including students who extend learning beyond designated outcomes.
• Contribute to and manage an individual program plan for students with special needs.
• Maintain records for student attendance, evaluations, report cards, discipline records, and other related documents.
• Plan and implement classroom management strategies and techniques to ensure productive, interesting, respectful, and safe classrooms.
• Apply appropriate consequences for inappropriate student behavior.
• Communicate effectively with students, staff, parents, community, and outside agencies to better meet with the needs of students.
• Participate in staff meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops.
• May teach and evaluate students through distance or online courses.
• May advise students on course selection and on vocational and personal matters.
• May supervise student teachers.

Sample job titles

• adult education teacher, secondary school
• alternative high school teacher
• behaviour support teacher
• cooperative education teacher
• department head
• English as an additional language teacher, high school
• fine arts specialist teacher
• high school teacher
• learning centre teacher
• private teacher - secondary school
• resource teacher
• skilled trades education teacher

Skills

• You should be patient, imaginative, objective, and resourceful. Leadership skills and the ability to motivate students are important. You must be able to communicate ideas in a clear, concise, and interesting way. Planning and organizational skills are also necessary. Teachers must be knowledgeable about their subjects and keep informed of new material and methods of teaching.

Job requirements

• Teachers of academic subjects require a bachelor's degree in education which is often preceded by a bachelor's degree in the arts or sciences.
• Teachers of vocational or technical subjects require a bachelor's degree in education which is usually preceded by specialized training or experience in the subject.
• Department heads usually require several years of teaching experience.
• To specialize in special education or English or French as a second language, additional training, often at a master’s level, is required.
• A Nova Scotia teaching certificate is required.
• Membership in a provincial teachers' association or union may be required.

Other considerations

• The work can be demanding and require a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional energy. While most of the time is spent teaching in the classroom, many hours are spent out of class working with individual students, preparing lessons, and marking assignments. Progression to vice-principal or other administrative positions in the education system is possible with experience and additional training.

Regulations

Contacts