What Is an Art Teacher?
An Art Teacher is an educator who specializes in teaching students how to lớn create và appreciate art. You will teach children drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, & any other art khung your resources provide. You might also include units that focus on art history. Your classroom will be full of art supplies and its walls will likely be covered with student art and other creative sầu, stimulating items. Whoever said that those who can’t bởi teach never met an art teacher. You’ll not only demonstrate techniques to lớn your students, but you might also bring them all together to work on group projects. This gives you the chance to lớn take them all the way through the process of creating large projects that they wouldn’t have time to lớn complete on their own.
Steps lớn Becoming an Art Teacher
To become an Art Teacher, you need passion. Not only vày you need a passion for art, but a passion for teaching and nurturing children. You can then take that passion & pursue the path that will allow you lớn take over your very own art classroom.
That path first goes through a bachelor’s degree. You should find a state approved teacher preparation program that includes an Art Education specialty. Barring that, you can likely major in teacher preparation & piông chồng up a double major, or a minor, in Art. From there, you must pass the required standardized tests, l& a job, & then receive sầu your state"s teaching credentials.
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Step 1: Earn a Degree
Step 2: Student Teaching
Step 3: Pass Your Exams
Step 4: Get Your License

Step 1: Earn a Degree
The first step towards having your very own art classroom is a degree. You can start with an associate"s degree, but you will eventually want a bachelor"s degree, & perhaps even a master’s. With an associate"s degree you can enter a classroom as a licensed Paraprofessional, also known as a Teacher"s Aide. Your state may have sầu special licensure qualifications for this position.
With a Bachelor"s degree, & a state licensure, you can attain a full teaching credential & launch a career in a classroom of your very own.
Step 2: Student Teaching
As part of your Bachelor"s degree, you will need to lớn complete a student teaching experience. This is considered its own step because it is a vital rite of passage for all licensed teachers. This will likely be your first experience in front of a classroom of eager art students.
During the process, you will work under the direct tutelage and mentoring of the school"s art teacher. You will also have a faculty adviser at your college or university who will offer advice và encouragement along the way. They will help you with things such as classroom management, lesson planning, instructional execution, and grading.
At the kết thúc of this process, you will likely need to lớn submit various artifacts from your experience, such as a portfolio that documents the experience, a formal write-up, và perhaps even examples of outstanding student artwork. Your college adviser will provide you with a rubric khổng lồ follow.
Step 3: Pass Your Exams
A large part of any teaching credential is the state approved standardized tests. Most states require the PRAXIS exams. When you first start moving towards your teaching credential, you should take the PRAXIS I. This is a thử nghiệm of your math & verbal skills that is very much lượt thích the SAT or ACT. Since you"re already in college, this chạy thử shouldn"t pose too much of a problem. However, if you don"t meet the state"s minimum requirement for one or both parts, you can retake the problematic portion independent of the other. After you pass the PRAXIS I, you can move sầu on lớn your subject kiểm tra.
The PRAXIS II subject thử nghiệm will measure your knowledge of art và teaching the subject. ETS has guides for each of their PRAXIS tests, so you can prepare and be ready lớn ace it on the first try.
cảnh báo that some states, such as California, don"t use PRAXIS tests và instead have their own individual approaches to this step in the process. Your particular program will groom you for whatever test their specific state requires. In fact, California has a series of three or more tests.
Step 4: Get Your License
Once you have sầu passed the required tests and completed your education, you need to lớn make sure the rest of your application is complete by providing the state with your transcripts, background kiểm tra, and letter of recommendation from your department. Once these things are in order, you should get a job.
While you are in the midst of your student teaching experience, see if that school or others in its district need art teachers. You might talk khổng lồ other teachers in the building to lớn see if they have any information, and make sure your principal knows that you are actively seeking employment. She might know of an as-yet-unannounced opening in that school or elsewhere. Keep in mind that jobs as an art teacher are not very prevalent, so you might need khổng lồ take an unlicensed teaching position until your dream job opens up. When you l& a job, your hiring principal will submit paperwork lớn the state, và you will then receive your teacher"s license.
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What Does an Art Teacher Do?
An Art Teacher spends her days in a classroom working with students on a variety of art projects. If you become an art teacher, you will have sầu a working knowledge of a wide range of artistic methods, including oil painting, watercolors, latex painting, printmaking, ceramics, pen & ink, & charcoal drawing. You will be responsible for assessing student work with an objective rubric and assigning grades on that basis.
You might also start an Art Club for students who have special interest in art. Many schools expect teachers lớn take on such extra-curricular activities và thus enhance the educational value of the school. This will be more important for middle grades and high school art teachers, as older students can spover time at school after hours or take special field trips with the club.
To advance the cause of art in your school, you might spearhead other initiatives such as art contests & field trips. Contests will stimulate students with a spirit of friendly competition. Field trips to lớn art museums or exhibits in your town will broaden your students" horizons & larger trips khổng lồ other cities" art museums will the spirit of lifelong learning.
Art Teacher Skills to lớn Acquire
Business Administrators are expected to lớn handle a variety of challenging situations while being in two places at once - or at least making it seem that way. In the business profession, gaining new skills could lead to lớn higher positions.
Six most suggested skills:
Art Skills To teach art, you must have sầu skills in a wide range of artistic mediums. You should be able khổng lồ teach students how khổng lồ draw, paint, create 3-dimensional objects with clay, and more. While your specialty might be ceramics, your undergraduate coursework & studio time should be devoted to a wide range of mediums. After all, students will likely find an affinity for a single medium, so you"ll need to expose them khổng lồ a range of artistic expression.
Classroom Management Art classes might especially need a tightly managed classroom, especially with younger students. You need to grab student attention & keep them focused on the task at hand, rather than how khổng lồ create a mess with paint.
Instructional Skill Art is a process, so you"ll need lớn thoroughly instruct students on each step. You"ll also need khổng lồ find creative approaches so that less-engaged students find an interesting entry point to lớn the lessons.
Organization Every teacher needs lớn maintain a high cấp độ of organization. That means keeping all of your lessons in order, not to mention your classroom. Where most other teachers simply keep their rooms neat, you need lớn make sure that your classroom is well-organized. If it becomes disordered, the students will make it even more messy.
Objectivity Art is inherently subjective. Not every student will chia sẻ your artistic sensibilities, so you will need to have sầu this vital skill in order to lớn give sầu effective sầu feedbaông xã & grades.
Fund Raising It"s a sad fact that our schools are struggling to provide adequate resources for teachers. This is perhaps even more true for art teachers. Thus, you may need khổng lồ find creative ways lớn fund all the supplies you need in your classroom. There are grants available và perhaps you could kiông xã off some other independent fund-raising efforts. Cheông chồng with our principal to make sure any fundraising is legal.
Alternative sầu Paths
To fill in gaps on school faculty rosters, many states Boards of Education have sầu allowed districts to lớn entice new teachers with alternative sầu routes to lớn licensure. Thus, if you have a bachelor"s degree in art, but haven"t received teacher preparation training, you can still be hired by a principal. They"ll need to prove that you are the only và best candidate for the job, that you are pursuing the preparation coursework from a state-approved program, và that you otherwise have shown dedication khổng lồ a program leading khổng lồ full licensure. It will help if you have sầu been working as an artist in some capađô thị, especially if you have sầu been giving private lessons, or teaching your targeted age group in a community center.
When you pursue this route, you will need lớn take education courses at night while teaching full-time during the day. You must also take PRAXIS I và II, & you will be paired with a mentor who will sit in on your classroom and offer suggestions for improvement.
This alternative sầu route can be a fantastic way lớn both earn money & achieve sầu maximum fulfillment. Many states also offer alternatives khổng lồ former military personnel. This program is called Troops to Teachers. Thus, if you are retiring from twenty or more years in the military, teaching offers a career change that allows time off in summer, and satisfaction all year long. In fact, if you achieve a state licensure, you can work alongside the military by teaching on bases worldwide.

You are most likely to lớn work in a public school. After all, most preparation programs groom their students to attain state licensure và join a school district faculty. Public schools offer competitive pay as well as adequate resources. You are also guaranteed steady raises that coincide with your experience và if you attain additional degrees your salary will reflect that.
If you attain a master"s degree you might also teach for a college or university. You might not qualify for tenure, as an MFA doesn"t carry quite the weight it once did. Nonetheless, an MFA on top of recognition in the art world might help you with long-term employment.
Art teachers can also give sầu private lessons or teach private classes at local community centers, art galleries, or even retirement centers. If your town has a robust population of home-school students, their parents might like to sign their children up for supplemental courses in the arts.
There are also opportunities in private schools, including Charter Schools. Some Charter Schools are focused on arts so you might have sầu an opportunity to lớn delve deeper inkhổng lồ your strongest areas of expertise. Private schools are also more selective sầu, so you are likely lớn have sầu students who are more engaged than you"ll find in typical public schools.
Potential Career Paths
Educators have sầu many valuable skills. In fact, many move sầu from teaching inlớn jobs as project managers, salespeople, or other managerial positions. After all, if you are working with around 100 students per day, you need exquisite managerial skills to lớn be highly effective sầu. If you have an art degree, your opportunities take on a new dimension. Here are a few careers you might consider:
Graphic Designer Your artistic abilities can be focused to lớn graphic thiết kế if you have sầu skills with the Adobe Creative Suite. You can pichồng up freelance projects if you are teaching full-time or pursue graphic arts full-time in an advertising agency.
Set Designer Local live theaters often need talented visionaries khổng lồ thiết kế and build sets for their shows. While this might not be full-time work, it can certainly augment your work as an art teacher. Further, when you put your artwork on display you may find other opportunities for paid artistic work.
Muralist Many art students pursue commercial mural painting as a viable career choice. You could also find work painting murals that express your original ideas. Many urban buildings employ muralists to lớn beautify their street presence.
Preschool Teacher Preschool students love khổng lồ finger paint and create all sorts of whimsical pieces for their parents & grandparents. You are sure to show toddlers how khổng lồ make turkeys with their hvà print or khổng lồ fold construction paper & make a valentine’s day heart.
Special Education This specialty area might involve sầu artwork, or it might involve sầu loads of love sầu và patience for students who have sầu profound disabilities. It might also involve helping otherwise talented, but learning disabled, students lớn express themselves in a visual medium.
School Administration After five or more years in the classroom, you can attain an M.Ed. và pursue a license in school administration. From this vantage, you will steer a school"s faculty và curriculum, while inspiring students with your passion & wisdom.
$39,000 | $43,500 | $55,700 |
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$35,600 | $38,300 | $54,500 |
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Career Outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the overall teaching profession is slated to lớn grow by approximately 7% through 2026, which is an average rate of expansion. As for art teachers, there is no specific data available. However, media reports would indicate that funding for arts in schools is on the decline, which is dismaying. On the other hvà, the rise of Charter Schools might offer more hope. Some Charter Schools have an arts focus, meaning that they will be looking lớn hire talented art teachers.
To improve your employment opportunities, you could always attain special endorsements so that you might offer more to a principal. For instance, if you pass the subject thử nghiệm for another area, such as social studies, you could work in that field until an art classroom opportunity opens up.
If you keep your focus on student needs and outcomes, you can find fulfillment in any classroom scenario. Naturally, you will need to demonstrate some aptitude for that particular subject. If you can vì this, you might form an art club for students for whom art is a growing interest. That will demonstrate your desires to your administration và hopefully result in a job teaching art later on.
Benefit of Art Teacher Certification
If you decide that you wish to lớn move sầu up from your position as an Art Teacher, you have sầu loads of options. For instance, you could move into lớn administration, post-secondary education, or educational consulting to lớn name but a few viable alternatives.
You"ll need a minimum of five years in the classroom & a master"s degree in Education to lớn become an administrator. You will find your first job as a Vice Principal where you will work with teachers & dole out discipline khổng lồ unruly students.
If you attain a Master of Fine Arts, you can begin teaching at the post-secondary level. An MFA is often considered a terminal degree, which means that you can attain tenure with it. However, this is changing, and you may need to lớn attain a PhD in Fine Art. You can possibly mitigate this if your personal artwork becomes noted in art journals or featured in well-known, prominent galleries.
If you pursue educational consulting, you will likely need a master"s degree and some specialized credentials. For an art teacher, you might consider art therapy, or publish articles related to the pedagogy of art. When you work as a consultant you will need to travel quite a bit và maintain your credentials as an especially talented educator.