What Degree Would I Need?

So, random question...

I'm thinking about being a teacher in a children's cancer ward. Like, teaching kids with cancer (or possibly other terminal illnesses). So I know it may seem a long ways off for me but pretty soon I'll be graduating high school. So would I need an AdvancedEd, SpecialEd??? Anyone have any ideas on what degree I'd need?

Note: Not sure if this question is allowed to be asked on EV, because I know your not supposed to ask for real life advice. Buuut not sure if this applies. If it does, please notify me mods. :)

If you look into schools of interest and talk to an advisor, they can probably help you with that better than anyone, and you can usually get an appointment as a prospective student...if you are teaching anything below a college level, you will likely only need a bachelor's degree, although depending on the school, they may ask you to select a teachable major and teachable minor (this particularly applies to secondary / high school education).

*Yeah, I'm a bit of a nerd...used to work in Academic Advising, until I decided I wanted to tutor, LOL!

You'd definitely need an Education degree (though there are exceptions where if you have a master or higher degree in a subject you can teach it in high schools). Beyond that, your specialty would depend on the school that you chose and the age of kids that you'd want to teach. Early childhood education (anything up to 3rd grade) is often a separate major, and there are middle school and high school "endorsements". Special education might not be a bad idea, but at some schools it will be a minor rather than a major.

Like Silver Foxie Sox said, it will depend a lot on the school you choose. There's also no harm in just sending an email to the education department at schools you might be interested in and asking what they recommend!

Thank you, that helped a lot!

It really depends on what age group you are intending to teach. There is a separate bachelor degree for early childhood (preschool through third grade I think), elementary( 1st-8th), and secondary(7-12th). The college I went to had special education as a minor, but it was a small college.

One thing that's different about an education degree, you will have to do field hours. How much depends on your state. Your last semester will be student teaching.

You will want to get your degree in the state that you plan on teaching. If you move states, you may have to take a test or some courses. Each state has different requirements for teaching. You can help prevent this if you attend a college that is well known for their education department.

Yeah... I was an elementary education major lol

As someone who is very close to finishing my undergraduate in Elementary Education, I can say that you will most definitely need a degree (Bachelor's) in education. If you're teaching children, no matter the location or circumstance, they are going to want you to have a degree in education.