The Career that Chose Me
Whenever I think about my journey in Education, I realize that my path hasn’t been the most conventional. First, I majored in Mass Media Communications during my undergraduate studies, and while I enjoyed my college career and everything that I learned, life had another thing for me, which was taking me from Communications to Education.
I never imagined myself as an educator, although I did say that I wanted to be a teacher when I was in Kindergarten. However, I felt that my goals as an author were more aligned with Journalism than Education was.
After working in a variety of industries (especially the worst one: food, ew!) I found that my passion for communication and connection led me to pursue a career in education. At first, I thought that my Communication background would be of little use in a classroom, I soon discovered that there were actually quite a few similarities between the two fields.
1. Creativity
- Creativity is essential for both media and education. Media producers must be creative in developing new and innovative ideas for their content. Teachers must be creative in finding ways to present material in a way that will be engaging and meaningful for their students.
2. Desigining
- A little bit similar to the previous one. My knowledge in Graphic Design has given me a keen eye for visual design and has made me able to create engaging visual aids to support my lessons. This is where I use my skills to create slideshows, infographics, and other visuals that will help my students understand and remember the material.
3. Audience Analysis
- Both media planning and lesson planning involve understanding the target audience. In media planning, I learned how to analyze demographic data, consumer behavior, and market research to identify my target audience for a specific campaign. Similarly, in lesson planning, I must consider the diverse needs (or differentiation), interests, and learning styles (more differentiation) of my students to tailor my lessons effectively.
4. Audience Engagement
- Both media producers and teachers must be skilled in engaging their audience. Media producers create content with the goal of capturing and maintaining their audience’s attention, while teachers strive to create a classroom environment that fosters engagement and active participation from their students.
5. Encourage Critical Thinking
- With a background in journalism, I was trained to think critically and analyze information. I use this skill to encourage my students to think critically about the material they are learning. Even though I teach Spanish, I also teach about our Hispanic culture. This is where I encourage them to ask questions, evaluate sources, and form their own and based opinions.
6. Adaptability
- Both media producers and teachers must be adaptable and able to adjust to unexpected situations. For media producers, this may mean adjusting to changes in production schedules or unexpected technical difficulties. For teachers, this may mean adjusting to unexpected classroom dynamics or changes in curriculum.
7. Content Selection and Sequencing
- Content selection is crucial to convey the desired message effectively. I remember in Media Planning when we had to carefully choose the platforms, formats, and content elements that were going to resonate with the target audience. Likewise, as a teacher, I need to select and sequence educational content, making sure that it aligns with the curriculum, builds on prior knowledge, and progresses logically to facilitate student learning.
8. Strategic Timing
- Being in charge of creating the script was my favorite as a student. In Media Planning, one has to strategically schedule advertisements or campaigns to maximize reach and impact. Similarly, as a teacher I learned to consider the appropriate timing for introducing new concepts, conducting assessments, or providing feedback to optimize student engagement and comprehension.
9. Teaching Writing and Comminucation Skills
- Not only I graduated with a background in Journalism but also I earned a postgraduate degree in Creative Writing. Needless to say that I have a strong foundation in writing and communication skills. As an educator, I use this knowledge to teach my students how to write effectively and communicate clearly, even if it’s in a language that they barely know. At the end of the school year, my students need to write a self-evaluation essay, which is where I provide feedback on my students’ writing to help them improve.
10. Public Speaking
- My knowledge in public speaking has allowed me to confidently lead classroom discussions and present complex material in a clear and engaging way. Both focus on delivering a message to inform, persuade, or entertain. Both roles require clarity of expression, strong presentation skills, and the ability to adapt to different audiences… or in this case, students.
Life often has a way of taking us on unexpected journeys, diverging from the paths we initially envision. While we may embark on one professional path, such as the field we originally chose (in my case, Communications) or the career that chose us (in my case, Education), it is remarkable to discover the similarities and transferable skills that exist between seemingly different fields.
Embracing this realization opens up new possibilities and allows us to find meaningful ways to integrate our learned skills into the paths life chooses for us. Whether it be leveraging design expertise in lesson planning or utilizing communication and critical thinking skills in media planning, our acquired knowledge and experiences can enhance our chosen paths and bring unique perspectives to our work.
What I’ve learned so far from intertwining both fields, I found that my Media background gave me a unique perspective and skill set to use as a teacher. This experience from Communications to Education has allowed me to think outside the box (the system) and adjust the wheel to whatever my audience (students) actually need.
Lesson planning is my pre-production process. The classroom is my studio. Decorating is working on scenography. Teaching is performing, entertaining, or hosting. Finally, grading is post-production. If I ever decide to pursue a career in Communications, I must say that I do have experience in production.
Hire me, please! I’m ready!
I recently celebrated 7 years in this career, and I talk about a little bit on a previous post. It’s originally in Spanish, but you can select the English language to read it.
