Head teachers are the highest ranking employees in schools. They are responsible for supervising and evaluating school policy and taking action when necessary. They also develop creative and responsive approaches to teaching and learning, design the school's aims and objectives, implement policies, and ensure policies and practises meet national, local, and school standards. In addition, they assess, organize, and execute flexible curriculum plans and effective assessment frameworks.
Head teachers support and assess individuals and teams. They ensure a reasonable school/work balance for teachers and staff, sustain effective staff performance management systems, and incorporate teachers' appraisals and targets for the school's achievement into the school's development plan. They also strategize ways to use emerging technologies to expand the learning experience.
Head teachers need to have leadership, communication, interpersonal, problem-solving skills and be good role models. A position as a head teacher requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree in education and significant teaching experience. However, a master's or doctoral degree may be preferred. The average head teacher earns $21.62 an hour, which translates to $44,977 a year.
Head Teacher Overview
Head Teacher Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a head teacher. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.98 an hour? That's $47,807 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 53,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Head Teacher Do
There are certain skills that many head teachers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed physical stamina, resourcefulness and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a head teacher, we found that a lot of resumes listed 26.4% of head teachers included classroom management, while 12.0% of resumes included child care, and 5.1% of resumes included appropriate curriculum. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the head teacher job title. But what industry to start with? Most head teachers actually find jobs in the non profits and health care industries.
How To Become a Head Teacher
If you're interested in becoming a head teacher, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 42.0% of head teachers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 24.2% of head teachers have master's degrees. Even though most head teachers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a head teacher. When we researched the most common majors for a head teacher, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on head teacher resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a head teacher. In fact, many head teacher jobs require experience in a role such as teacher. Meanwhile, many head teachers also have previous career experience in roles such as toddler assistant teacher or teacher assistant.
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Head Teacher Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a head teacher can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as student teacher, progress to a title such as lead teacher and then eventually end up with the title center director.
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Average Salary for a Head Teacher
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
University of Southern California Head Teacher Head Teacher | University of Southern California University of Southern California | 01/17/2021 01/17/2021 | $42,82501/17/2021 $42,825 |
Merced County Office of Education EHS Associate Teacher Location: Planada Early Head EHS Associate Teacher Location: Planada Early Head | Merced County Office of Education Merced County Office of Education | 12/29/2020 12/29/2020 | $35,22912/29/2020 $35,229 |
E Center *Head Teacher Aa/Ba @ Mariposa *Head Teacher Aa/Ba @ Mariposa | E Center E Center | 12/19/2020 12/19/2020 | $38,69312/19/2020 $38,693 |
E Center *Head Teacher Aa/Ba @ ELM *Head Teacher Aa/Ba @ ELM | E Center E Center | 11/14/2020 11/14/2020 | $38,69311/14/2020 $38,693 |
E Center *Head Teacher @ Western *Head Teacher @ Western | E Center E Center | 10/31/2020 10/31/2020 | $43,74410/31/2020 $43,744 |
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Head Teacher Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Head Teacher. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Head Teacher Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Head Teacher resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Head Teachers
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
6. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
7. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
10. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Public
Top Skills For a Head Teacher
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 26.4% of head teachers listed classroom management on their resume, but soft skills such as physical stamina and resourcefulness are important as well.
- Classroom Management, 26.4%
- Child Care, 12.0%
- Appropriate Curriculum, 5.1%
- Pre-K, 3.6%
- Mathematics, 3.5%
- Other Skills, 49.4% See All Head Teacher Skills
Best States For a Head Teacher
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a head teacher. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Massachusetts, New York, and California. Head teachers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $57,449. Whereas in Massachusetts and New York, they would average $55,799 and $52,669, respectively. While head teachers would only make an average of $52,315 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$55,799
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$52,669
Avg. Salary
3. Nevada
$47,275
Avg. Salary