How long does it take to become a Student Teacher?

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a student teacher. That is the time it takes to learn specific student teacher skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 5 to 7 years years to become a student teacher.

How To Become A Student Teacher: What It Is and Career Path

What is a student teacher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Diana Jones

Any teacher that has a student teacher is relieved they have them. As a student teacher, you get to go through school again, but this time you get to help others with the assignment rather than actually complete the assignment yourself.

Most student teachers are learning to become teachers themselves and generally shadow a classroom in an elementary or secondary school. But don't limit yourself. While much more rare, there are student teachers that work at universities or colleges. So it comes down to whether you'd rather assist dependent or independent students.

Generally, your student teaching experience will only last a semester or two. So make sure you're writing down good notes! At the end of being a student teacher, you'll have the opportunity to take over the class on your own. From preparing the lesson to correcting homework, you'll be doing it all by yourself in no time.

What general advice would you give to a student teacher?

Dr. Diana Jones

Chair, Department of Kinesiology, Anderson University

General advice: I would encourage graduates to find a mentor who can guide them in their careers, stay on top of the latest technology, not be too hard on themselves, be flexible, be team players, be present, and care about their students.

ScoreStudent TeacherUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,035

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 3.65%

Black or African American 9.71%

Hispanic or Latino 12.52%

Unknown 3.91%

White 69.70%

Gender

female 73.64%

male 26.36%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a student teacher

Explore student teacher education requirements

Most common student teacher degrees

Bachelor's

74.7 %

Master's

13.6 %

Associate

7.7 %

Start to develop specific student teacher skills

Skills	Percentages
Classroom Management	20.48%
Math	12.77%
Language Arts	8.24%
Social Studies	6.16%
Kindergarten	4.56%

Research student teacher duties and responsibilities

Manage RTI reading groups using both basal materials and literature-base novel units.
Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
Develop lessons that integrate technology into mathematics and language arts for various grade-levels.
Enhance student engagement for learning math and science through maintaining collaborative learning classroom environment.

Prepare your student teacher resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your student teacher resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a student teacher resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable student teacher resume templates

Build a professional student teacher resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your student teacher resume.

Apply for student teacher jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a student teacher job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do student teachers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Student teacher reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022

Pros

Kids, teaching lessons, co-teachers, hours, weekends off, salary, holidays off, summers off, paid sick and personal days

Cons

Administration, observations, being told what to teach and HOW to teach it, expecting us to participate in things we might not want to or have the time for, staff meetings with no substance

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2021

Pros

I enjoy teaching or giving knowledge to the children.

Cons

The educational system is very flawed, poor administration who don’t put children and learning first but their own self-interests. I don’t like how many school systems have handled the pandemic, total disregard for safety.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020

Pros

Ability to share knowledge and guide students in learning new things.

Cons

Some students' non-challant attitude towards learning.

What is a student teacher and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a student teacher?

Student teacher career paths

Key steps to become a student teacher

Explore student teacher education requirements

Most common student teacher degrees

Start to develop specific student teacher skills

Research student teacher duties and responsibilities

Prepare your student teacher resume

Choose from 10+ customizable student teacher resume templates

Apply for student teacher jobs

How did you land your first student teacher job

Average student teacher salary

How do student teachers rate their job?

Student teacher reviews

Student teacher FAQs

How long does it take to become a Student Teacher?

Search for student teacher jobs

Student teacher jobs by state