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What is a teaching internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Diana Jones

A teaching intern is an individual who works alongside a certified teacher in a classroom setting to gain hands-on experience in teaching. They have the opportunity to observe and participate in classroom instruction, manage student behavior, and develop lesson plans. They assist the lead teacher with grading assignments, creating educational materials, and communicating with parents. Teaching interns gain valuable insights into the teaching profession and can refine their skills to become effective educators.

What general advice would you give to a teaching internship?

Dr. Diana JonesDr. Diana Jones LinkedIn profile

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.
ScoreTeaching InternshipUS Average
Salary
3.2

Avg. Salary $41,169

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
3.7

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
10.0
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.11%

Asian 6.61%

Black or African American 12.10%

Hispanic or Latino 19.08%

Unknown 4.71%

White 56.39%

Gender

female 68.95%

male 31.05%

Age - 45
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 - 45
Stress level
3.7

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level
6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
8.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a teaching internship?

Pros

  • Gain hands-on experience in teaching

  • Receive mentorship and guidance from experienced teachers

  • Gain insight into the education system and its challenges

  • Develop communication and collaboration skills

  • Potentially lead to job opportunities in the future

Cons

  • Unpaid or low-paid positions may be difficult to sustain financially

  • Long hours and high workload can be stressful

  • May face challenges with classroom discipline or student behavior

  • Potential of feeling overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility

  • May struggle to establish authority with students

Teaching internship career paths

Key steps to become a teaching internship

  1. Explore teaching internship education requirements

    Most common teaching internship degrees

    Bachelor's

    72.2 %

    Master's

    13.0 %

    Associate

    7.9 %
  2. Start to develop specific teaching internship skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Classroom Management28.59%
    Kindergarten7.87%
    Language Arts6.60%
    Social Studies5.64%
    Literature4.83%
  3. Research teaching internship duties and responsibilities

    • Utilize digital technology for educational purposes by managing blackboard page.
    • Work with a team of teachers to implement an acting/writing, theater, ESL, parent initiative workshop.
    • Tutor at-risk high school students and provide ESL support to 1st , 6th , 7th, and 10th graders
    • Create a class syllabus and provide active and cognitive learning opportunities for graduate students in the school counseling program.
  4. Prepare your teaching internship resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your teaching internship 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 teaching internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable teaching internship resume templates

    Build a professional teaching internship 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 teaching internship resume.
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    Teaching Internship Resume
  5. Apply for teaching internship jobs

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

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

How did you land your first teaching internship job

Zippi

Are you a teaching internship?

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Average teaching internship salary

The average teaching internship salary in the United States is $41,169 per year or $20 per hour. Teaching internship salaries range between $25,000 and $66,000 per year.

Average teaching internship salary
$41,169 Yearly
$19.79 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do teaching interns rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Teaching internship reviews

profile
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


profile
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.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020
Cons

The stress and absence of financial support are hard. I spend far too much of my own money buying notebooks because the families think I should. The lack of community support wears you down. The inflexible expectations of upper admin. The endless testing and the unrealistic demands and canned programs that do NOTHING to help students from financial and socio-economically challenged areas succeed.

Pros

The pedagogical autonomy. Teaching is an art and every year is (and should be) different. I recreate goals, programs and targets according to the needs of the students each year. Maine is an incredible place to teach as it doesn't require 3 page (or more lesson plans for each day. The admins are supportive and teachers are encouraged to improve and change their craft as needed.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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