Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School
Teach occupational, vocational, career, or technical subjects to students at the middle, intermediate, or junior high school level.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Learning Strategies
- Instructing
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Administrative
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order among students.
- Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
- Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects, and communicate those objectives to students.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Artistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (85.8% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (20%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (34.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 51% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 55% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 72% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 80% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 51% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 90% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 92% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 59% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.55%
- Contact with others about half the time: 19.17%
- Contact with others most of the time: 22.11%
- Constant contact with others: 58.16%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.35%
- Fairly important: 30.51%
- Important: 27.04%
- Very important: 19.25%
- Extremely important: 21.85%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.89%
- Important: 7.46%
- Very important: 31.66%
- Extremely important: 59.99%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 1.96%
- Very little freedom: 9.19%
- Limited freedom: 21.88%
- Some freedom: 46.62%
- A lot of freedom: 20.35%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.41%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.19%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 66.55%
- Every day: 12.84%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.82%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 12.74%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 35.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.47%
- Every day: 31.33%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.82%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.53%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.04%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.24%
- Every day: 47.36%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 27.39%
- Fairly serious: 18.75%
- Serious: 18.48%
- Very serious: 15.92%
- Extremely serious: 19.47%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 25-2023.00 · SOC 25-2023 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8