An education writer can write articles, textbooks, reading guides, curriculum, or cover educational topics as a journalist. They may prepare material for students or teachers, work with school boards, or report on education issues as a journalist or freelance writer.
There are several different types of jobs that could be titled “education writer” jobs. In any case, an education writer is a professional writer who chooses to focus his or her career in the educational field. An education writer can be a person who writes articles, textbooks, reading guides and curriculum for students and teachers, or it can be a journalist who covers educational topics.
Some educational writers prepare material specifically for students. This requires a lot of knowledge and skill, as the writer must be able to adapt complicated material into a form and simplicity that matches the skills of a particular age group. For example, a person writing about the US Civil War might choose to break down the topic quite differently for high school students as opposed to college history courses. Being able to write informatively and at the right level of comprehension, as well as keeping the topic interesting and engaging, is a challenge for many education writers.
Another task an education writer might have is to prepare material for teachers. While many teachers enjoy creating their own curriculum and lesson plans, some simply don’t have the time to create study guides, research material, and summaries for each assigned text or subject. Education writers can provide a variety of study materials for any subject, including lectures, visuals, background information, and resource lists. In this capacity, an education writer needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the subject and must have a general idea of course objectives and testing practices in order to prepare courseware that provides the right amount of information for the subject.
Some education writers may work with school boards or even regional departments of education to create teaching guidelines and explanations of expected requirements for districts and school systems. Generally, state or regional school requirements are defined through an ongoing collaboration between teachers, unions, and education experts. To ensure rules and regulations are clearly explained and delineated, an educational writer or writing team may be called upon to create system-wide material for all schools and teachers.
Education journalists and freelance education writers build their careers by studying education systems and providing reports, results and critiques. Education journalists tend to report on issues in the education system that may be important to the general public. Ballot initiatives that change school practices, controversial civil rights issues like random drug testing and dress codes, and even religious issues in public school can all be subjects of interest to an educational journalist. A freelance education columnist or writer may choose to write editorials and articles about possible solutions to problems in school systems and may write for news organizations or scholarly journals.
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