Instructors and Instructional Designers: What's the Difference?

*TW: Mentions of COVID-19 and anxiety*

Lately, my anxiety has been a bit high and I've felt a little on edge. It's probably mostly due to the dumpster fire that is Florida's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I think it also has to due with getting a new puppy soon and the stress of figuring out how to introduce her to our crazy cat, getting assignments prepared for the end of the semester (I didn't know that the last week of the summer semester is next week because I have no concept of time anymore), preparing for doctorate applications and the GRE, etc. This past week, I read a tweet from someone I follow who is a Ph.D. candidate that said, "Calling it now, the #instructionaldesign job seeker pool is going to saturate due to educators not wanting to go back in the classroom." I don't know why, but it just REALLY upset me. I am graduating in December and the thought of the job market I am going into becoming saturated on top of the destruction the pandemic has wrought on jobs in general sent me into a panic attack.

I know that it has been a trend in recent years for K-12 educators to make the jump from teaching to instructional design, whether or not they have certificates and/or master's degrees in instructional design and learning technologies. I understand that it is hard for educators, especially those in underfunded public schools, to put up with the bureaucratic red-tape of the educational system here in the United States. However, I do think that there are fundamental differences between teaching and instructional design that do not make the jump from one to the other easy. First of all, K-12 teachers focus on pedagogy which, in its most simple meaning, refers to the methods and practice of teaching but typically focuses on child learners. Instructional designers are usually well-versed in and create courses around andragogy, the methods and principles of adult education. I have been seeing some jobs pop up for learning technologists and curriculum developers for school districts, but it seems to be a pretty niche market. 

Also, instructional designers are just that: designers. We have knowledge of how to make instructional materials visually pleasing, easy to read, etc. I KNOW teachers have somewhat of an understanding of this as well (just take one look at any bulletin board they create) but I imagine that some might have trouble translating that creativity to a technological platform, especially if they struggle with software and/or learning management systems. I have heard that for some K-12 instructors, the move to online for pandemic-related ERT has been difficult due to reasons like these.

Please understand, I am not trying to put down our teachers at all. Their job is hard enough as it is, and Lord knows that I couldn't do what they do. The point that I'm trying to make is that I don't think that a K-12 educator should try to make the move into the field of instructional design without a graduate certificate at the very least. In my opinion (which probably doesn't matter much, but this is my blog so I'm going to say it anyway dangit) I think that we're getting to the point that you need a master's degree in ID or LT before you can enter the field. I also realize that I'm being rather selfish with this post. I already work in an LD-adjacent job and do have the infrastructure in place within my organization to make the move up to an instructional design position, albeit not in the timeframe I had originally anticipated due to COVID-19.

For my K-12 educator peers, what do you think? What made you want to make the career move?

"Male teacher helps two female students at computer" by All4Ed is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0