Education Directors and Museum Teachers
Overview
Introduction
Museums, zoos, and botanical gardens are visited by people who come to learn and observe. Education directors, or curators of education, help these people enrich their visits. Education directors plan, develop, and administer educational programs at museums and other similar institutions. They plan tours, lectures, and classes for individuals, school groups, and special interest groups.
Museum teachers, also known as museum educators, are hired by directors to provide information, share insight, and...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Median annual salaries for museum education specialists were $46,390 in September 2024, according to ZipRecruiter.com. Salaries ranged from less than $24,000 to $72,500 or more annually. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reports that self-enrichment teachers who were employed by museums, historical sites, and similar institutions earned mean annual wages of $47,870 in May 2023.
Educatio...
Work Environment
People who choose to be education directors and teachers enjoy spending time in museums, botanical gardens, or zoos. They also enjoy teaching, planning activities, organizing projects, and carrying a great deal of responsibility. Those in zoos should like animals and being outdoors. Those in museums may like the quiet of a natural history museum or the energy and life of a science museum aimed ...
Outlook
Employment for education directors and museum teachers is expected to be good during the next decade. There are approximately 850 million visits each year to American museums, according to the American Alliance of Museums, and museums remain a popular destination.
Despite this prediction, competition for jobs will be strong—especially for education directors. Many educators with specialt...
