I am thinking about changing my major to education so I can be a teacher after I retire from the Air Force.
What kind of classes are taken for an education major?
It depends on the level of teacher you'd like to become. Secondary teachers are increasingly majoring in their subject area and then completing a post-bachelor certificate or MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) for the ed qualification portion.
Elementary Education majors tend to a very even liberal arts core degree with additional coursework in pedagogy and human development capped with a student teaching experience.
Specific areas of education courses you might (or might not) face are 'methods' (dealing with how to teach specific material to specific audiences), ed history (dealing with how the system we have in place come to be and the educational theories of people like Horace Mann), ed theory/pedagogy (dealing with the teaching and developmental theories of people like Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget), education law (which changes regularly), classroom management (how to get 20+ kids to calm down and pay attention when they really don't want to), assessment and measurement (how to write a test that actually measures something and when to not even bother with a test), curriculum and instruction (how to design a course/lesson that actually transfers some knowledge), ed technology (how to use all of this technology to enhance learning - and when not to use it), and the like. Some of these get combined with each other depending on what the school you attend thinks is most important and on what your state requires of teachers. Almost all teacher certification programs include a classroom observation component and the student teaching requirement.
That classroom observation and student teaching requirement poses a challenge for people on active duty - you can't graduate with the degree without it and the USAF isn't likely to give you time-off to do it. If you schedule your program well you can arrange to have everything but the student teaching finished when you retire and then do the student teaching in the semester right after you leave the service. Don't plan to transfer all of that coursework somewhere else back home for the last course - that much transfer won't work. Either do the subject based major and plan a post-bac or MAT, or plan to stay in place through your last semester.
A lot depends on the subject and level you're planning to get certified in. HS math and science are still very shortage teaching areas in most communities.
What kind of classes are taken for an education major?
Sounds like you are already in college if you are thinking about changing your major. get the college's course catalog (it may be on line) and look at an educational major and it will list all required classes. You best bet is to meet with the head of the educational department. Ask for a meeting and tell them you are thinking of changing your major to their department.
