How to become an adjunct welding instructor

Adjunct instructors are a great resource for young welders. They are also a direct connection between the classroom and industry, which is a huge value-add to both full-time instructors and students alike. Photo: Jim Mosman

Have you been debating whether or not to get involved in teaching?

Maybe you had an excellent weld instructor who challenged and motivated you, and you want to pay that forward to the next generation of welders. Maybe you’re looking to make a little extra money and teaching sounds like a fun way to do it.

Adjunct welding instructors are an important part of the culture and success of community college welding programs. For starters, they take a little bit of the weight off the shoulders of full-time instructors, who more often than not must balance writing curriculum, instructing students, procuring materials, maintaining equipment, and managing administration meetings. Adjunct instructors are a great resource for young welders. They are also a direct connection between the classroom and industry, which is a huge value-add to both full-time instructors and students alike.

For many in industry, the idea of paying it forward to the next generation of welders is both intriguing and exciting. But what’s the best way to get involved? How do you know you have what it takes to be a good adjunct welding instructor?

Former Adjunct Instructors Who Found Their Calling

Jim Thompson, Cullman, Ala., spent 19 years working in construction, in a small fabrication shop, and in manufacturing, and he was intrigued by teaching initially to make a little extra money.

“I was building a house and thought it would be great to earn some part-time money as an adjunct instructor. During my first semester teaching, I enjoyed it so much that I said to my wife, ‘If I get an opportunity to do this full time, that’s what I want to do,’” Thompson said.

A few years later, the full-time position ended up becoming available, and that began Thompson’s 26-year teaching career, during which he spent time as both an adjunct and full-time instructor at Wallace State College, Hanceville, Ala., before retiring a little more than a year and a half ago.

Joe Kean, Wichita, Kan., discovered a love for teaching during his time in the Army training troops. While he didn’t teach welding, he met some welders while he was in Iraq and fell in love with what they were doing. He learned how to weld once he got back home.

Kean worked in heavy-equipment repair and tooling repair at a quarry before going into business for himself building handrails and egress covers. And then WSU Tech, located in Wichita, Kan., needed an adjunct instructor to teach a robot welding class.

“I took a stab at it and it turned out pretty well,” Kean said.

So well, in fact, that just six years later, Kean went from an adjunct instructor to program director of welding and machining at the college. Part of his job is identifying, hiring, and mentoring new adjunct welding instructors.

Bob Moffatt, Arkansas City, Kan., began his teaching career as an adjunct instructor while doing pipeline work across the Midwest. The part-time teaching gig became full time when he decided he wanted something more permanent.

“I was sick of the layoffs,” Moffatt said flatly.

He’s been at Cowley College for the last 26 years.

Thompson, Kean, and Moffatt have all experienced the joys and challenges of weld education, first as adjunct instructors and then as full-time instructors. All agree that embarking on a career as an adjunct welding instructor is a great way to find fulfillment and give back.

“Being an adjunct is a great way for somebody to invest in the future of our industry and really help people change their lives. Those students are there because they want something different, and to be able to come in and help them achieve that is a pretty great reward,” Kean said.

Steps to Become an Adjunct Welding Instructor

1. Do Your Research

Before you do anything, Moffatt suggests you reach out to your local community college’s welding program administrator or a full-time instructor and ask questions about the focus of the program. Do your strengths as a welder align with what the program teaches? For you to be successful, first make sure the program aligns with your skill set.

At Cowley College, for example, Moffatt said individuals with structural or pipeline experience using all processes are extremely valuable since that is what his program emphasizes. Essentially, it shouldn’t just be the program evaluating you; you, too, should be evaluating the program to ensure it aligns with where your strengths lie.

“If you’re wanting to teach, make sure to look at the program first to see if it’s a good fit for you. That’s key,” Moffatt said.

You also might want to investigate how the welding program trains adjunct staff. Will you be left to figure things out on your own, or does the program have a mentorship program to help new adjunct instructors get acclimated to the position? For example, WSU Tech has a system in place that pairs a new adjunct instructor with a seasoned instructor for a period of time.

“That first week, the seasoned instructor will teach the class. The next week, the seasoned instructor and the adjunct instructor co-teach the class. Once the adjunct is on their own, the experienced instructor is still there as a support and will check on the adjunct throughout the semester,” Kean said.

Learning how to manage a classroom is different than managing the shop environment. Being able to lecture and navigate through all the distractions available to students in the classroom nowadays (i.e., phones) and getting students to engage and pay attention takes practice.

“If you have an example of how that works, we’ve found this to be a much smoother transition for the new instructor. This has been our process for the last two and a half years and it really helps,” Kean added.

2. Shadow a Teacher

To get the best feel for how a program works, Thompson suggests you shadow an instructor.

“Go and get a feel for the environment and a feel for what it’s all about, and then decide,” Thompson said. Kean agreed.

“If you’re interested in teaching, reach out to your local welding school and go spend a day with them. Any welding school would love to have someone from industry come in and invest in their students. Maybe you have something specific to share, like how to do an open-root groove weld. You might find it rewarding, or you might find it’s not for you.”

3. Embrace the Mistakes

Once you get in the classroom, understand that you will make mistakes. In fact, Kean said the best thing you can do right off the bat is to embrace the fact that you will mess up—it’s a normal part of a new teacher’s learning process. A common mistake is expecting perfection or overplanning to the point where detours or deviations are considered a failure.

“Oftentimes a new adjunct instructor will think that there is a perfect way to do things, and that a class has to go along a particular path to be successful. It just doesn’t work that way. You’re going to have days when you present something to your class and it’ll be received great. Other days there will be a disconnect. That’s OK. On those days, just remember that you’re working toward an end goal,” Kean explained.

Kean went on to say that students have the capacity to learn and be successful even with an imperfect instructor, so don’t get too caught up in the hiccups or the small failures. In the grand scheme of things, they are minor bumps in the road. Instead, view the semester as a long game and focus your energy on learning from your mistakes and moving forward.

Being as prepared as possible before class can help a lot. It’s one thing to know what you’re talking about. It’s another thing to be able to articulate it in front of a group of people with diverse learning styles.

“You’ve got to be prepared,” said Moffatt. “There's some days you can wing it. There's days I used to wing it in here, but there are days that just won’t work.”

Thompson agreed.

“It took me a while to realize that I needed to be better prepared,” Thompson said. “I needed to make sure that I knew my material before I went in front of a class and presented it. When you’re prepared, you’re confident, and confidence is important.”

That confidence will build gradually the more comfortable you become in front of a classroom. It’s a process, but so is learning, Thompson added. As an instructor, don’t put pressure on yourself to know everything.

“You can’t be an expert at everything,” Thompson said.

4. Never Assume Students Know What You’re Talking About

An instructor who has experience and has found success in the field can be an incredible resource for young and up-and-coming welders. But Thompson stresses the importance of remembering your audience once you get into the classroom.

Having a successful career as a welder does not guarantee you will be a successful welding instructor if you can’t deliver the information in a way that students can understand. These are new welders, after all, so you can’t assume they know what you’re talking about. You have to be able to go back to basics.

“I’ve seen adjuncts who were very good at what they did in industry, but they just had difficulty conveying the message and would forget about small details that students need to know for the particular sequence of things they were working on. The instructor forgot to explain something minor and just assumed the student already knew it,” he explained.

To fix that or prevent it from happening altogether requires patience—a lot of it. Unlike your co-workers in industry, students don’t necessarily have the same frame of reference you do, so you have to be sure to explain things in detail.

“Really break things down,” Thompson added. “Slow down, go step by step, and assume they don’t know anything. It’s up to you to explain it. If something isn’t clicking, break it down again and figure out why.”

You also need to get a feel for how each individual learns, said Moffatt. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work.

“People learn in different ways. Some learn by sight, others are auditory learners, some learn better when it’s hands-on, and some don’t get it no matter what you do. You have to be prepared for all the ways people learn and figure out how best to help them,” he added.

5. Find Your Why

Taking on an adjunct teaching position can be a rewarding experience, but like anything else, it has its challenges. To keep from getting discouraged, it’s important to identify and remember why you want to do it.

“I wouldn't discourage anybody from teaching. It's very rewarding. I really enjoy seeing the light bulb come on when someone finally understands something they’ve been struggling with,” he said.

Moffatt’s experience as a teacher has even provided perspective on the teachers he had, so much so that he went back and thanked some of them for what they taught him.

Thompson’s why became obvious to him immediately. He, too, wanted to teach people a trade that could improve their lives.

“The thought of teaching young people a skill that could transfer over so many different industries became a mission of mine. I wanted that for them instead of seeing them flipping burgers or working at a fast-food restaurant. Teaching became my calling in life,” Thompson said.

At the root of it all, having welding skill, experience, and genuine desire to give back goes a long way, said Kean.

“The welding background, the ability, and the desire are important, and we can help you learn the parts of teaching that you don’t know. You have to have the right heart towards welding. Students want to learn this trade because they want to learn how to do something that they can apply and have a better future. If you can remember that and help them work towards that goal, then you’ll be successful.”