Author Biography for David Byers

I always wanted to be a teacher. When I went to college, I let myself be talked out of pursuing a degree in education because those who were older and wiser than I said that there were no jobs (and no money) to be had in that career field. So I steadily pursued a variety of college courses until I had enough credits for a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communication with an emphasis in Theater. While I never actively pursued a career in speech or theater, my education and experience with both have helped me throughout my career.

Although I didn’t end up with an undergraduate degree in education, the desire to be an educator never left me. As a result, my career path has consistently involved teaching in one capacity or another.

While still in college, I took on a part-time job as a teacher’s aide at the school’s child care center in order to make some extra money. Inspired by my teaching experiences there, I went back to college a couple of years after graduation to earn 17 credits in Early Childhood Education and obtain my childcare director’s certification. I then spent the next ten years working as a preschool teacher, a kindergarten teacher, a school-age program teacher, and a childcare director in a variety of settings.

My experiences in the childcare field in turn led me to a part-time job teaching Early Childhood Education and Administration courses at a community college. Although I had considered returning to school to pursue an M.B.A., it was my teaching experiences at the college level that inspired me to earn a Master’s Degree in Adult and Continuing Education.

For almost three years I taught several college courses on a part-time basis while continuing to be a full-time childcare director and simultaneously working on my degree. Once I had completed my master’s degree, I left the childcare industry hoping to break into college teaching on a full-time basis. God had other plans and all the doors and windows closed around us in the only place I had ever lived, Colorado. Yet God opened a different door, which took Chandra and me to Nebraska to work at Boys Town as Family-Teachers for a year and a half, where we both earned the title Certified Family-Teachers.

After leaving Boys Town, I worked for several years as a trainer and training department manager. My primary responsibilities consisted of developing and teaching courses including the functionality of technical software applications, management skills, and customer service. It was during this same time period that I had the good fortune to teach management courses to undergraduate students on a part-time basis for a local university. Realizing that I really wanted to pursue my love of teaching further, I enrolled in a university to pursue my Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Teaching and Learning. I’m happy to say that I achieved that goal!