Philosophy Teacher

Philosophy Teacher fulfills the 20 tasks outlined here to reveal the job’s true workload and key handoffs. The examples are written for rapid practice and realistic assessment. Each one shows where we found it, and comes with an AI prompt you can copy and use straight away.

20evidenced tasks
20ready prompts
7tools of the trade
25-1126.00O*NET-SOC code
20,460hold this job (US, BLS 2025)
$80,260median pay/yr (US)
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What it pays

Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.

Half of all Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary in the U.S. earn more than $80,260 a year — the middle 80% land between $49,140 and $139,580. About 20,460 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$80,260typical pay / year
20,460people in this work
$139,580+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
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The work, task by task

These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.

Learning1

Grade papers and exams

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Grade the stack of midterm essays and the closed-book exam by Friday noon, mark rubric criteria for clarity,…
Grade the stack of midterm essays and the closed-book exam by Friday noon, mark rubric criteria for clarity, argument, and evidence on each paper, record numeric scores on the grade sheet, and flag any suspected plagiarism for review.
The tools that do the workCourse management systemMicrosoft WordESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
Keeping the record2
$ ls -la drwxr-xr-x docs/$ run script

Prepare lectures and exams

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Draft next term's three lecture outlines and two summative exams aligned to the learning outcomes, include…
Draft next term's three lecture outlines and two summative exams aligned to the learning outcomes, include reading lists and question rubrics, circulate the materials to the department by Tuesday for feedback, then finalize versions for the syllabus.
The tools that do the workGoogle DocsESCOjob descriptionsO*NET

Liaise with university colleagues

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Email the undergraduate coordinator and Dr. Morales with the proposed curriculum changes, attach the revised…
Email the undergraduate coordinator and Dr. Morales with the proposed curriculum changes, attach the revised course outline and assessment mapping, request a short meeting next week, and note any departmental constraints on staffing or room allocation.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordESCOO*NET
Move2

Instruct students in philosophy

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Plan and deliver this week's three-hour seminar on Kantian ethics: prepare a 40-minute mini-lecture, two…
Plan and deliver this week's three-hour seminar on Kantian ethics: prepare a 40-minute mini-lecture, two in-class thought experiments, and a 30-minute graded reflection prompt to be collected at the end of class.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointESCOjob descriptionsO*NET

Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions

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Begin class with a five-minute refresher on Socratic questioning, present a short controversial case, split…
Begin class with a five-minute refresher on Socratic questioning, present a short controversial case, split students into four groups for twenty minutes of debate, then moderate a full-class debrief and collect one-paragraph reflective notes at the end.
The tools that do the workCollaborative editingjob descriptionsO*NET
The daily work15

Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.

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Research the ethics of AI in moral responsibility, gather recent journal articles and primary texts, draft a…
Research the ethics of AI in moral responsibility, gather recent journal articles and primary texts, draft a 6,000-word article arguing a novel thesis, prepare abstracts for submission to Ethics and Philosophy & Technology, and assemble citations in a consistent style.
The tools that do the workGoogle DocsO*NET

Write articles and books.

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Outline a book-length project on freedom and moral luck, write three polished chapters totaling 10,000 words,…
Outline a book-length project on freedom and moral luck, write three polished chapters totaling 10,000 words, prepare a proposal with table of contents and sample chapter, and export a clean manuscript and CV to send to Routledge by the end of next month.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordO*NET

Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.

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Prepare the department meeting agenda, draft a one-page annual review of teaching and hiring priorities,…
Prepare the department meeting agenda, draft a one-page annual review of teaching and hiring priorities, collate course loads and budget notes, and email the packet to faculty and the dean with a request for comments by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft WordO*NET

Act as advisers to student organizations.

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Meet the Philosophy Society committee, review the student constitution, advise on event risk and speaker…
Meet the Philosophy Society committee, review the student constitution, advise on event risk and speaker honoraria, draft a short guidance note and permission form, and circulate to the student leaders and club adviser for signatures before next Thursday.
The tools that do the workCollaborative editingO*NET

Participate in campus and community events.

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Accept the invitation to the university public lecture series, draft a 20-minute talk connecting Stoic ethics…
Accept the invitation to the university public lecture series, draft a 20-minute talk connecting Stoic ethics to civic resilience, prepare a handout for attendees, and confirm audiovisual needs and publicity copy with campus events by Monday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointO*NET

Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.

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Compile a specialized bibliography on Continental philosophy for advanced reading, select twenty-five…
Compile a specialized bibliography on Continental philosophy for advanced reading, select twenty-five essential texts with annotations, organise them by theme and level, and upload the final reading list to the course resources for students.
The tools that do the workCourse management systemO*NET

Compile course material

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Assemble the primary readings, lecture slides, weekly discussion questions, and assignment briefs for…
Assemble the primary readings, lecture slides, weekly discussion questions, and assignment briefs for Introduction to Ethics into a single editable course packet, order by week, add page numbers, and flag any missing copyright info by Friday.
The tools that do the workGoogle DocsESCOsee the evidence ↗

Perform classroom management

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Create a seating plan, behaviour expectations sheet, a five-step intervention script for disruptions, and a…
Create a seating plan, behaviour expectations sheet, a five-step intervention script for disruptions, and a rota for taking attendance and tech checks so the first two weeks run to time and the department head can review it on Thursday.
The tools that do the workCollaborative editingESCOsee the evidence ↗

Develop course outline

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Draft a twelve-week course outline for Modern Political Philosophy with week-by-week topics, learning…
Draft a twelve-week course outline for Modern Political Philosophy with week-by-week topics, learning outcomes, core readings, assessment points and suggested seminar activities, then circulate to the curriculum lead for feedback by next Monday.
The tools that do the workCourse management systemESCOsee the evidence ↗

Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.

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Draft and submit two competitive grant proposals to the Humanities Research Fund and the Smith Foundation…
Draft and submit two competitive grant proposals to the Humanities Research Fund and the Smith Foundation seeking one-year support for my project on moral luck, include a clear research plan, a $28,500 budget, institutional letters, and submit by Friday so university grants can process it.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft ExcelO*NET

Lead review and feedback sessions for students

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Run end-of-term review sessions for my seminar students, circulate their draft essays two days before,…
Run end-of-term review sessions for my seminar students, circulate their draft essays two days before, prepare focused written feedback on argument structure and sources, hold 30-minute individual conferences over Wednesday and Thursday, and record final grades after revisions.
The tools that do the workGoogle DocsCourse management systemESCO

Conduct academic research in philosophy

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Compile a literature review and data collection plan for my philosophy research on epistemic injustice,…
Compile a literature review and data collection plan for my philosophy research on epistemic injustice, export citations, request interlibrary loans for three rare texts, and draft the methods and timeline so I can circulate it to my research collaborator by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workGoogle DocsMicrosoft ExcelESCO

Publish research findings

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Prepare the journal submission package for my paper on collective responsibility: final manuscript clean…
Prepare the journal submission package for my paper on collective responsibility: final manuscript clean copy, anonymized cover letter, formatted references to the journal style, and the required author contribution statement, then submit before the end of the month.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordESCO

Teach philosophy

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Design the learning objectives for next semester's introductory ethics course, map each objective to assessed…
Design the learning objectives for next semester's introductory ethics course, map each objective to assessed assignments and weekly topics, ensure alignment with department outcomes, and have the syllabus ready for departmental review next Monday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordCourse management systemESCOsee the evidence ↗

Curriculum objectives

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Translate the department outcomes into five measurable curriculum objectives for my political philosophy…
Translate the department outcomes into five measurable curriculum objectives for my political philosophy module, pair each objective with a rubric criterion and at least one in-class activity, then circulate the objectives to the curriculum committee by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordCollaborative editingESCOsee the evidence ↗

Says who?

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The logs, files & records this job keeps

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Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.

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