The Importance of Professional Development for Welding Instructors

Through 2029, the United States will need an estimated 320,500 new welding professionals (Ref. 1). Welding is foundational to the U.S. economy. It directly supports the construction of ships, steel-framed buildings, bridges, and critical infrastructure, and it indirectly sustains industries such as oil and gas, where processing equipment relies heavily on welded components. From transportation systems to telecommunication towers, nearly every part of our lives is impacted by welded products.

Meeting this workforce demand depends not only on recruiting new welders but also on ensuring they are properly trained. Today’s welding professionals must master both fundamental welding techniques and emerging technologies, including automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in welding applications. Preparing students for this evolving field requires instructors who are highly skilled, current, and continually developing their own expertise.

Keeping Welding Instructors Current in a Rapidly Evolving Industry

Professional development for welding instructors is essential. Educators are the gatekeepers of the profession. They are responsible for equipping both new entrants and experienced welders with the knowledge, technical skills, and adaptability required by industry. As welding technologies advance, new materials are introduced, and codes and standards evolve, instructors must remain at the forefront of these changes. Without ongoing instructor training, the workforce cannot remain competitive, safe, or aligned with industry needs.

Investing in welding instructor development is critical to ensuring a skilled, future-ready welding workforce.

But how can welding instructors stay current with the ongoing changes in the welding industry? Completion of a degree or experience in the welding industry may provide the foundational knowledge and skills for entry into welding education. However, the ever-changing technology and the needs of students require welding instructors to stay current with both welding and instructional technology.

The Transformation of Welding Education Postpandemic

In a 2024 AWS marketing survey conducted by Weld-Ed (The National Center for Welding Education and Training), industry representatives cited advanced waveform gas metal arc welding (GMAW) as a welding skill lacking for entry-level welders. However, only 55% of the instructors reported that advanced waveform GMAW is taught. There are other examples of industry experts reporting lacking skills in areas such as robots and collaborative robots, nonferrous materials and newer materials, and additive manufacturing, specifically wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM).

Instructional technology has also changed. The COVID-19 pandemic’s startling impact on the U.S. education system required innovative thinking from teachers and administrators. As we struggled with the pandemic, specific patterns in delivery methods and limitations in welding education emerged. Data analyzed by Weld-Ed from its April 2020 survey of 333 welding instructors showed that 93.3% or 308 schools were closed as a result of the pandemic.

As a result of school closures, 83.3% of the instructors were providing online instruction. However, 29% of the instructors reported that less than 50% of their students were participating in online instruction. In the follow-up 2021 Weld-Ed survey, instructors reported that only 50% of schools provided any education and training to prepare instructors to teach online.    

In the Weld-Ed 2024 survey, participants indicated that schools were back to teaching in the classroom; however, online instruction remains a significant method used to supplement face-to-face delivery. This instructional technology has improved the ability of instructors to interact with students remotely, during periods of bad weather, and when they have unexpected absences from class.

Students of all generations commonly use technology in their daily lives and as an online aid to understand difficult concepts. The development of instruction for either in-person or online delivery requires the instructor to understand the fundamental ways humans learn. Often, welding instructors moving from industry to the classroom lack the education and training in learning theory and student learning preferences to develop effective and efficient lessons.

Given this gap, it is important to consider what kinds of professional development (PD) welding instructors currently receive and what they feel they need. How much PD is available to them? What types of PD are offered? And how do welding instructors want the PD to be delivered? Some insight into these questions was found in the recent Weld-Ed spring 2025 welding instructor survey. Instructors reported that they would prefer in-person PD, with 31% of the instructors preferring a full week of in-person PD and 35% preferring 2–3 days of in-person PD. Only 7% of the instructors surveyed preferred online instructor-led education and training.

In the 2024 survey, instructors were asked about the PD content they wanted to see, and 22% wanted to learn more about instructional design and teaching strategies, 18% were interested in advanced welding processes, and 12% wanted to learn more about welding metallurgy. These statistics are similar to data gathered in previous Weld-Ed surveys.

The data indicated that welding instructors overall are looking to remain current with both welding technology and instructional technology. But, funding and time constraints are limiting factors to continued PD. Fortunately, there are some options available for welding instructors.

Continuing Education Opportunities for Welding Instructors

The AWS Education and Training Department has developed both in-person and online courses to help instructors stay current with welding technology and understand the fundamentals of instructional design and teaching methods. AWS also continues to offer the Instructor’s Institute, which is open to one welding instructor from each AWS District per year. The Instructor’s Institute reviews new welding technology and teaching methods. AWS funds the cost of travel and attendance at the event.

AWS Education and Training has also developed a Train the Trainer course that covers welding techniques, welding technology, and teaching methods. The course is currently being further developed for delivery throughout the United States (see page 32 for more information).

As an AWS partner, The National Science Foundation-funded Weld-Ed program offers a suite of PD courses taught at community colleges and partner companies nationwide. These courses cover welding processes, metallurgy, robotics, codes and standards, instructional design and teaching methods, and nondestructive testing. The courses are generally taught in the summer but can be customized to fit local or regional educational needs. Currently, Weld-Ed is covering the lodging costs for the instructors attending the courses.

Other continuing education and training options exist through major welding equipment manufacturers at no or reduced cost to welding instructors. Lincoln Electric provides in-person continued education courses at its welding school in Cleveland, Ohio. Miller Electric and ESAB provide online resources for welding instructors. And there are a variety of online videos that describe welding techniques and processes. (However, there is also an abundance of poor video representations of welding and misinformation online. Welding instructors need to carefully review the information before recommending any online sources to their students for their own use.)

Conferences organized by Weld-Ed and AWS offer welding instructors the opportunity to hear from leaders from both industry and education. Conferences held at FABTECH, SkillsUSA, and regional events allow welding educators to learn about the most current welding processes and weld inspection methods. Professional development hours are given to educators who participate toward recertification as Certified Welding Educators or Certified Welding Inspectors.

Maximize Your AWS Membership

AWS membership provides networking opportunities at local Section meetings. Networking also allows welding instructors to observe and often to work in local welding and manufacturing facilities. Working or observing welding operations allows educators to take significant information back to their classrooms. Partnerships with local industry are vital to building a successful welding program.

AWS membership is free for welding students and should be encouraged by instructors, as it allows students the opportunity to attend Section meetings and build their own relationships with industry personnel. In the Weld-Ed 2025 study, only 41% of welding instructors reported that their students were AWS members. It is our responsibility as AWS members to ensure information about the benefits of membership is disseminated to welding educators.

Conclusion

Continuing education for welding instructors takes many forms, from formal classroom and laboratory training to informal online professional development. Because the welding industry plays a critical role in the strength and growth of the U.S. economy, it depends on a highly skilled and well‑educated workforce. To meet this need, welding instructors must continually update their knowledge and technical skills. Ongoing professional development ensures that instructors can deliver the latest welding technologies and apply the most effective instructional methods to prepare their students for success. 

Reference

1. American Welding Society. Shining a Light on the Welding Workforce. Retrieved January 26, 2026, from 
weldingworkforcedata.com.

This article was written by W. Richard Polanin (a certified manufacturing engineer, an AWS Certified Welding Inspector, a professor at Illinois Central College, the president of WRP Associates, a co-principal investigator at The National Center for Welding Education and Training [Weld-Ed], and the 2022 AWS president) for the American Welding Society.