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Bachelor's Degree in English Teaching

To pursue a job in teaching, you must earn a bachelor’s degree. Although an English degree or related coursework is required in some states, other states allow you to teach any subject, as long as you pass its PRAXIS exam.

One route that many aspiring teachers are taking, especially during the pandemic, is toÌýearn their teaching degrees online. Not all online programs are alike, however. To get a teaching degree that employers will respect, you must make sure that your program:

• Is fully accredited with degree recognition in all 50 states.
• Includes a teacher preparation program—with classroom management and teaching strategies courses, plus student teaching experience.
• Prepares you to pass state certifications and licensure requirements.

Master's Degree in English Teaching

You can also get yourÌýmaster’s degree onlineÌýfor teaching English. This can help you:

• Be a more desirable candidate in highly competitive school districts.
• Earn a significant raise in pay.
• Become a lead teacher in your English department.
• Avoid layoffs due to state budget cuts.

Again, you’ll want to look for a degree program that is accredited and one that meets student teaching requirements and prepares you for state certification exams and licensure (if you’re not already an English teacher).

If you’d like to become anÌýEnglish professor, earning your master’s degree is a must. This will help you land a teaching position at a community college or an adjunct or associate teaching role at a university.

Grade Levels

Middle School English

As a middle school English teacher, you’ll enter your students’ lives during a highly impressionable time (ages 11–13) when fitting in is paramount. So not only will your class help students learn the foundations of the English language, but it will also help them learn how to better express themselves and relate to others.

Some of the foundational academic areas you will teach include:

• Vocabulary

• Punctuation

• Sentence and paragraph writing structure

• Basic essay formulas

• Writing for different audiences and voices

• Research methods and presentation skills

You’ll also work on your students’ listening skills, helping them derive meaning from language, both written and verbal communication. And you’ll help them cultivate basic speaking skills, including voice inflection, word choice, and content.

Comprehension is another area of focus for middle school English teachers. You’ll help students not just read but actually understand the text’s content and meaning. This is a crucial part of really understanding a language. And you’ll show them how to apply logic to their reading, writing, and research—which helps develop both their communication and critical-thinking skills.ÌýÌý

High School English

Even though most high school students (ages 14–18) already know how to speak, read, and write, there’s still a lot that high school English teachers can teach them. Students will learn how to apply the English language for improved communications and comprehension. They’ll also learn both the nuances and power of effective communication—how to be subtle and specific, persuasive and adaptive.

As a high school English teacher, you’ll teach:

• Advanced foundations—covering grammar, punctuation, syntax, sentence and paragraph structure, and thought organization.
• Analytical writing—how to produce clear and coherent text that’s appropriate for various audiences, including writing informative and explanatory texts, presenting and supporting claims to analyze substantive topics, and writing or interpreting narratives that relate to the student’s experience.
• Writing organization and editing—how to sort and select information, organize ideas to meet communication goals, and plan, write, edit, and revise presentations for clearer, more powerful communications.

College and Post-Secondary English

As a post-secondary English teacher, you’ll have the most flexibility as to what you teach, choosing to specialize in one of a variety of related subjects, including:

• English literature
• Comparative literature
• Rhetoric and composition
• Journalism
• Poetry
• Reading
• Writing
• English studies
• Media studies
• Communications
• Publishing
• Playwriting and screenwriting
• Public speaking

Post-secondary teachers can work for community colleges, colleges, and universities, and typically start as adjunct professors, which requires only a graduate degree. Whatever organization you choose to teach in, all positions involve:

• Forming lesson plans.
• Presenting materials to students.
• Responding to students’ learning needs.
• Evaluating students’ progress.