What does an English teacher do?
An English teacher creates and prepares lesson plans that engage students and keep them interested in English. Their task is to help students become proficient in the English language and in understanding and analysing English texts and literature.
Most English teachers specialise in teaching a particular year level, such as Years 7 and 8, 9 and 10 or 11 and 12. English teachers need to cater to students of various abilities and learning levels, and be patient and empathetic with their students. An English teacher’s duties generally also include setting and grading English homework and tests, documenting student progress, attending staff and department meetings and communicating with parents on a regular basis.
English teacher skills and qualifications
A successful English teacher needs to have the following skills and aptitudes in order to perform their role well:
- Excellent subject matter expertise in English
- Strong communication skills
- Patience and empathy
- Flexibility and ability to adapt to changing environments
- Great time management skills
- Good computer and technological skills
- Willingness to stay up to date on developments in the subject as well as new English curriculums
English teacher experience requirements
Teaching degrees in Australia include a practical component, where students carry out classroom teaching activities under the supervision of an experienced teacher. This means that even newly qualified English teachers will already have some practical classroom experience under their belt.
Depending on the year level for which you are recruiting, you may want to hire a more senior English teacher with a certain number of years of experience. This may be a consideration in particular if you’re hiring an English teacher for Years 11 or 12, where students are sitting their final exams.
English teacher education and training requirements
Working as an English teacher in Australia requires a four-year university degree or postgraduate qualification in teaching, with specialisation in secondary-school teaching.
This usually means a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) for teaching at high-school level (students aged 12-18). In addition, budding secondary school teachers can specialise in one or more subject areas – in this case, English. This can be complemented by a two-year Master of Teaching (Secondary), but this is not mandatory.
What’s more, to work in a public school, budding English teachers need to be approved and register with their state or territory’s education department while completing their degree in order to be able to apply for a teaching job afterwards.
English teacher salary expectations
According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for an English teacher is $90,553 per year. This rate is fairly consistent across all states and territories, with some outliers on either end of the pay scale, most notably universities at the higher end.
Job description samples for similar positions
There are a few roles that are similar to English teacher. Take a look to see if you need to hire one of these specialists instead of an English teacher:
English teacher job description FAQs
Can an English teacher switch subjects?
Yes, a teacher can usually choose to teach a different subject than the one they selected at the start of their career. An English teacher may decide to focus on teaching Social Science or Business instead, for example. However, this may mean they will need to complete further training and an additional qualification in their new subject of choice to ensure their knowledge and skills in the field are up-to-date.
How do you get the best out of your English teacher?
Teaching can be a very stressful job and burnout is an issue across the education sector. English teachers are not exempt from this trend. As an employer of teaching staff, it’s important that you provide your English teachers with a supportive environment to help them feel comfortable and bring out the best in them. Make sure that your English teachers feel like they can share any concerns they may have and enable them to take advantage of further professional development opportunities.
What career progression might an English teacher expect?
As a secondary-school English teacher gains more experience and seizes professional development opportunities on a regular basis, they might want to take their career to the next level. English teachers will typically move up the ranks from graduate teacher to leading teacher, head of year, English coordinator or head of the English department. These roles come with increasing amounts of responsibility and higher salaries.
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.
