Qualifications Needed to Teach English



Qualifications vary depending on the kind of work you're looking for. Here are the basic qualifications for most kinds of work:


Degrees / Certificates
You should have at least a bachelor's degree for private schools in order to get a work visa; the major doesn't often matter. Having certificates like TOEFL helps little with private schools and more with higher institutions like universities. Public schools and universities require at least a Master's degree.

Knowledge of English
Surprisingly, a special knowledge of English grammar is not required in many private schools. However, Japanese students tend to be knowledgeable and questioning when it comes to grammar, and so linguistic knowledge helps a great deal.

Accent / Pronunciation
Most schools look for teachers with "standard" North American and British accents. Accents like Australian, New Zealand, Irish, and others are commonly accepted. "Outer-circle" English accents like Asian Indian, Ethiopian, etc. will make it quite difficult to find a job. Non-native-speaker, non-Japanese teachers are seldom hired.

Race
This is not a requirement per se, but you should know that it can play a role in hiring. Black teachers report having a harder time getting hired, and I have observed it at schools I worked for. Asian-Americans have an easier time, but are still set back a little because students don't usually associate teachers of Asian descent with native-spoken English.

Japanese Language Ability
Japanese language ability is not a prerequisite for most schools. Some with special needs may ask for it, but most schools will ask that you not speak any Japanese in classes.

Age
This does matter sometimes. Some schools will not hire teachers over the age of 35 or 40; the older you are, the greater the resistance.



Private language schools tend to have the lowest requirements for hiring. As long as you have a visa that allows you to work in Japan, some schools would even hire you without experience, training, certification or even a B.A. Anyone who can get a spousal visa, or Canadians and others who can get "working holiday" visas (U.S. citizens are not eligible for this) still can get work without a B.A.

For some private schools, the priority will be to find someone they do not have to get a visa for. Some of these schools will still ask for a B.A. or experience, but already having a visa that allows you to work is definitely a plus.

If you don't already have a work visa before you start your job hunt, you should have a B.A., as mentioned above. This will allow you to work at most private schools. Japanese immigration law, however, says that you can get the visa only if the job can only be done by a non-Japanese person, so don't count on getting much work outside teaching or other specialized jobs that can't be filled by Japanese.

If you want to get work at a high school, it may be possible to get part-time work (through contacts you make while in Japan) with only a B.A. The JET program, for example, wants you to have at least that much. If you want to get a more serious teaching job at a high school, an M.A. would help, along with experience and possibly certification. This also ups your salary potential. Having your M.A. in TESOL, Linguistics or English helps.

For university work, an M.A. at least is required, preferably in TESOL, Linguistics or English. For higher-paying jobs, they will probably ask for certification or experience, usually at the college level. The best jobs may demand that you have a Ph.D. and/or at least three publications in the TESOL/Linguistics field. Some "content-based" jobs will be satisfied with teaching credentials outside the TESOL/Linguistics field.



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