What you need to be an English teacher in China.

The answer to this question will vary depending on what your ultimate aim is. The basics are you need to be from a native English-speaking country and have a police clearance certificate. After that, the requirements vary depending on the kind of school and job you want as an English teacher in China. I’ve divided it into four main groups and described what each type of employment would entail. Please note that I only have experience in two of them, so I’m relying on what I’ve read and heard from others when I talk about the other two.

Getting a TEFL Certificate is a good idea if you want to be an English teacher in China. Here is the one I did and it is accepted in China. TEFL Certificate.

An English teacher in a Kindergarten

For one and a half years, I was employed at a kindergarten. Typically, this ranges from 9 months to 6 years of age. You would be responsible for teaching English classes and fostering an English-speaking environment for the students. Some schools might supply the materials, while others might ask you to create them. School vacations typically last a month in the summer and three to four weeks in the winter. Note that these vacation days aren’t always fully compensated.

You would need 

• Native English speaker country passport 
• Clear police clearance certificate 
• TEFL
• Or Degree in Education ( then TEFL is not always needed) 
• Experience is a bonus but not always needed

An English teacher in a Training center 

My boyfriend has been working at a training facility for about two years, but I was only there for a few months. Your typical schedule consists of afternoon and evening shifts that end at 8 p.m or later, followed by a full-day Saturday shift. Sunday and a second weekday would be your two days off. This schedule does differ depending on the training center. You would get the spring festival holiday which is about 10 days and then anywhere from 12 – 15 days of annual paid leave to take. 

You would need

• Native English speaker country passport 
• Clear police clearance certificate 
• TEFL
• Or Degree in Education ( then TEFL is not always needed) 
• Experience is a bonus but not always needed

An English teacher in an International schools 

They are usually much stricter and need you to have the appropriate degrees in along with more experience. An international school will also probably do a thorough background check into your prior employment and academics. You can teach English at an international school, but you can also teach other topics. Some of my friends just teach science or physical education. This will depend on the type of employment you want and the available positions. At an international school, the holidays are typically fully paid. There is often a month off in the winter and two months off in the summer. Please be aware that some international schools, like the German school, observe German school holidays. Your teaching day would be that of a normal school day 8 am – 5 pm and would come with a lot more responsibilities.

You would need

• Native English speaker country passport 
• Clear police clearance certificate 
• TEFL
• Degree in Education ( then TEFL is not always needed) or a degree where you specialised in the subject you want to teach.
• Experience in the British or American curriculum is a bonus 
• Be a registered teacher in your home country is also a big bonus 
• The more experience the higher the chances you will have of getting a job. 

An English teacher in a Bilingual schools 

If you are interested in working in a bilingual school then my post on what a day in the life of English teacher is like might be of help to you. You can check it out here.

Most of my close friends also work at bilingual schools, where I’ve been teaching for a year and a half. Although the government has declared that these institutions can no longer use the term “bilingual,” I’ll nonetheless refer to them as such for the sake of this post in order to make things clear. These are Chinese government schools that offer half Chinese and half English at a similar cost to an international school. The holidays and school hours are similar to international schools. The pay is not as much in some schools but in others can be as good as an international school. 

You would need

• Native English speaker country passport 
• Clear police clearance certificate 
• TEFL
• Degree in Education ( then TEFL is not always needed) or a degree where you specialised in the subject you want to teach.
• Experience in the British or American curriculum is a bonus 
• Being a registered teacher in your home country is also a big bonus
• Experience if not a must be a big bonus 

Here are some pros and cons for each type of school on a graph. Maybe your brain works like mine and you like to see it all laid out

 

I hope this has helped to better inform you on what is needed to be an English teacher in China and given you a big of an idea of what each type of school would require.