Become an English Teacher

English education is vital for a healthy society.

We seek applications from diverse candidates who have content knowledge and are committed to the social, cultural, and academic development of all students. 

Our program is dedicated to five goals:

  • Fostering the development of diverse teachers committed to supporting the education of youth attending rural, urban, and suburban schools regardless of students’ race, class, gender, language, country of origin, and learning needs. We admit candidates who understand that teaching and learning are political activities shaped by history, economics, and contested ideologies regarding public education.
  • Collaborating with youth, their families, and their communities to re-imagine teaching and learning in language arts classrooms from a critical sociocultural perspective.
  • Preparing professional teachers of language arts who are capable of designing, implementing, and reflecting on culturally responsive curriculum, instruction, and assessments to support all students in learning to read, write, and critically analyze multicultural literature.
  • Preparing language arts teachers to engage in action-oriented classroom research to foster critical reflection regarding how students’ in- and out-of-school experiences contribute to their social, cultural, and academic trajectories.
  • Connecting candidates and graduates to collaborative professional networks to support their development and ability to advocate for their students over the course of their careers.

"Although for over a century our nation has advanced the ideal that a high-quality and excellent public education is the  birthright of all children, our schools cannot fulfill this ambitious and noble purpose unless all of us—parents, policymakers, and the general public—commit ourselves to sustaining education as a public trust and a promise to future generations."

Professor Emerita Sonia Nieto in Why We Teach

Ready to get started? Fill out the Request Information form and an advisor will be in touch about the admissions process.

Subject Matter Requirement

A partial list of courses at UMass Amherst which meet subject matter requirements. These requirements are flexible, please talk to an advisor for further information to see if you qualify.

American Literature

(6 Required Credits)

  • ENG 115: American Experience
  • ENG 117: Ethnic American Literature
  • ENG 204: Introduction to Asian American Literature
  • ENG 268: American Literature and Culture pre-1865
  • ENG 269: American Literature and Culture post-1865
  • ENG 271: Early American Literature
  • ENG 272: American Romanticism
  • ENG 273: American Realism
  • ENG 279: Intro to American Studies
  • ENG 373: American Indian Literature
  • ENG 494JI: Going to Jail
  • ENG 491JM: U.S. Literature in Global Context

American Literature

(6 Required Credits)

  • ENG 201: Early British Literature and Culture
  • ENG 202: Later British Literature and Culture
  • ENG 311: Legends of Arthur
  • ENG 326: Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama
  • ENG 343: English Epic Tradition
  • ENG 349: 19th Century British Fiction
  • ENG 358: Romantic Poetry
  • ENG 359: Victorian Imagination
  • ENG 469: Victorian Monstrosity
  • ENG 437: Milton
  • ENG 491 TT: Beowulf

Shakespeare

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 221: Shakespeare 
  • ENG 222: Advanced Shakespeare
  • ENG 397: Shakespeare’s Non-humans

World Literature

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 205: Introduction to Post-Colonial Studies
  • ENG 369: Studies in Modern Fiction
  • ENG 491AS: Arabian Nights in World Literature
  • ENG 494A: Pulp Caribbean

Women in Literature

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 132: Gender, Sexuality, Literature & Culture
  • ENG 378: American Women Writers
  • ENG 491BE: Black Women Writers
  • ENG 491M: Irish Female Imagination
  • AFROAM 391B: S-Modern Afro-American Women Novelists
  • AFROAM 297F: ST-Black Women in the Americas and the Caribbean

Literature by Authors of Color

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 204: Introduction to Asian American Literature
  • ENG 205: Introduction to Post-Colonial Studies
  • ENG 371: African American Literature
  • ENG 372: Caribbean Literature
  • ENG 373: American Indian Literature
  • ENG 391AC: Multilingual Writing and Global Language Change
  • ENG 391W: Black Pop Culture
  • AFROAM 244: Afro-American Poetry: Beginning to 1900
  • AFROAM 253: Pre-Civil War Black Writers

Poetry

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 141: Reading Poetry
  • ENG 343: English Epic Tradition
  • ENG 375: American Poetry
  • ENG 366: Modern Poetry
  • ENG 358: Romantic Poetry
  • ENG 391LP: Latino Poetry in the U.S.
  • ENG 491A: Neruda in Translation

Narrative

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 200: Intensive Seminar in Literary Studies (Many other options here. Consult an advisor for additional options.)

Literary Criticism

  • Many Junior Year Writing Courses—English 300—will include this requirement, but check with the professor first.
  • ENG 217: Dis/ability and Literature

Adolescent Literature

(3 Required Credits)

  • EDUC693T: Adolescent Literature

Print and Non-print Media

(3 Required Credits)

  • EDUC 167: Education and film
  • ENG 290 BH: Introduction to Performance Studies
  • ENG 300: Picture This: Lives in Graphic Form
  • ENG 302: Studies in Textuality and New Media
  • ENG 391D: Writing and Emerging Technologies
  • ENG 391GC: Video Games and Civic Action
  • ENG 494DI: Dystopian Games, Comics, Media
  • ENG 494CI: Codes, Ciphers, Crackers, Hackers
  • COMM121: Introduction to Media & Culture

History of English Language

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 412: History of the English Language
  • ENG 313: Introduction to Old English
  • ENG 343: English Epic Tradition
  • ENG 416: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
  • ENG 491TT: Beowulf

Theories of Language

(3 Required Credits)

  • LING190A: Language Acquisition & Human Nature
  • LING 201: Introduction to Linguistic Theory
  • EDUC 503: Sheltered English Immersion

Rhetoric

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 388: Rhetoric, Writing, and Society
  • EDUC 503: Sheltered English Immersion

Reading

(3 Required Credits)

  • EDUC693T: Adolescent Literature

Writing and Evaluating Writing

(3 Required Credits)

  • ENG 200: Intensive Literary Studies Seminar
  • ENG 298H: Teaching in the Writing Center
  • ENG 300: Junior Year Writing 
  • ENG 329: Tutoring Writing: Theory and Practice
  • ENG 254: Introduction to Creative Writing
  • ENG 354: Creative Writing
  • ENG 355: Creative Writing: Fiction
  • ENG 356: Creative Writing Poetry
  • EDUC 503: Sheltered English Immersion

Resources for English Teachers

OrganizationContactWebsite
Western Mass Writing ProjectAnna Rita, Site Director, anapoleo [at] english [dot] umass [dot] edu (anapoleo[at]english[dot]umass[dot]edu)www.umass.edu/wmwp/
Generation Teach STEAM Academy, HolyokeSee website for contact, candidate and teaching fellow application information.www.generationteach.org/teach#teachnow
Homework HouseSee website for contact and volunteer application information.www.homeworkhouseholyoke.org
The Literacy Lab

Vlai Ly, Program Associate - The Literacy Lab, vly [at] theliteracylab [dot] org (vly[at]theliteracylab[dot]org)

(413) 426-2867

theliteracylab.org
Seeking licensure for Massachusetts or another state?

These programs lead to initial teacher licensure in Massachusetts. Because of reciprocity agreements between states, you may be able to transfer your license to another state. However, the College of Education at UMass Amherst makes no guarantees that this program meets teacher licensure requirements in any state other than Massachusetts. If you are seeking licensure in another state, click on the link below for the program of your choice for more information.  For assistance in determining whether this program will be appropriate for you, send your inquiry to the program contact identified in the program description.  Access to your state’s licensing agency is available on the Teacher Licensure Agency Directory.