Online MA during JET??

12 comments

1. Are you going into education? Or another field?

2. I’m considering doing the same but as you said it’s a case of ESID. I think until you’re actually in Japan and have settled into work it’ll be hard to tell if it’s feasible. Afaik the first month is usually for finding your feet so it’s unlikely that you’ll know the true pace of the job until September. Could you apply for the MA in the Spring or following Autumn?

   My main issue with the decision is that MA funding is intended for those residing in their home country at the time of study (UK in my case). So it’s entirely possible funding won’t be granted due to working/living abroad and not having a return ticket or any definite proof of return to the UK. However, the system could be entirely different in your home country.

3. I know someone who wrote their dissertation while on JET. If you have a junior high school placement, you will more than likely have enough time to do both.

4. Wait until spring or your second year. I know you feel confident that you won’t have any culture shock, but you will. Culture shock never ends, it just fades and takes various forms over the years.

   Also, yes, ESID. Many people talk about deskwarming time online because the people who have lots of deskwarming time are sitting around at their desk to talk about it. Not everyone has much time.

   I teach ES/JHS and have about 4-5 classes per day. That plus planning and preparing for all those classes, talking to teachers, trying to study Japanese, trying to keep up with what’s going on at school, etc basically fills up my entire day. I WISH I had deskwarming time, there’s a lot I’d love to get done, but I’m just busy. Not that I don’t enjoy my work.

   And I wasn’t -really- told this before I came, because my senpais actually did have a lot more free time, but due to the big changes in ES/JHS English we became much busier. My first two years I was often struggling to get through each class successfully. I can’t imagine going home and trying to work on a master’s after that too.

   I’m not saying it’s a bad idea- if you have the time, go for it. But wait until you’re in Japan and have a good understanding of your new life and how busy you’ll be first.

5. I did half of it during my first year. Just make sure you have some extra money so you don’t starve on the JET salary. But in terms of time management it was fine.

6. >I do intent to study Japanese, including going to classes and maybe join clubs available to me, and still wish to have free time to explore/travel and just enjoy life in Japan, but if I’ll have a lot of downtime when I have to sit at a desk, I’d rather make good use of it.

   You will probably help for sure with the English Club at your school, but clubs are a major commitment. Im in the brass band club and we meet every day (I have to be absent on wednesdays for English) and its always for 2 hours. So be prepared to put in a lot of time for clubs.

   Past that, there is the Eiken (for JHS/SHS), speeches, debates, and other things you might help with. The only time you will for sure have downtime is the summer, big tests (midterms, finals) and when you first get here. Also, there wll be a free Japanese lesson offered to you through VLJ. Its great (if boring) and will help you with the japanese. Just make sure to be honest about where you are. haha. It will be way too easy if you aren’t honest on your placement.

   Travelling in Japan is nice, if a little bit expensive. Since I live on Shikoku, to go to somewhere like Osaka (by train/shinkan) is about 20000yen (a little less, but this is about right.) it also takes time. So make sure to plan trips well. 😀

   I mirror what others are saying about waiting until your second year for two reasons:
   1: You can see if this is what you want to do for a career…(its not for some)
   2: You can see your workload.

   Welcome to the Programme, and Cheers!

7. I started in my third year, but a couple of points:

   1) I had already done JET before and had been in Japan this time for a couple of years, so I had “experienced Japan”, so to speak.

   2) It was always my plan to do an MA;

   3) I had my classes down, so was on autopilot;

   4) I didn’t have extra curricular clubs, but played D&D at least once a week, met up with friends, did stuff etc.;

   5) I was planning to stay in Japan (potentially important for choice of MA if you are doing something like teaching**).

   What I would suggest considering is how long the MA is. I was banking on getting 5 years on JET based on things my supervisor and section head had said, but when it came time for the 5th year offer, it was really touch and go. I was the first ALT in the town to ever WANT to stay 5 years, so there was no precedence. Japanese organisations don’t deal well with no precedence, even if the rules are exactly the same as 4th year contracts.

   Not going to lie, the down time and ability to print reams of articles was AMAZING. For teaching, you also potentially have access to a research topic and participants.

   ** If you want to teach somewhere other than Japan, you will want to check what requirements they have to be accredited. For example, my home country needs an MA with an in-class teaching component. My online MA from a UK university didn’t have that. For Japan, it didn’t matter. I have no plans on teaching if I ever go home, so no problem for me.

8. Clubs are not something you join lightly. I was in a musical theatre group for two years and when we had rehearsals, I was expected in from 9am-9pm, even if my scenes weren’t being ran. When I took on the choreography for the second season, it was even tougher because we had to have weekly dance lessons from 9pm-10pm as most of the cast were not dancers (i was excused from those in my first season because I am a dancer). I was only able to be absent when I had work. I once asked for a half day so I could do some life stuff and the director laughed and made a comment about how childish I am, then gave me the time off. As I was leaving she asked one of the cast to drive me to the train station and I said “It’s only a 10 minute walk, I’ll be fine, thank you” she said, “I thought it was essential? You’ve got time to walk?” Point is, extra curriculars are work here haha

   If you’re planning on doing your MA, you likely won’t have free time for any club. I know two people currently doing theirs and they have all but disappeared.

9. I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all. It might be better to wait until spring or year 2 to starts, but plenty of ALTs do online learning/Masters – I’m one of them.

   A lot of online masters are part-time, especially those in education. So they’re designed knowing that many of the students will be balancing jobs with the masters program. I’m not implying it’s a walk in the park, but it’s not as overwhelming as it might be seen. I’m almost certain that as an ALT you will probably have more time to devote to it than some of your classmates, who have both families and careers. My program is one course at a time, every course lasting 5-8 weeks, with small breaks in between. There are 10 courses total, and it’s spread out over a year and half (started Aug 2021, will finish May 2023). The professors say we should devote 15 hours a week to it. But for me, I can realistically get everything done in 5 hours a week. Now, this is probably where the ESID comes in – I have enough desk warming time that I get can most work done at school, and barely have to work on it at home. Even still, I even have time to lesson plan, study, and “relax” (look busy by browsing reddit)… It all comes down to time management. But obviously, you won’t know about your situation until you get here. Even on weeks I had to study at home, it’s never gotten in the way of enjoying Japan – if you try to get everything done during the week you’ll be in the clear for weekends. As long as you know how to manage time, I think you’ll be fine.

   Also, what everyone is saying about clubs is good advice.

10. There’s a lot of good advice here, so I’ll try and mention something different.

    If you’re paying for it yourself as you go, then you need to keep in mind the changing exchange rates between the yen and the currency used to pay for your MA. I’m starting an MA in September, but there was a moment I thought I wouldn’t be able to because when the yen fell I lost like thousands of USD. While it looks like the yen is balancing out (below what it used to be) there’s no telling what will happen in the future.

11. I think that it is totally possible!

12. If not during school hours, its possible after school (I work from 8 to 4, completely free from 4 to 1 am, yes I go to bed late)

    BUT it is also possible for me to read and write stuff in my pc while desk warming.