I posted here about a year ago explaining my situation as a dual national between Japan and the United States. I am in my third year and will acquire a NY state-certified teaching license by the end of college.
I posted here before with very light research, and if I am being honest I was worried and frantic about securing a job last year. To be honest, my situation did not get any better, but I decided that worrying is not helping me much so I just continued researching in hopes of finding some path.
Yet as I started to take things into retrospect, I started to wonder whether an American teaching license ever going to be useful in Japan. I was hoping to become an international school teacher, but it is so competitive, and most schools want at least three years of experience.
I worked a job at a local English daycare/school last summer and also helped with an international school’s summer school period. I am glad because they both seemed to like me, and asked for me over next summer too. For my final year of college, I will be placed in local American public schools to teach. It’s not the full experience, but I have gotten a decent education with a state license that will have good reciprocity.
I am not saying I am going to become an elite teacher when I graduate college, but I feel like I would be useful in a school. Especially because I am a person who understands the struggle of learning the English language as a Japanese person and possibly help these Japanese students expand their options.
I feel that I have a decently unique profile and skill set, but the more I research the more I feel useless and unwanted in the workforce back home.
I am again completely confused about what the hell my purpose is, and whether I have made the wrong in learning education to try to join the supposed globalization of Japan. After meeting a few Japanese people here in America they seem to all be busy with getting internships for big companies which scared me even more.
I have considered going to a Japanese graduate school, or a 短大 to either find work in a Japanese university or earn 二種教員免許 to teach middle schoolers in japan. I also looked into becoming a teacher in an American Base, but those seem to require experience as well.
When I was an international student, I swear I have seen some very young teachers that would not have had the 3-years of teaching experience. What the hell, how did they do to get a Job ???.
I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience of having a foreign license give me a rundown of what you had to do to secure a teaching job in Japan.
5 comments
Jobs are looking for experience, but it doesn’t mean they don’t hire people right out of the gate. I worked at a “tier1” school in Europe and my starting cohort had a guy with 1 year experience. It was a niche position and he had the skills to match it. You might find the same depending on your skills, but…
That is not likely in Japan’s international schools. It is very competitive to get a job in them, even more so at the handful of top ones. If you are ok with living anywhere in Japan maybe you’d get a job at one of the smaller ones. Then get a few years experience and move on.
You could also open your horizon to other countries. Getting experience there and then trying to get back to Japan is another route.
I’m not sure what you’re so worried about? You seem to think you can’t get a job at all without experience, but every teacher is a new teacher at some point, and all of us manage to find a job, get though the first few years, and gain the experience we need.
Coming to Japan and doing a teaching course here and then working in the Japanese school system would be a good idea, too; but I’d say you would likely make more money and be happier in a more international environment of an international school.
So why not find a job in the US, work hard at learning teaching for your first few years, and then apply to international school in Japan after you’ve gain valuable skills that will make you competitive?
You seem hell bent on coming to Japan RIGHT NOW. I hate to sound condescending, but you’re YOUNG, dude! You have TIME. You should RELAX. Taking the right path instead of rushing in without a solid plan is GOOD. You’re gonna be fine – finish your courses, get your US license, teach for a few years, then start applying at international schools. 🙂
Do your best…
>I was hoping to become an international school teacher, but it is so competitive, and most schools want at least three years of experience.
Also depends on what your subject area is. Whether it’s a saturated subject, or something in-demand, or something more specialized. You didn’t specifically mention what yours are so I can’t really say much on what you could expect.
I got my current job with only 1 year experience, but mine is a specialized subject and I have experience working in that field prior to doing my teaching qualification. I also suspect the university I got my MTeach at (top 20) also played a part in my hiring.
>When I was an international student, I swear I have seen some very young teachers that would not have had the 3-years of teaching experience. What the hell, how did they do to get a Job ???.
Not all countries / universities require teachers to go through an MA or even university. I’ve met teachers my age (mid 20s) who were already teaching before I had even started my MTeach.
>I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience of having a foreign license give me a rundown of what you had to do to secure a teaching job in Japan.
Not sure what you’re expecting to hear. It’s not some special secret method. For my job it was basically the same as any international teaching gig.
Degree in my subject -> MTeach + licence -> work at home country -> apply and get job in Japan
>and most schools want three years of experience
So…get three years of experience? It’s certainly a much faster option than completely redoing university in Japan (which is what you would need for the 一種免許状, which is what most teachers have in the regular schools), plus you’d actually be receiving some form of salary while you’re doing it, as opposed to paying school fees.
You might have some experience in learning English as a Japanese person, but let me be blunt with you; schools don’t want Japanese learners of English. They have plenty of those. What they want is teachers, and so teaching experience is valued a lot more. I’m sure your experience will give you a unique perspective, but it’s not a substitute for being in the classroom.
Also, I would drop the whole thing about learning education ‘to join the supposed globalisation in Japan.’ If that’s your goal, stop. Teaching is notoriously a hard profession, especially in Japan (can’t vouch for international schools, but if they match the reputation regular schools have, then them included), so if you’re not becoming a teacher because you’re interested in education, it’s going to be particularly difficult for you. Not least because basically no-one in Japan actually cares about or wants globalisation. It’s a niche topic for a small minority of people with the occasional government lip service; everyone else is just getting on with their lives.