Has anyone got a teaching license while you are out here? Online or otherwise? Did you go back home and get one? How did you do it? Just trying to see what options are out there and how they went for you. Was it worth it? Thanks in advance
Define “back home” and you’ll get a lot more specific answers. But generally speaking:
In Japan, there are basically only three licenses open to foreigners, and none of them are 100% a “full” license. To get the same license as a normal Japanese citizen who became a teacher through the typical channels, you would have to go all the way through your college education here, get a 4 year degree, and do the same practicum/examination/teacher training as they do. This means native/near native Japanese, and even near native might get some eyebrows raised and questions asked along the way.
Japan does not recognize outside licensure or education for the purposes of legal qualification or licensure in Japan (except int’l schools, but they’re on their own system). Qualifications and licensure can help for proof of experience and education in the field to apply for one of the limited/special licenses, but you cannot “transfer” any degrees or licenses into the Japanese system.
Of the licenses foreigners can get, only one really compares to the full license, and that is the “special” license. It awards you the ability to do (mostly) anything a “normal” teacher can do, limited to one prefecture. How to get this, the details of what you can and can’t exactly do, how long it lasts etc. can vary significantly depending on prefecture and the rules are changing for this license right now.
The other licenses are basically limited lecturer licenses, they allow you to teach a specific class, in a specific school, without the need for a “main” teacher to be responsible for the class. These are typically only valid for a specific time, and if any of the conditions change the license needs to be re-applied for.
If you don’t have one of any of these licenses you’re limited to assistant work, where a licensed teacher is actually responsible for the class officially in the case of an actual school. If it’s not actually a school (Eikaiwa, etc.) Then the BoE isn’t involved and anything goes.
Moreland. Not finished yet. It’s helpful skill wise at the very least.
Got a teachers license and a master’s degree in the US. Also got 4 years of experience teaching at public schools in US. I still am just about as employable as I was as a fresh grad 15 years ago. The only thing that really matters in Japan is connections. Through connections I got into a university teaching position. Some of my coworkers only have bachelor’s degrees and they were hired…through connections.
Igcse
You have to go home. The license may be available online but you can’t get the three years of solo classroom experience here. Most people, especially Australians, go home for a few years and return when they earn the qualifications required.
As an American, I was looking at Teach Now and other similar licensure programs, and using that as a way to improve my salary and long-term viability within private international schools. Then, as Corona happened, I had way more on my plate balancing domestic obligations here.
I was fortunate enough to live in a prefecture that allows special selection (特別選考), meaning that you can provide a curriculum vitae and proof of higher education from a non-Japanese university and then sit the public licensure test. As others have said, it’s tough, but you don’t need near-native fluency so much as you need to have near-native understanding of the public guidelines for education in your field of licensure (such as Math, Foreign Languages, or Art.) While the written test questions are all in Japanese, but you can respond in English this section.
With regards to the CV, be ready to furnish specific dates and tax IDs for all relevant accountable work experience, and as for education, or academic engagement in the field, be prepared to translate everything. This can mean translating every single entry on your transcript – every class, AP exam, test score, and footnote.
Honestly, it’s a fairly brutal written and spoken exam, and obviously exhaustive paperwork. I think over the last three years, the applicant cohort has been an average of 75 people, with only six passing individuals over the last three years (although more are def needed). So, no it’s not a common or likely route, but it exists.
I studied online – PGCEi (took one year). Then I did QTS online a couple years after getting the PGCEi.
I live in shanghai but it’s possible to do both of these courses online anywhere in the world. QTS can only be completed in a British or IB school but PGCEi doesn’t have the same restrictions.
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Define “back home” and you’ll get a lot more specific answers. But generally speaking:
In Japan, there are basically only three licenses open to foreigners, and none of them are 100% a “full” license. To get the same license as a normal Japanese citizen who became a teacher through the typical channels, you would have to go all the way through your college education here, get a 4 year degree, and do the same practicum/examination/teacher training as they do. This means native/near native Japanese, and even near native might get some eyebrows raised and questions asked along the way.
Japan does not recognize outside licensure or education for the purposes of legal qualification or licensure in Japan (except int’l schools, but they’re on their own system). Qualifications and licensure can help for proof of experience and education in the field to apply for one of the limited/special licenses, but you cannot “transfer” any degrees or licenses into the Japanese system.
Of the licenses foreigners can get, only one really compares to the full license, and that is the “special” license. It awards you the ability to do (mostly) anything a “normal” teacher can do, limited to one prefecture. How to get this, the details of what you can and can’t exactly do, how long it lasts etc. can vary significantly depending on prefecture and the rules are changing for this license right now.
The other licenses are basically limited lecturer licenses, they allow you to teach a specific class, in a specific school, without the need for a “main” teacher to be responsible for the class. These are typically only valid for a specific time, and if any of the conditions change the license needs to be re-applied for.
If you don’t have one of any of these licenses you’re limited to assistant work, where a licensed teacher is actually responsible for the class officially in the case of an actual school. If it’s not actually a school (Eikaiwa, etc.) Then the BoE isn’t involved and anything goes.
Moreland. Not finished yet. It’s helpful skill wise at the very least.
Got a teachers license and a master’s degree in the US. Also got 4 years of experience teaching at public schools in US. I still am just about as employable as I was as a fresh grad 15 years ago. The only thing that really matters in Japan is connections. Through connections I got into a university teaching position. Some of my coworkers only have bachelor’s degrees and they were hired…through connections.
Igcse
You have to go home. The license may be available online but you can’t get the three years of solo classroom experience here. Most people, especially Australians, go home for a few years and return when they earn the qualifications required.
As an American, I was looking at Teach Now and other similar licensure programs, and using that as a way to improve my salary and long-term viability within private international schools. Then, as Corona happened, I had way more on my plate balancing domestic obligations here.
I was fortunate enough to live in a prefecture that allows special selection (特別選考), meaning that you can provide a curriculum vitae and proof of higher education from a non-Japanese university and then sit the public licensure test. As others have said, it’s tough, but you don’t need near-native fluency so much as you need to have near-native understanding of the public guidelines for education in your field of licensure (such as Math, Foreign Languages, or Art.) While the written test questions are all in Japanese, but you can respond in English this section.
With regards to the CV, be ready to furnish specific dates and tax IDs for all relevant accountable work experience, and as for education, or academic engagement in the field, be prepared to translate everything. This can mean translating every single entry on your transcript – every class, AP exam, test score, and footnote.
Honestly, it’s a fairly brutal written and spoken exam, and obviously exhaustive paperwork. I think over the last three years, the applicant cohort has been an average of 75 people, with only six passing individuals over the last three years (although more are def needed). So, no it’s not a common or likely route, but it exists.
I studied online – PGCEi (took one year). Then I did QTS online a couple years after getting the PGCEi.
I live in shanghai but it’s possible to do both of these courses online anywhere in the world. QTS can only be completed in a British or IB school but PGCEi doesn’t have the same restrictions.