I’m from the UK, have a law degree, MA in Event Management and marketing. I am thinking of my future plans in Japan or just my career options and advancements, and considering if it will be a good option to get a MA in TESOL online. It’s around £10,000 with Birmingham University.
I am currently working at a private elementary school, not an alt but teaching by myself with other duties like assigning and marking homework etc. It’s contracted for a year but may have a chance to get hired directly by the school. I also had experience teaching at a kindergarten and worked at an Eikawa. I’m N2 level in Japanese and have been in Japan for almost 2 years.
The requirements to get in and teach at a University seems to get higher with a lower chance to get tenured, I want to know if this is worth it. And since I already used my Postgraduate loan with my previous MA, it will be a lot of money for me along with doing it for 2.5 years online. Or is it possible or better to do a PHD in education/ TEFL since I have a MA already? Thank you
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Firstly, I don’t think you can do a PhD without a MA in the same discipline these days. For PhDs you’re applying directly to the supervisor, and I think many would turn you away without either a relevant MA or years of experience (you didn’t specify how long you’ve been teaching, so I’m guessing only 2).
Secondly, I think many will tell you that it’s not worth it to try and get into university teaching in Japan, and you already know that the requirements to get an entry level job are rising. There are a myriad of reasons why uni teaching is a shrinking market (less funding, less students, the tenured old guard means less chances for new teachers, heavily reliant on connections to get a job, etc.), most of them out of your control.
Thirdly, if you don’t feel financially comfortable to do this MA, do you really want to spend 2.5 years strapped for cash and then go job hunting in a shrinking industry that doesn’t pay all that well?
Then I guess at this point, you should ask yourself why you even want to teach in uni? If you want to teach a higher age group, then JHS or HS are better targets. If you want to teach at uni in general, then going back to the UK and working on a uni career there would be better. If you just want to remain in Japan, then start looking for jobs outside of teaching, while also continuing to improve your Japanese. If you want more money, then you’re in the wrong business all together.
Having done the Birmingham MA part time, I would say it absolutely helped me get a job, as well as focusing me and getting me back into an academic/serious mindset after two sweet years of bumming around on JET (and let’s be honest, 3 more sweet years as I finished up the MA).
However, I believe it helped me get the job insomuch as it was a box check. The quality of the course they offered online as “distance learning” could almost be done for misleading conduct as far as I was concerned. It’s barely online. I think the term I would use is it was essentially a self-guided MA, as there really was little support, ZERO communication between students (literally no systems set up to even know who other students doing the course were) and materials that were woefully out of date. The courses were literally reading lists and static HTML pages, often with broken links and resources. Each Unit had a short introduction overview video and that was it.
TBH, I found it astounding they had the gall to offer that as being acceptable. They must be making a fortune charging well over 1000 quid for access to a few web pages and then a couple of thousand for your dissertation. They have also drastically cut down on their tutors/supervisors in Japan.
These are all generalizations- depends on individual circumstances- we don’t know you . I have a friend who teaches in Korea and makes 5500 a month after tax so for him it worked out.
Most university jobs here also require uni teaching experience and publications. You would likely need to use your degree in a similar job at home for some time before even becoming eligible for a uni job here. If that’s the only reason you want it, I don’t think it’s worth it. There’s no guarantee you’ll get hired in Japan just because you have the degree. Elementary school is quite different and most universities would not consider that as the correct kind of experience, especially when they have other applicants to choose from with direct experience.
Honestly, if you just need the masters, id recommend the online degree I got at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. It’s a Masters of Science in Education (ESOL). It probably costs 10,000 dollars total (even for international students), so cheaper than the one you mentioned. It was a great program and not too difficult to complete.
There are so many different positions afforded to professors that getting an MA in TESOL/ESOL seems counterproductive — especially if you already have a JD and a MA.
I see you have a law degree in the uk.
Why not get a law degree in japan then become a divorce lawyer for all the foreigners married to Japanese people?
There’s a huge need for lawyers on japan life Reddit.
Tons of foreigners worried about getting shafted.
Start your own business. It’s the only way to make more than 25-30man a month.
Got my TESOL MA from the University of Sunderland and it was “only” £8000 and while it was also a shitty online program it sounds like it was still better/more of a real experience than what some other users who went to Birmingham got. But I also agree it was jut a box check; I don’t think I actually learned anything useful about classroom management for my MA.
You might also be fine because you already HAVE a MA. You might be able to just already check the box required. I’m not sure the MA has to be for TESOL. It might be something they’d consider if they’re narrowing down between two candidates, but it might not prevent you from apply. The thing I found hindering me the most with regards to apply for university jobs is that I didn’t have any publications and a lot of places required a MA and three publications… so you might work on those instead of dropping money and time on another degree.
I also think what some other people said isn’t a bad idea: why not try to use your law degree in Japan? There are lost of expats and foreigners who need English-speaking lawyers.
I doubt you could do a PhD in TESOL directly but why not just get PhD in a field related to event planning and use that as your angle?
There’s a few Japanese universities trying to make MBAs or business programs in English.
>Or is it possible or better to do a PHD in education/ TEFL since I have a MA already? Thank you
Don’t do a PhD unless you love research and there is a topic you like already that you want to hate in the future.
Why would you get a law degree and MA in even management (great degrees btw) to teach English for low pay?
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I would do back to your country and find a better job. You should be able to get jobs that pay WAY more than what you’re getting now (or will pay in the future)
Don’t waste your time on a 2nd MA – that is dumb.
You’ve had your two years of fun in Japan. Time to start your career. Many people leave after 2 years to pursue careers. I’d hate to see you get trapped here (since from your post history, I get the feeling you’re a bit unsatisfied and you also have good potential)