Hello everyone. So, I’m halfway through my bachelor’s in education (英語選修) here in Japan. I am expected to graduate by 2026 but I’ll be done with my credits by the end of this academic year. By the time I graduate, I’ll get a teaching license for middle and high school. I would like to be an IB teacher in the future so I was wondering what kind of steps I can take towards that goal even before graduating. Thanks in advance!
PS: I am not an English native but I do have 14+ years of English education. I am not from Japan either.
6 comments
Contact some of the legitimate IB schools in Tokyo and ask if you can do some observations or volunteer work (student teaching sort of thing).
the Japanese schools doing IB are probably difficult to vet into, but possible (I know one who is like you and works with a Japanese IB school).
for international schools, if you don’t need the visa, you can start by applying as a sub teacher.
To be perfectly honest, you should figure out a way to get a teaching license issued by an English speaking country. I have hired teachers for IB at 2 schools and this was this first and biggest requirement.
Maybe you could go to the US for a year and get a state issued license after you graduate. There are 1-year M.A.T. programs that accept international students. Some states (and DC) allow you to earn a license online while abroad.
If you teach Japanese as a subject, disregard all of this. Just apply.
You can get IB certified directly through a course offered on their website.
Start doing job hunting into IT asap. Japanese companies do not care about your degree.
Once you have Japanese teaching license, you can get IB certification by taking short course. It’s about 100,000 atm and takes less than week in total I think?
I’m old but re-educating myself in a uni to get English teacher’s license and right when I get it I will apply for the IB course as well. There are lack of IB teachers and the short course will be highly appreciated is what I heard from my uni professor. Plus I do believe teaching is more fun in IB schools. (Not international schools, Japanese IB curriculum schools is where I would like to since I’m a Japanese and probably my English won’t cut it in international schools)