I posted this question in the moving to Japan subreddit and someone said I should try and post it here too.
Me and my partner have been talking lately about moving to Japan in a couple of years (after I've finished my primary education degree).
The plan is that we'll start taking Japanese lessons here in Australia and when we move to Japan initially it will be on a student visa with us taking a Japanese language course/degree.
My question is, what is the reality of me becoming an actual teacher (not an ALT etc) in Japan as a future career with an Australian primary education degree and an n1 level of Japanese? What is it like being a teacher in Japan? is the work life balance good etc?
I also asked this in the moving to Japan sub reddit and some consistent advice I got was getting more experience to make myself more employable.
I was however wondering if this would still apply if I was applying for more teachers assistant roles rather then a full time teaching role?
by lilly_lilac
9 comments
I am an actual teacher, at a public school in Japan
A few things
The JLPT means absolutely nothing, they do not give a fuck about it, a lot of the people in my BoE don’t even know what it is. Just by virtue of taking the Kyouin Saiyou Shiken (teacher employment exam) you are showing that your Japanese level is significantly higher than anything required on the N1.
Second, if you want to teach at a public school and not an international school, you need a license from a Japanese prefectural board of education. In order to get one, you need to attend university in Japan. There are correspondence courses, and a lot of them will offer you classes online, but certain things must be done in country. If you wanted to, you could get head start in Australia and do all of your course work and online lesson in Australia, and then when you move to Japan do your student teaching/courses that must be taken on campus, but the only problem is you will be charged fully tuition every year (not insanely expensive, anywhere from $1200-4000 Australian dollars) but still, why spend if you don’t have to.
Lastly, work experience is important, but at the end of the day there is a teacher shortage in Japan, so if you get your teaching license, and take the teacher employment exam, and you can answer the questions fine, and interview well, they will hire you….the vast majority of their hires are fresh college graduates anyway.
As far as what it’s like being a teacher here……..I can’t give you a simple answer….to me, it is the easiest job on earth and every day is fucking amazing……..but I also see 1-2 teachers in my town quit the job from stress/depression every year, or more….and some end up in the hospital to recover.
It really depends entirely on you as a person.
Get teaching experience and then apply for international schools. You can’t work in public schools without additional Japanese qualifications. Also international school teachers have way better work life balance and more paid time off. As a public school teacher your hours are slave like in Japan.
It would be very rare for someone from overseas to do this. And it would be hard to predict if this or that person could do it. There are a few out there. But that probably has as much to do with the flow of life outside of any real planning than having some master plan while a young person in another country. Given the demographic decline of Japan, and the many difficulties foreigners face integrating into the workforce and society, I would think Australia would be a better bet for teaching.
There are public schools that have English programs that hire foreign teachers. I have two such acquaintances. One teaches in an immersion program, the other science-based program. One was a local hire who had been an ALT and I’m not sure about the other. Both are high school teachers.
Another friend who is a high school English teacher teaches at a private high school.
There may also be some opportunities for you to teach English at elementary schools as the programs are still developing. Some unlicensed (and terribly underpaid) ‘teachers’ are T1s while most I believe are T2s. You might be able to weasel your way into a T1 position with an actual salary as your background and credentials are much better than the majority of the temp-hired elementary English teachers.
I’m in Nagoya by the way.
Licenced teachers in international schools don’t need Japanese ability (although it is very helpful for daily life). Teaching assistant jobs in international schools are local hire (no support for visa). Quite a few international schools have opened in Japan now, but unfortunately salaries are stagnant with pay 300k per month and up. If you have/get a licence it might be easier to work in China for a couple of years, get experience and cash before moving across to Japan. Check out the international Teaching Reddit sub for the current state of teaching. Good luck.
It’s rare; as Particular stated earlier, they exist, and you need to take the public education exam, which is moreso an incredibly long process rather than a test. There are an extremely few municipalities which will consider evaluating diplomas and educational background from abroad; and from what I hear, my municipality may not be doing that this year.
A public licensed teacher will need to be able to answer phones, speaker to parents, and of course be a homeroom teacher. It’s a lot. A few years ago, I had heard of less than 50 in the country- which itself was guessing there was five times as many as the 10 or so I knew directly – it might be double but it’s still incredibly small.
For me, it is not the easiest job in the world. In my first year I averaged 60 in-office overtime hours a month, which doesn’t even include Sundays.
Several of my family members in Oz are elementary school teachers. You’ll make more money there than you could ever make here. So, if money is not an issue….
Contrary to what has been stated in this thread, you do not need to go to university in Japan to get a teaching license and become a real teacher. There are different types of licenses. Most Japanese people get the Type-1 (一種) license, and for those you do indeed need to go to Japanese uni and take the teacher’s exam, but others who wish to obtain the Special license（特別免許状）just need to have their school/BoE vouch for them and meet certain requirements that vary by municipality or school (if it’s a private school). It’s a much easier process and I’d wager that most foreigners who are “real” teachers in Japan have these licenses. You can read about them on the MEXT website.
Some prefectures give Special Licenses and others don’t. For example, in Hiroshima, there is a program in place called the グローバル人材プログラム where JETs or direct hires for the Hiroshima BoE who wish to become permanent teachers are granted the opportunity to test and interview, and should they pass, they get Special Licenses and become real teachers. I also have the Special License, but I work for a private school. All of the permanent foreign teachers I know in Hiroshima have such licenses.
As far as I’m aware the only difference between a Type-1 License and a Special License is that you can use your Type-1 License anywhere in Japan, whereas a Special License is only valid in the prefecture where you obtained it. As far as job responsibilities, pay scale, etc., they are exactly the same.
This is out of topic but may I know why you want to move to Japan? Me and my husband live in Japan but we want to move to Australia 🥲