Hi all,
I’m looking for some advice about choosing a Master’s degree after working as an ALT on JET.
I’m 27, and just entered my 5th and final year on the program. I have taught/will teach in junior high schools for my whole time here. I have a BA in English with Honors, passed N1 last year, passed the JET translation/interpretation course and recently participated in an internship for a private company that recruits English teachers from abroad. I volunteer teaching English lessons once a month at a community center. I worked as a substitute teacher for a year during university, and I also taught online to ESL students in China for about a year before coming to Japan, however other than the 40-hour TEFL program required for that I don’t have any “official” teaching credentials or licenses.
I’m sure that I want to continue being an educator from now on, and I’m thinking that I’d like to get a Master’s as the next step in my career. It seems that if I had a Master’s that I could work in an international school or university in Japan. That said, while I think I want to continue here for another several years at least, I don’t know if I can picture myself living here for my entire career, so ideally I’d like to pick a Master’s that would also provide job options in secondary or higher ed. if/when I return to the USA.
With all that said, does anyone have any advice or similar experience for what field of study would be beneficial? MA in TESOL/Linguistics? (I’ve done a bit of research about the programs for that at Sophia University and Temple University Japan already.) MA in English? MA in Japanese? Something else entirely? Right now I think I’d like to do my Master’s at a university here in Japan, but online while working another job here or returning to the US for a few years to get the degree and coming back to Japan later are also options, I think.
Tl;dr: what’s a good Master’s degree to get for a 5-year experienced JET looking to continue working in Japan for the foreseeable future?
Thanks in advance!
by jewfrosamurai