Qualified vs unqualified English teachers in Japan

[66jzmstr 0]

Not to derail the thread, but how hard is it to find a university teaching job in Hokkaido? Is it 100% certain to be a short-term, terminating contract position? I've got a Master's in TESOL and would like to go back, but I'll be damned if I go to Kumamoto again, even if locals claim Mt. Aso has a ski lift on it!

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Love Kumamoto 66. Beautiful area. Seemed jobs in Hokkaido were few and far between when I was job searching - at least there wernt any tenure positions which is all I was after. Prolly be best to take something in the area you wanna live and be able to spring when the chance opens up. Also, making friends with current teachers at private jhs/hs, and Unis would help in getting positions as many are only word of mouth. Sorry I can offer more but try the main job sites and something might come up.

[66jzmstr 0]

Thanks, Creek Boy. Yeah, Kumamoto was incredible. With my snow obsession, it wouldn't fly during the winter months, but I need to get back there (lived there a year during university). That plan for Hokkaido sounds good, as I've heard job searching there is quite a bit more difficult than near Tokyo.

 

Another question, if you don't mind: How do high school jobs differ from university/college positions in terms of schedule, workload and pay?

[bushpig 0]

they vary widely from freakin busy to very free, and from average pay to extremely got pay, for both busy and non-busy! And that applies equally to schools and universities!

[Yuki's Passion 1]

but to add to BPs, as you know, once kids are in Uni its all about free time and partying so many dont give a flying **** about studying, attending classes, nor actively participate. Its all about their "circle", PT job, BF/GF etc... There is a good bloke up there who runs a mailing list of all the jobs in Hokkaido...done by Kent? Ill have to dig around to see if I can find the blokes name and his mailing address. It does cost you like 5000 yen (50 bucks) for the year but, from what I heard, ALL private JHS/HS/ and Unis use his service so might be worth the few bucks.

[gerard 6]

Well, this is what it's like at Universities.

 

Schedule and workload....

Number of classes varies but figure on around 10 a week. There can be a lot of extra stuff, conferences, weekend workshops, etc, but you'll still have time to post on SJ. It's not a hard schedule but it depends on your situation.

 

In terms of pay.....

Universities used to get special grants for foreign lectures so the salaries were very high --higher than Japanese coworkers with similar experience ....but the positions were often limited to a maximum of three years. Those grants have been gradually eliminated and universities are now usually paying foreigners according to the same pay schedule as Japanese workers. The monthly base salary is usually less 'man' than your age but the biannual bonuses add up to about 4 additional months of salary and many people teach extra classes at other Universities to boost the salary. ---That's for public Universities. If you work for a public Uni, you may be able to get more, if you're lucky.

 

About contract periods --though most Univerisities are paying foreigners the same as Japanese, many or most don't seem to offer the same job stability, with limited term contracts. If they say that the contract is limited to a specified number of years, then they probably mean it. If they say the contract is for one year, renewable, then you may be able to renew it forever... or maybe not.

 

Also, publications are almost as important as a masters degree.

 

Sure you want to leave Seattle, 66j? Great skiing around there.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

 Originally Posted By: ger

Well, this is what it's like at Universities.

Schedule and workload....
Number of classes varies but figure on around 10 a week. There can be a lot of extra stuff, conferences, weekend workshops, etc, but you'll still have time to post on SJ. It's not a hard schedule but it depends on your situation.

In terms of pay.....
Universities used to get special grants for foreign lectures so the salaries were very high --higher than Japanese coworkers with similar experience ....but the positions were often limited to a maximum of three years. Those grants have been gradually eliminated and universities are now usually paying foreigners according to the same pay schedule as Japanese workers. The monthly base salary is usually less 'man' than your age but the biannual bonuses add up to about 4 additional months of salary and many people teach extra classes at other Universities to boost the salary. ---That's for public Universities. If you work for a public Uni, you may be able to get more, if you're lucky.

About contract periods --though most Univerisities are paying foreigners the same as Japanese, many or most don't seem to offer the same job stability, with limited term contracts. If they say that the contract is limited to a specified number of years, then they probably mean it. If they say the contract is for one year, renewable, then you may be able to renew it forever... or maybe not.

Also, publications are almost as important as a masters degree.

Sure you want to leave Seattle, 66j? Great skiing around there

but your classes are 90 minutes right? Generally here there 50 mins and around 15 hours is the average workload. I teach 16 hours plus 1 long homeroom which is used for a myriad of things.

We get 6 months salary worth of bonus plus what our union gives us so ends up being almost 7 months worth of salary for our 2 bonuses. Lovely.

We have conferences we have to attend as well but more than that you have club. Club takes up quite a bit of time between afternoon practices and meets/games. Unfortunately for me running goes on all year long and eventhough T&F is almost done for the season we have Ekiden in the Fall. 'least my kids arent that strong for the longer stuff meaning I wont have much to do with that on weekends. Seems I have meetings daily here as were all on boards/committes etc so that takes up a bit of time, at the most unfortunate time to they come up.

Just from what Ive seen, there are more tenure jobs in private JHS/HS than in Unis...those seem limited to 3 years, need to have published *** papers or books, etc...They use you then spit you out. Would love to hear more bout peeps from Unis. Especially those who have tenure.

I was offered a job by one of my students fathers last week if I ever wanted to leave this school...quite tempting as Id actually have free time

[gerard 6]

yep, Uni classes are 90 minutes. 10 classes seems to be about the maximum number. Sounds like your situation is really good, CB. And my union doesn't really give me anything -- they just take from my paycheck.

 

Some of my friends have tenure in Kochi. Actually, all of the positions that I can think of at three or four Unis in Kochi are for an unspecified amount of time, though only one or two are officially tenured (I can't remember the Japanese term). It seems like it's different in bigger cities. From talking to people in Tokyo and from seeing job postings in JACET, etc, it seems like most of the contracts are limited term. That gets really tiring if you plan on staying in Japan or have a family.

My own position was originally designated for three years but it looks like I'll be renewing it year by year after that time has expired. I'd prefer better terms, more money and better proximity to snow, but I'm comfortable enough and the job's interesting. Anyway, I've been watching the job postings....

[SirJibAlot 0]

 Originally Posted By: Creek Boy

SJA, Im pretty sure youve got a little money tucked away somewhere yeah? With your background have you thought about studying at a school for 6 months or so to get your Jlingo to a decent level? Yamasa in Nagoya has a decent reputation and sure some in Tokyo do too. You could give that a go and take the prof test in Dec. One thingt to think about

I do have some money tucked away, so i'm taking my time and evaluating my next move. I have actually given serious thought to moving to Osaka and staying with the inlaws for the rest of this year and do just what you said - study my ass off and take a proficency test. The inlaws don't speak a word of english, so that will be exremely helpful. Know of any good Japanese cram schools in the Sakai area I should look into?

[66jzmstr 0]

Wow. You are guys offer insight that I would have a hard time finding any other place. A big thanks to all, especially Creek Boy and ger.

 

It's so much give and take for me. I'm teaching at a couple of community colleges outside of Seattle to highly motivated ESL students (immigrants and refugees, no int'l students) at the moment and love it. I don't get paid squat, but my benefits are incredible and I live 50 minutes from my home resort (Snoqualmie/Alpental) where I taught snowboarding last season for the first time. My schedule is great: I teach ESL about 20 hours a week, but no night classes and I often have Fridays and one or two afternoons off with minimum to no outside commitments or meetings (always subject to change though). The draw for teaching in Japan is 1) I loved living in Japan (one year in Kumamoto), 2) a higher paying job, 3) the wife (Sapporo-sodachi) would be close to the family, and 4) more affordable homes (in Hokkaido, at least) that don't average half a million dollars (literally) like where we live now. (We're saving up, but with our meager salaries, houses are literally appreciating faster than we can save for a down payment.)

 

Sorry for professing my life story, but this is where I'm at now, just to give some background. It's such a tough call, so I'll have to wait it out and see how it turns out for us.

 

Creek Boy - I think that's Ken Hartmann who has paid subscription job list you mentioned. On the chance that we do go to Hokkaido, I'll be sure to get a subscription long before moving out. His son is Neil Hartmann, who has filmed the last two Car Danchi films - some of the best powder snowboarding films I've ever seen. Small world. )

[Yuki's Passion 1]

66, THATS IT! One of my good mates from Hiroshima whos been up there a while said hes a great bloke and if youre into moving there its worth every yen getting the subscription.

 

I thought bout headin home and teaching Japanese/English but salarys are just crap which is why we lose the best people/teachers to other professions.

 

SJA, mate, come on down! There are a few good Japanese schools in the Umeda area that Ive heard of and 1 in Kobe. Will see if I can find the names out for you later.

[gerard 6]

Ken Hartmann? ... really talkative guy... sounds like he's dabbling in head hunting. I think he is/was the president of the Hokkaido JALT chapter so he should be easy to find.

 

I want to move to Hokkaido too, but I don't think my wife wants to move that far North. Nagano's more doable and I might recall reading somewhere that the terrain is better.

[SirJibAlot 0]

 Originally Posted By: Creek Boy

SJA, mate, come on down! There are a few good Japanese schools in the Umeda area that Ive heard of and 1 in Kobe. Will see if I can find the names out for you later.

 

That would be kewl, Umeda is easy to access by train from where i'd be staying. I'm planning to head down to Kansai during the weekend of July 14th. It's a holiday weekend, so seemed like the thing to do - if you are around, let's hook up.