Job Discussion Forums

[Nagoyaguy]

Hi all;

Nervous dad question here. I am looking into the future of my son's education and trying to make decisions/get information. At present, he is in grade 3 of standard Japanese elementary school, and the plan is for him to continue to grade 6 where he is. After that, though....

These are the options I am weighing;

1/ local public JHS. I am hoping to avoid this. Not being snobby, but they seem to really start trying to mould young minds at this stage.

2/ private japanese JHS and SHS. This is an attractive option, because there are a fair number of such schools in the area. However, I dont know anyone who has used them.

3/ International School, in the vein of ASIJ, The Canadian Academy in Kobe, etc. Blisteringly expensive. I am not sure of the quality of education either, since the schools are not really checked out by the prefecture or Mombusho as far as I know. Plus, the commuting time could be crazy. Plus, I heard it is not the greatest for kids' social development, since they will be on a radically different calendar from their peers in the Japanese system.

Anyone with ideas or experience or advice, I would love to hear it. PaulH, I seem to recall you have a daughter in International School, so your input would be great.

[canuck]

I have friends that send their child(ren) to some of the international schools in Kansai as well as friends who are teachers at some of the schools. All of them have been sending their kids there since they were very young, not starting at grade 7 etc.

In addition, the price to send a child for one year is very, very high...I think it's in the neighbourhood of $12,000 USD for a year, if not more.

I'm not disenchanted about Japanese public schools. In Canada, we went to school nearest to our house as there were no private schools. In my opinion, I think it's better sending your child to public school near your house and saving the money and using that money instead to spend time with your child and help with their development more.

Basically, $12,000 x 6 years = $72,000 tax free money. This money could be used to supplement learning in forms of tutors or other options to help if you feel they aren't learning enough at school.

[PAULH]

[Nagoyaguy]

Thanks, PaulH, that was very helpful.

I know that International Schools generally follow the International Bacchelaurate curriculum, and base it on either an American or British model. Glad to hear that the education was high level. I was a little worried about it. I heard some stories, not from Kansai, but from Tokyo about the kids who go to the American School there, that a lot were insufferable spoiled little ex-pat bratlings.

I was more concerned with the social aspect. As I think you mentioned, a lot of the students are temporary, only stay for a year or 2 before heading back to their home countries.

Canuck, I see your point about the expense involved. I looked into private Japanese schools (especially that have strong language programmes) and the cost was less than half of International School. Apparently, even though a school is "private", it still gets government money here. International schools do not.

[PAULH]

Just as an aside, KIS had 75 students in the whole school from pre-K toddlers (3 and up) to 8th grade so it had a very cosy family feel to it. One old school building of four floors.

Osaka International has about 60 students, or 3 classes in each upper grade. OIS goes up to high school (pre-K to year 12) so you are talking about bucketloads of students at those big schools in Kansai.

Canadian Academy in Mt Rokko is for kids of parents working for Procter and Gamble. Expat- executive package deal where fees are paid by P & G.

PS saw the ad in KTO the WASP thing is Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC for short).

[canuck]

There is also St. Michael's in Sannomiya which also is supposed to be really good. I'm not sure on the price.

There are some other "International Schools" but aren't accredited. For example there is Kansai International School and YMCA too.

[Nismo]

Two of my friends went to ASIJ. They aren't the brightest friends I have, but they at least remain bilingual.

[Sherri]

Hi Nagoyaguy
In the end, I decided not to send my children (both born in Tokyo) to school in Japan at all. We returned to the States about 6 months ago. There were a lot of issues involved in our return, not all of them education-related but it was a major issue for me.

I think the answer to your question depends on what you are planning for your family's future and for your son. If you intend to stay in Japan for life, then you would probably be better off sending your son to a private school in Japan or a public school with a good reputation. That way your son will have a better chance of fitting into society in Japan.

Do you want him to go to a Japanese university (if he wants further study that is!)? If so, then again staying in the J system is better.

If you plan to return to your home country in the next 10 years or so, then it may be in your son's and family's best interest to send him to international school, since it will make his transition to going "home" easier. It will also be easier in the end for him to attend university in your home country.

Why are you considering an international school? Do you have any special reasons? I have heard from other non-Japanese parents that going to J junior and senior high schools is radically different from elementary schools. The bi-cultural kids tend to have a harder time fitting in (though some do just fine), and then you have to get caught up in that whole juku thing, exams and getting into the "right" university. I can't say that I am impressed with the J university standards either.

In general as long as you are comfortable with communication in Japanese and you don't mind if your son's strongest language is Japanese and that he becomes essentially Japanese in mind and spirit, then a Japanese private school might be the way to go and the best middle ground especially if you intend on making your home in Japan.
Best
Sherri

[Nagoyaguy]

Thanks for good advice. Sherri, yes I plan to stay here long term, hence asking the question now. I am not worried about language ability right now, when we came to Japan my son was 4 years old, and had lived in Canada until that point. Basically didnt know a word of Japanese, but picked it up really fast. He wont lose his English because he uses it every day at home with his parents, surfs the web in English, and gets lots of practice work from his slavedriving father's collection of workbooks.

It is too late for his heart to change, too. He has been corrupted by Walmart, McD's, and Cartoon Network

As I said, we have a few years to think about it. His school now is fantastic- small classes and great teachers. From JHS age is the key IMHO. Now, I am leaning towards a good private school with a strong langauge programme, like Nanzan. That may change, though...

[Dr.J]

Hi, I've been teaching at a Junior High School for about 3 years.

There was a local boy who had an American mother but she refused to send him to the JHS and decided on homeschooling instead.

Personally I see this as a viable option if there is enough support and enough other homeschoolers, but in Japan I feel it will be a tough struggle.

I have also looked at the requirements to be a teacher in an international school and they are of a very high standard - basically you have to have been a teacher in your home country for several years and also pass interviews etc. Although of course, I have no direct experience.

No matter how much money you save (even if it's $70,000!), you can't make up for the education your kids will be getting 8 hours a day for 6 years or more with weekend camping trips.

I might send my kid to JHS (if I had one) -because Japanese kids are well ahead of western kids in maths and science - but I would definitely give him/her some home-schooling too to make up for the deficiencies in the Japanese school system (for example stifling independent thought and creativity).

I would be apprehensive about the 'mental moulding' too, but in general parents have lots more influence over kids than the school does, so that'll shine through.

The only other thing would be about them fitting in with their classmates - at an international school they would not feel the pressure of being the 'different one'. Imagine one black kid in an all-white school (or vice versa) and you get the idea.

I say, send them to where they will get the best academic education and the rest is your responsibility anyway.

[Gordon]

Another int'l school in Kobe is called Marist Brothers (I keep thinking Marxist). It's supposed to be good and not too expensive. Friends of mine are enrolling their children there in April.

Tough choice to make about int'l vs. public school. I still have 2 more years to think about it, but I live 3 hours away from the closest int'l school, so an easy choice for me.

[chi-chi-]

So how do the international schools pay? Are the working conditions pretty good? Does anyone on the board actually work at one (or qualified to work in one?)
I bet they make eikaiwas look like the McD's of English.

[PAULH]

[canuck]

I thought International Schools paid around 500,000 yen a month.

[johanne]

I am in the process of applying to international schools and in fact have a number of interviews lined up for next week in Tokyo. I have a teaching certificate in Canada, plus 4 years of public school teaching experience in the classroom. As well I taught ESL in Japan and Vancouver for 6 years, but Language school experience in pretty much thrown out as it isn't considered relevent. I applied to 15 schools in Yokohama and Tokyo. 5 agreed to interview me, with only one offering close to 500,000 yen a month. Basically the higher end schools who offer that kind of salary told me I didn't meet their qualifications. While they state they need a minimum of 2 years experience and a teaching certificate (which I have) I'm assuming they received applications from more experienced applicants, quite likely some who had already worked for international schools in Japan or in other countries. One school indicated on their web page that they can receive up to 100 applications for each posted position. The schools who have offered me interviews pay a starting salary averaging 4,000,000 yen a year with about 3 months off in total. They also pay key money and airfare to Japan. It's a much better deal than a conversation school, but you also work much harder. Having worked for Nova for a year, as well as other smaller conversations schools for 3 other years, I can say that with confidence. Being the classroom teacher for an elementary school class is nothing like teaching ESL overseas. Now I teach Grade 1 and it is my responsibility to make sure every student is reading, writing and has a basic understanding of numeracy by the end of the year. I also need to throw in a few units of study on animals, family, states of matter, physical education and social responsibility (meaning making sure they are nice, polite students). I write report cards, evaluate the students' progess constantly and am forever talking things over with the parents. It is way more work than any eikawa, but a lot more satisfying, in my opinion.

If you are not a certified teacher with classroom experience in your own country or another international school where you were solely responsibly for implementing the curriculum there is little chance of landing a job at an international school, or at least that what it looks like from the results of my current job search.