Job Discussion Forums

[Nagoyaguy]

I have been trying to get information on this for ages. MEXT has a goal of licencing hundreds of Native English speakers as 'proper teachers' for the public school system, according to their latest Action Plan. Yet, nobody at the local level where I am knows anything about it.

Has anyone out there in ESL Cafe Land managed to get a teaching licence here in Japan? If so, how did it happen? I have a funny feeling it is more a matter of who you know rather than what you know.

[Glenski]

I work for a private high school, and I got my Japanese teaching license easily enough. Just had to provide some translated copies of my resume and college transcripts. The school sent in the necessary paperwork. The license is only good for the area or school system, perhaps only the specific school, I'm in.

[moot point]

Don't mean to hijack your post, but Glenski what qualifications did you have in your home country? Are you talking about a recognised teaching certification back home that was translated into Japanese?

[JimDunlop2]

All I can tell you is that everything slowly gets filtered down to a local level...
Don't expect there to be a notice in your local paper all of a sudden that there will be a mass hiring of 10 new employees anytime soon.

At my BoE, we started getting told last year that English would get introduced as a regular subject in elementary schools -- if not this coming school year, then very very soon.... As a result, we were told, our job description would change slightly and we would be involved in educating (Japanese) schoolteachers how to teach English.

Also, I recently learned (rumor mill) that our BoE has hired an additional ALT to ONLY work at elementary schools.. Making me wonder whether the rest of as ALTs at the board will still have to....

So, things DO seem to be moving -- but at a typically Japanese snail's pace with no one in the loop as it relates to what's going on and when.

In addition, as far as licensing goes, I've heard mixed stories about HOW you get licensed in Japan. I was told by a local teacher that you must pass a teacher's examination (in Japanese), not unlike having to pass the bar exam to be a lawyer... This is a locally administered test, at the level of the school board. I was originally told that I would be required to take this exam... Then that was withdrawn. Then I was told by someone completely different that although examination is one way to get teacher certified, there are OTHER, non-examination methods to achieve this... I can't remember what they were at the moment... I just remember I was very surprised at the lack of congruousness.

[Glenski]

moot point,
I had no teaching qualifications back home. None. I came here with a TESL certificate freshly minted, plus a bachelor's degree and master's degree in science fields.

What was translated (with some considerable difficulty, as you might imagine with my science courses and scientific work experience) had to be done with my help and a fat dictionary. Even the TESL certificate and my college degrees posed some translation problems in terms of certain wording that is just used as flowery language to mean "he got it from us".

[shuize]

I've delt with similar translation issues and I can vouch for Glenski that they can be a hassle.

University: What was your major in university?

Me: That's easy. Political Science.

University: What department?

Me: You mean what college? Social Sciences.

University: No. What department?

Me: Umm ... Political Science?

University: What course specialization?

Me: ... Political Science???

Now with the introduction of professional law schools here in addition to the existing undergraduate and graduate programs in law, I can just imagine the fun they'll have with visiting scholars.

Foreign Teacher: I'm looking for the law school ...

Japanese staff: Which one?

Foreign Teacher: Umm ... the graduate program.

Japanese staff: Which one?

Foreign Teacher: ... The graduate program.

Japanese staff: Yes, yes. Which one ...