Job Discussion Forums

[maryknight]

what are your work hours? i�m currently teaching 25 classes a week in mexico. one hour classes. and i think that�s a great schedule. is this typical for japan? i do prepare outside of class, of course.

[JimDunlop2]

Impossible to answer. Do you mean eikaiwa? juku? public school? private school? International school? university?

I'd say in any situation, 25 classes per week (1 hour classes) is a very heavy schedule. Personally I would not want to work such hours.

[Zzonkmiles]

I teach at a technical college/senmongakko and I'm in the office from 0830-1800. I teach on average 8-10 classes a week for 90 minutes each. So I have lots of time to prep for my lessons during my office hours, although I occasionally take my work home with me.

Most entry level conversation school/eikaiwa jobs at the Big 4 usually involve near nonstop teaching all day long. NOVA teachers teach 7 or 8 lessons a day for 40 minutes each with a 10 minute break between lessons and a 40 minute lunch break. Preparation for these lessons is done during the 10 minute breaks and include gathering student files, writing file notes, and selecting the next class's lesson based on the lessons the students in that lesson have already completed.

[PAULH]

I work at a university and though my yearly schedule varies with part time classes added in, last term I taught 12 ninety-minute classes over 4 days in the week.

Quite a bit of time between classes but i have a lot of non-teaching and admin duties as well. In my school we prepare test banks of questions to be used in entrance exams and in-house proficiency tests as well as marking and preparation.

10 classes is considered a lot for a full time uni teacher, though part timers can teach anything up to 15 or 20 classes a week.

[Glenski]

When I worked at a conversation school, I taught 16-17 80-minute classes per week.

I currently work at a private high school, where I teach 15-17 45-minute classes per week (with tons more time spent preparing, doing club, and attending pointless meetings).

[guest of Japan]

I taught 25 to 28 50 minute classes at a conversation school my first few years in Japan. Those classes required preparation as well, so I was quite busy.

In my current high school, I teach 16 50 minute classes a week.

The actual teaching is far harder now than when I was in a conversation school, but I found the conversation school to be too physically draining.

[rvsensei]

For Westgate I taught 5-6 40 minute lessons a day. When I taught at a private HS, I taught 15 45-min lessons, plus Club, and 2 parent classes per week. The rest of the time was spent on the internet, working out at the school gym, sometimes making copies or prep for class.

[gaijinalways]

I teach a combo of company lessons and uni classes. Last academic year I had 14 90-minute classes, this next one I'll have 17 (luckily, most of the classes are ones I've taught before, so that usually will mean quite a lot less prep time). Company lessons vary, usually about another 6 hours a week. The traveling also is a bit wearing, I'll have 3 days where I'll be heading out 75-90 minutes a day, one way of course. I do try to use that time for planning, correcting homework, etc, but sometimes I just suck down a beer and read.

[osakajojo]

I teach about 30 or 35 40 min classes a week-anytime from 8:30 to 9:15. six days a week. Some days I will have 10 classes, other days I'll have 3, just different everyday.