Job Discussion Forums

[junan]

Hiya

I'm a 36 yeard old Primary school and EFL teacher. I'm keen to teach in Japan, but am wondering if it's the kind of place where I could do short term contract.

I'm keen to see as much of the country and culture as poss, but for various reasons I can't commit to a full year contract. I've researched a bit and find this forum useful so I thought I'd ask you guys. It seems as though it's a long winded process to get visas and the like sorted, so is a short term contract in Japan viable?? Summer school for eg?

I'm not interested in the salary aspect or having expenses and air fare paid and all that stuff, that's for the long term contracts etc. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Oh and before any of the usual tired, jaded and cynical suspects respond with tedious sarcastic responses, please just get yourselves a coffee and watch TV instead....I work with kids all day long as it is.

Many thanks

[japanman]

The easiest thing to do would be to sign up for a one-year contract and just leave within the contract. Sounds obvious but I guess this is the best option. Most of the big schools don't have a term system, the classes are continous all year round. So breaking the contract and giving them the month's notice wouldn't hurt anyone.

[junan]

Thanks for that.

I'm used to the UK teaching system where a full term's notice is required and frowned upon if not given, though I accept that EFL is different in that respect.

I'm keen to not be disrespectful to an employer (unless they're deserving of such) but if it's an accepted practice to give a month's notice on a longer term contract then that's certainly an option.

Cheers for the repsonse, apprecaited.

[Grasshopper]

Well, that may or may not be the easiest thing to do...However...

It`s not generally acceptable, and I have found that Japanese people don`t usually understand how anyone could not possibly fulfill the term of their contract.

Even with proper notice, I find that it is difficult to leave mid-term.

[japanman]

I couldn't leave my job mid-term because I work at an elementary school and would feel bad. But if you are in a school that is termless then that's ok.
Are you a primary school teacher in the UK then? If you are used to that kind of situation then you should try for a job in a real school. The language school trade may not be for you.

[junan]

Ok so far....

But that then brings me on to how to secure a job in a 'proper' school as it were. Through a company such as the usual suspects? Or do Japanese schools do their own recruiting?

All advice is helping me a lot so thanks.

JO

[billysmolesworthy]

I worked at a company called Minerva some years ago and they had a major summer camp program every year. It's all interacting with kids, while generally the Japanese staff have all the responsibilities for safety etc. If this is an acceptable alternative to the classroom teaching you seem to be asking about, then approach this company, now called Stampy I think (based in Nagoya, under the umbrella of the Zenken group), or put feelers out for similar work. You might only get work for a month or so, which again, may not be what you're after.

[Glenski]

junan,
I presume you didn't do a search on this topic, because you would have found that it comes up about once a month and gets hashed out to death.

There are darned few contracts here less than a year for teachers. Westgate Corporation has 3- and 7-month contracts. That's about the only one that ever gets mentioned. Some people will chime in with retorts that there are other employers, but nobody seems willing to mention names. So, other than quit a contract early, that's about all you have.

As for billysmolesworthy's mention of Minerva/Stampy/Zenken, I'd be wary of that. Z is not known to have a good reputation.

The main thing is, you are going to need a work visa regardless of short-term or long-term work. I can't imagine any summer camp that provides such (except to students at universities). Most here seem to want people who are already in Japan and have a visa in hand.

I'm intrigued. You wrote that you wanted to "see as much of the country and culture as poss" and yet still work.
Working and seeing as much of the country as possible are usually separate things. People here take work seriously. You aren't even eligible for paid days off until you have worked 6 months, and Japan doesn't have a sick day policy.

You are "not interested in the salary aspect or having expenses and air fare paid and all that stuff". Well, you aren't going to get airfare paid (except for Westgate reimbursement), and no other expenses, either. You are going to have to live on SOMETHING, though, and the usual figure that gets cited for bare minimum subsistence wages is 150,000-180,000 yen/month. Depends on lifestyle and location, of course, but even the going average wage for entry level work is 200-250K/month. Sorry, but you are not even qualified for anything more than entry level unless you want to try your hand at an international school, but that means breaking a contract, and how do you feel about that?

Summer school doesn't really exist here, and if you find some semblance of that, you're not going to get a work visa sponsored for it.

So, set your sights differently if possible, apply to Westgate, or plan on breaking a contract.

[collissimon]

Not relevant at all (Apologies!), but does Filbert Street mean Leicester City FC?

[junan]

Hi Glenski

I was hoping you'd respond, you seem one of the few people on the forum willing to give indepth and dare I say 'mature' responses.

I see the points you're making. A lot of sense there. I'm not usually one for breaking contracts, especially if my employer had treated me with respect and professionalism, so maybe I need to look at 12 month contracts with a view to (hopefully) seeing it out.

When you say that I'm only qualified for entry level stuff, does anything above that mean a Dip/MA etc???

[junan]

collisimon

Yes it does mean Leicester City, for my sins! I'm in Aus at the mo just finishing a RTW trip and I'm a little homesick!

[Glenski]

junan,
The sad news in Japan is that unless you have experience here, most of the time you have to start at the bottom rung. So, even an experienced, licensed teacher usually has to take conversation school work, or JET ALT work, or dispatch ALT work. There are some exceptions, of course, and I don't know enough to lay them out for you. I'm sure there will be someone out there who can contribute those, but by and large you shouldn't count on it.

It has nothing to do with your credentials. When I wrote "qualified", I meant that it only has to do with whether someone has taught previously here or not (even in eikaiwa).

As for breaking a contract, don't expect a lot of ultra-professional eikaiwas here. The point that I usually make is that it is easy to break a contract (nobody here will chase you down), and even though one may not care about what one leaves behind in the wake, and even though employers here are used to such attitudes, I don't like it. In my opinion (not shared by everyone), it leaves a bad impression of us foreigners, and for those of us who remain, it just exacerbates the situation. Why, for example, should an employer offer better work conditions when he knows the teacher is going to bolt at any moment and leave him shorthanded? People can call it the chicken and the egg thing, but since I'm a foreigner, I try to advocate to other foreigners to act professionally regardless. (Of course, if an employer crosses the line, that's different.)

Ask away if you have more questions.

[junan]

Yeah I take your point. I taught in Italy and Spain and had my fair share of teachers taking the proverbial, even a DOS asking me to lie for her when she missed a day's teachng through being hungover!

I need to do a bit more research on ALTs and eikaiwas, I'm not up to speed on the difference between the teaching/assistant roles, so I'll do a a bit of research on these forums.

From people I've spoken to who have travelled to Japan, it seems a wonderful, yet sometimes difficult country. Obviousy actually living and working there would be harder still, yet it hasn't put me off. Some of the muppets who post on these boards have tho!!

I know it's not an easy question to answer, but how 'easy' has it been to pick up the langauge and to be accepted as a resident as it were and not a traveller?

[zorro (3)]

I think Glenski mentioned it, but try Westgate. If the short term contract thing is what you really want, then they are perfect for you. They will also pay your return flights and pay a reasonable salary. You mentioned that you want to travel in Japan too. This is not a problem either because you can simply delay your return flight, and do your travelling when the contract finishes (or come a few weeks before the contract).

Good luck.

[johanne]

OP,
I think that your biggest problem is getting a visa if you are only going to be here for the short term. If you somehow work that out and you were willing to live in Tokyo/Yokohama you could probably get yourself on substitute lists for a number of international schools. There is always a shortage of qualifed teachers to sub at international schools. In fact one school sent be a rather nasty rejection e-mail when I applied, stating how unqualified they found me (I am a licensed teacher and at the time had 5 years of classroom experience), but ended up the mail saying that as I was coming to Tokyo anyway (my husband is Japanese and we were relocating here) that I should give them a call when I arrive and they would be me on the sub list. Since there is no commitment in getting a sub there is no harm done in putting someone on the list even if the school is less than impressed with the resume. It sounds like you're more than qualified to teach in international schools so if you contacted the schools directly I would think most would put you on their sub list. Some might not even be concerned with you visa status and just pay you in cash. It might be worth checking out.

If you were subbing you could take vacations when you wanted them since you could tell the schools you were unavailable for such a time and there would be no breaking of contracts, etc.

There are about 20 international schools of different calibre and credibility in Tokyo and Yokohama. If you google "Tokyo with kids" or "international schools in Tokyo" you will be able to get websites for most of them.
I'm not that sure about the pay, but I think (stress here on think - I'm not at all sure) it's about 15,000 - 20,000 yen (less than 100 pounds) a day. If you get 15 days a month on that salary you would be able to live and travel a bit if you were frugal. If you got on the list of 5 or so schools you would probably have no problem finding 15 days of work a month, although probably not all in primary classes.

Good luck. What you are suggesting is not that easy to arrange, IMHO, but could be done.