|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
ssphinx
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 20
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:29 am Post subject: Kansai Gaidai |
 |
|
I just made it to round two of their hiring process and I was wondering if anyone is working there or has worked there?
I have searched both here and google and I have only found information related to debito.org's blacklist, and Kansai Gaidai's advertisements.
It seems like a decent first unie job in Japan. Am I mistaken? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Chris21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
There are a few words about it here... http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=462949&highlight=kansai+gaidai#462949
I think you're right, it's a good new-to-Japan job. You'll probably find it easy to make friends since all the teachers live together in an apartment complex. Some teachers like it there a lot, and stay for many years. In my opinion though, there are positions out there with a better salary, fewer classes, and in a nicer part of Japan. But for a first job, it's ok.
If you do decide to move out after a few years, it would probably be a good idea to study a little Japanese in your free time. I think some people get locked into the free apartment and university- safety net, then the task of finding an apartment on their own overwhelms them into staying (you could also find a helper to do it for you). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
the pay isn't good and you cannot stay long at the job.
There is a curfew too.
If you are young and single, I guess it is ok.
I think it is quite a hike from the school down to the train station. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
This is what happened to a guy who worked there 25 years. Beware.
http://www.ewaosaka.org/eng/index.html (Look up the November 2007 newsletter.) You might also want to read an unabridged version on the PALE listserv. message #2422 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Chris21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| the pay isn't good and you cannot stay long at the job. |
Staring salary is 4,000,000 with a free apartment. Contracts are 5-years long, and teachers are often renewed. There are yearly salary increases, but it isn't that good of a salary when compared to other unis.
| Quote: |
| There is a curfew too. |
No, there isn't.
| Quote: |
If you are young and single, I guess it is ok.
I think it is quite a hike from the school down to the train station. |
15-20 minutes on foot.
| Quote: |
This is what happened to a guy who worked there 25 years. Beware.
http://www.ewaosaka.org/eng/index.html (Look up the November 2007 newsletter.) You might also want to read an unabridged version on the PALE listserv. message #2422 |
I couldn't find any mention of Kansai GaiDai. Where is it exactly? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Sorry Chris. I thought that was it. It's not. It's Kandai 1Chu Junior High. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
taikibansei
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Let me preface this by stating that I've never worked at Kansai Gaidai, and indeed I have only been on their campus one time. However, the EFL positions--and especially the working conditions--were described to me in the past by both Mr. Y (the Japanese Dean) and the (I believe still) interim foreign(er) director. Furthermore, I know several former faculty as well.
| Chris21 wrote: |
| Contracts are 5-years long, and teachers are often renewed. |
Uh, has there been a policy change? As far as I understand it, the 5-year contracts have always been non-renewable--i.e., foreign faculty used to have to leave and work somewhere else for a bit in order to be hired back. E.g., the (I believe still) interim foreign(er) director once bragged to me that he had had to rough it through three years at a "crap" university in Ishikawa--a prefecture where (heaven forbid) "none of the locals spoke English in complete sentences"  --before even he could be hired back.
| Quote: |
| I think it is quite a hike from the school down to the train station. |
Not just this, but it's quite a hike even to get dinner--most of the local eateries are izakayas, and outside of two Family Marts, there's no "shopping" nearby either.
| Quote: |
| Quote: |
| There is a curfew too. |
No, there isn't. |
There certainly used to be. I was told by Mr. Y that all foreign faculty had to live in the on-campus foreign faculty dorms next to the gym. No exceptions. The nearest campus gate closed (I believe) at 10 p.m. , though there was apparently another gate "just 2-3 kilometers away" that faculty could enter through until midnight.
If things have changed--or if my understanding of the conditions is incorrect--then that's great. However, I just wanted people to know that I've been told different things about the place. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
Debito Arudou's blacklist has Kansai Gaidai on it. http://www.debito.org/blacklist.html#kansaigaidai
Here are all of the details. I do not know when they were collected, and as taikibansai related, I don't know if they are still going on. Since Arudou's description says 1-year contracts renewable for 5 years, perhaps that is the renewable thing that Chris heard.
Oh, and I have to agree with Arudou about 4million yen salary being a pittance.
| Quote: |
NAME OF UNIVERSITY: Kansai Gaidai University (Gaikokugo Daigaku)(Private)
LOCATION: 16-1 Nakamiyahigashino-cho, Hirakata City, Osaka 573-1001
EMPLOYMENT ABUSE: Has a remarkable job advertisement where not only are the "ESL Instructor Positions" non-tenure track, with one-year contracts capped at five years, but also entail a heavy weekly workload of "ten 90-minute classes, fifteen 60-minute classes, or a combination thereof" (while tenured J professors rarely have more than 5-7 class periods a week). Duties also include "student counseling, training for speech contests, and other duties as directed by the school" (whatever that means). And what professional with an MA in "TEFL, applied linguistics, or education with a TESOL focus", with international teaching/living experience elsewhere, and fluency in two languages, would settle for a piffling salary starting at "approx. 4 million yen per year"? (which, believe me, is peanuts!!) Finally KGU states, "The university is interested in midcareer professional ESL faculty who will make a serious commitment to its programs," without making a serious commitment to the job security of the professional bilingual educator. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.
SOURCE OF INFORMATION: 2007 advertisement from KGU on TESOL, available at http://careers.tesol.org/jobdetail.cfm?job=2619083, or webarchived here. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
taikibansei
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Glenski wrote: |
| I do not know when they were collected, and as taikibansai related, I don't know if they are still going on. |
They're still running the same ad:
http://careers.tesol.org/jobdetail.cfm?job=2821545
Same cap of five years. Same crazy required qualifications. Same poor working conditions (e.g., a low salary, long hours, few holidays and only half payment of health insurance premiums). Also, how much do you want to bet that the "furnished housing" is the on-campus faculty housing I mentioned above? If so, is it still mandatory, and are they still locking the college gates?!
Yeah, I guess it's a foot in the door (and better than an Eikaiwa position), but with that salary and workload, an ALT position (especially direct hire) would seem very attractive! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Miyazaki
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Glenski wrote: |
Oh, and I have to agree with Arudou about 4million yen salary being a pittance. |
how much is not? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Miyazaki,
Here is a link that will show 2005 salaries. I've misplaced the 2007 ones that were researched by the same person for the same region (Kansai).
The answer is that it depends on your qualifications and what type of school you work in, but these figures should give you a rough estimate.
http://www.palesig.blogspot.com/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Miyazaki
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
Glenski,
Thanks for the link. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Miyazaki
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
So who's right - Chris21 or Takibansei?
Is there a curfew?
Is on-campus housing compulsory?
It doesn't really make sense - what, they don't hire any married guys with kids who live in their own aparments off campus?
What do they give their teachers for paid vacation? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Chris21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
taikibansei wrote:
| Quote: |
| Uh, has there been a policy change? As far as I understand it, the 5-year contracts have always been non-renewable--i.e., foreign faculty used to have to leave and work somewhere else for a bit in order to be hired back. E.g., the (I believe still) interim foreign(er) director once bragged to me that he had had to rough it through three years at a "crap" university in Ishikawa--a prefecture where (heaven forbid) "none of the locals spoke English in complete sentences" --before even he could be hired back. |
It's not an official policy to renew people after the 5-year contract is up, but it is often done.
taikibansei wrote:
| Quote: |
There certainly used to be. I was told by Mr. Y that all foreign faculty had to live in the on-campus foreign faculty dorms next to the gym. No exceptions. The nearest campus gate closed (I believe) at 10 p.m. , though there was apparently another gate "just 2-3 kilometers away" that faculty could enter through until midnight.
If things have changed--or if my understanding of the conditions is incorrect--then that's great. However, I just wanted people to know that I've been told different things about the place. |
I've visited the campus on a number of occasions, and the gate immediately beside the dorms stays open all night.
taikibansei wrote:
| Quote: |
| Same cap of five years. Same crazy required qualifications. Same poor working conditions (e.g., a low salary, long hours, few holidays and only half payment of health insurance premiums). Also, how much do you want to bet that the "furnished housing" is the on-campus faculty housing I mentioned above? If so, is it still mandatory, and are they still locking the college gates?! |
While the salary is low, the free apartment is nicely furnished and very big. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Miyazaki
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Thanks for the info, Chris |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
