Job Discussion Forums

[Kionon]

Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was already registered here...

Then I remembered that I actually got hired in my current position because I posted my resume here.

I have just started my third year in Japan, and am planning to make the decision of whether to stay permanently or not at the end of this year. I am applying for a job back in the United States that has an age limit- if I don't get it in the next year, I don't get it. Period. This was a dream job when I was younger, I had an earlier chance at it, and I blew it. If it works out, I will take it, if it doesn't, I plan to stay in Japan. There is nothing else I am interested in that would make me leave Japan.

I'm an ALT, I am happy being an ALT, and although I went to university to be an English teacher in the United States, Japan paid more than the school districts I was looking at teaching at. Before that, I taught in Korea. In addition, I have a lot in savings (let's just say, enough to buy a house maybe, although I won't go into details) for someone of my age and position. I have acclimated well, rarely get frustrated with Japanese behavior, am well known in my community participating in various organisations and events. I have even been in the local newspaper. My dispatch company has very little turnover with most ALTs having been here at least two years, and others closer to four. One is about to get married to a J-national. Most of us intend to stay put.

This being said, I am a qualified teacher, and I can find the expectations of ALTs to be, well, restrictive. I am just as competent as many of the JTEs I work with. This is usually not a problem, as the JTEs generally recognise this, know about my credentials in the US, and generally allow me to present lesson plans how I want. And I have learned a lot from the JTEs who are competent. The problem comes when I am (legally understandable, of course) subject to the whims of a new or incompetent JTE. We've all had them, but I imagine for those of us who come from an education background in our home country, this can be particularly annoying, because we can't do our jobs effectively, and the kids don't learn.

This is why, once I am certain I will not have the job I wanted as a kid (and screwed myself over for as an adolescent), I intend to pursue a Japanese teaching license and work on permanent residency. Here's what I think I understand about Japanese teaching licenses:

Rinji Menkyo is granted by the BoE for the school or area you wish to teach at and is a temporary license for three years while you work to complete the requirements for the hon menkyo. This takes roughly two years and costs under $5000, depending on the university (\30万 - \45万). What I don't understand is this the MUNICIPAL or the PREFECTURAL board of education? If someone could clear that up for me, I would appreciate it.

I spoke to one of my bosses in my dispatch company, since I will be hitting the three year mark soon, and told them this is what I planned to do. Not only was he surprisingly enthusiastic, but he told me to go ahead and sit down with the municipal BoE (which I will do today) and tell them my plans so that they might be able to help me find information and possibly come back to student teach or teach (since I would presume my US student teaching and my time as an ALT is immaterial). He also told me that in one of the few other areas that my rather small company serves, another ALT did this. He is now a "normal" J-teacher with a Japanese education degree and a homeroom in an area public junior high school. This reflects very well on the dispatch company and is not considered "competition" of any sort. This particular teacher is an Australian, with Permanent Residency, but not citizenship.

Given the good relationship between the municipal BoE and the ALTs, including myself, I see no reason to doubt any of the above is true. Granted my area is a mix of rural and industrial, and is a suburb of a major port, and not an insignificant amount of my students are half or even full on non-Japanese. Most, of course, are south-east asian. The number of Westerners is still like... twenty. Although, as I have said recently, I have had American students in the Japanese system. We are also growing and have a higher birthrate compared to the rest of Japan, according to the people I speak to at the city office. We recently had a major reconstruction of the city office, parking lots, and recreational facilities due to the amount of growth. I think this is also due to the proximity of the port, the increase in trade with China, and the increase in the number of mixed families.

So this is essentially the plan, as outlined by my boss:

Start taking intensive Japanese courses -> Get rinji menkyo -> pass JPLT1 -> go to J-University -> Get J education degree -> Get hon menkyo -> get "normal" J-teacher job. I was planning to run this timeline by the BoE as well.

Is this correct? I'm in Kansai, and wish to stay here. So suggestions on being able to do this within a radius of, say, three hours by train or car would be best. Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe are all about equidistant.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Do you think that a board of education would hire a foreigner to do exactly the same job as a Japanese person? A large, large portion of the Japanese teacher's job is being a role model of the Japanese person that the school wants to turn the students into. Your dispatch company could be being so positive about it because they know that what will end up happening is that you will end up with a Japanese Teacher's Licence working as an ALT for a dispatch company, and although you will get paid absolutely nothing more, they will demand more for it.

[Kionon]

[Glenski]

[Kionon]

[Glenski]

[seklarwia]

[Kionon]