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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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 Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| womblingfree wrote: |
| The requirements for universities in Japan are generally the same as in Western universities. An MA in TEFL can get you a job in language support or pre-sessional courses, a PhD can get you a lectureship teaching your specialism alongside research. |
| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
Nope. An MA plus publications. OR a PhD and publications.
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Yeah they ask for publications but they rarely get anyone with any. Of all the people I know working at universities, about ten, only a couple have anything approaching what could be called a 'publication' and only about three have an MA.
Many of those university jobs are eikaiwa positions who'll employ anyone with a bit of experience. These aren't generally advertised on the more reputable sites but are word of mouth or outsourced to agencies. Is that still illegal? It certainly still goes on. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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And let me guess.... these universities are sort of 'not in a major urban hub', right (except for maybe the outsourced ones)?
I know more than a couple of people working through dispatch or as direct hire at high schools (some junior, some senior) who have masters degrees in TESOL / Applied Linguistics because they don't have publications- but that's in and around the Tokyo area. |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
And let me guess.... these universities are sort of 'not in a major urban hub', right (except for maybe the outsourced ones)?
I know more than a couple of people working through dispatch or as direct hire at high schools (some junior, some senior) who have masters degrees in TESOL / Applied Linguistics because they don't have publications- but that's in and around the Tokyo area. |
They're in Tokyo actually. Waseda's where quite a few work that don't have MA's, let alone publications. |
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tokyo10
Joined: 13 Apr 2010
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Many of the universities publishing ads on gaijinpot/ohayosensi require a minimum of two publications and a thick application with assorted essays and videos of actual teaching. At least that is what they are claiming. |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| tokyo10 wrote: |
| Many of the universities publishing ads on gaijinpot/ohayosensi require a minimum of two publications and a thick application with assorted essays and videos of actual teaching. At least that is what they are claiming. |
That's what they ask for but rarely what they get. There were jobs going at Rikkyo asking for MA's, publications, essays etc. Met up with a friend that got one of them and he said out of about 20 recruits about half had MA's. |
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Vince
Joined: 05 May 2003
Posts: 559
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| I suspect that asking for PhD's with publications is nothing more than marketing. They know that such qualifications are ridiculously overkill for the average person teaching EFL at university. An MA TESOL or Applied Linguistics is sufficient for typical college EFL instruction. They would probably also be well served by the right teacher with a masters in a subject like economics and a strong TEFL certification. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:19 am Post subject: |
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womblingfree posted
| Quote: |
| Yeah they ask for publications but they rarely get anyone with any. Of all the people I know working at universities, about ten, only a couple have anything approaching what could be called a 'publication' and only about three have an MA. |
I find that very hard to believe. Even the Japanese part-timers I know all have Master's even though at one time it wasn't common for them to have one. I've met perhaps 3 or 4 regular foreign part-time teachers without Master's out of the some 150 plus teachers I have met, mostly through the 3 schools I work at (used to be 4).
womblingfree posted
| Quote: |
| They're in Tokyo actually. Waseda's where quite a few work that don't have MA's, let alone publications. |
Yes, there was a bit of falling out at Waseda 2-3 years ago. Several teachers I know left due to new scheduling 'constraints'. All of those who left have Master's and publications.
womblingfree posted
| Quote: |
| There were jobs going at Rikkyo asking for MA's, publications, essays etc. Met up with a friend that got one of them and he said out of about 20 recruits about half had MA's. |
This wasn't the 6 day a week job they were advertising for a long time was it? A few of the jobs they have advertised recently almost had dispatch terms (fixed hours, large number of classes, lower pay).
I guess I'll have to tell Sasha in Moscow that this is slowly becoming a 'worker's paradise' as well. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 458
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 6:59 am Post subject: |
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To add to the discussion, not only does one need merely a Master's degree to get a university teaching job in Japan, most of the tenured foreign professors in Japanese universities teaching English only hold M.A. degrees!
Let's face it, the trend is for Japanese universities to hire foreign English teachers on 1 - 5 year contracts, often with no possibility of renewal. How appealing would that be to someone who has spent 4 or 5 years doing a Ph.D? Not to mention the fact that there are not many Doctorates in Applied Linguistics, TESOL, or Education running around Japan looking for jobs.
I have met very few tenured foreign professors in Japan who actually possess a Doctorate, and those who I have met hold them in somewhat unrelated areas - i.e., Anthropology, Business, Law, Music, Philosophy, and Political Science.
With the Temple doctoral program becoming really popular lately, this may change in the next several years but that's the way things are at the moment.
So, if you only have an M.A. degree, no publications and are applying from Korea - give it a shot. There are still openings around Japan for applicants that fit that profile. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:54 am Post subject: |
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womblingfree,
Even though half the recruits at Rikkyo had MAs, that doesn't mean anything. Those half didn't make the first cut, I'd say.
| Quote: |
| Yeah they ask for publications but they rarely get anyone with any. |
I seriously doubt the truth in this, but regardless, who applies and who makes the cut are two different animals.
As for the 10 people you know and publications, that's a pretty small stat. To say that most people who apply don't have publications is putting a skewed POV on things. Unis get flooded with 20-100 applications per job, and they ashcan the ones that don't meet the minimum requirements. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:35 am Post subject: |
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| This is true. I know from talking to the head of the hiring committee at one of my unis that they don't hire anyone without a Master's and 3 years experience. Granted the Master's could probably be in anything, but it is generally preferred to be in English (or English literature), TESL/TEFL, or linguistics. Of course I'm speaking about Tokyo, I don't about other areas, but what I've seen, many of the unis can afford to be pickier with the number of applicants. |
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taikibansei
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
They're in Tokyo actually. Waseda's where quite a few work that don't have MA's, let alone publications. |
You guys do realize that, as most Japanese universities now put all faculty information up on the internet, it's quite easy to check up on this kind of stuff, right? E.g., here are five 教員紹介一覧表 links from Waseda:
http://www.socs.waseda.ac.jp/s/faculty.php
http://www.waseda-toyama.net/faculty/faculty.php?UID=56
http://www.human-waseda.jp/school/about/faculty.html
http://www.waseda-toyama.net/faculty/faculty.php?UID=37
http://www.waseda.jp/sils/jp/about/faculty.html
There are more links for additional departments, but the answer will just be the same--e.g., of the 25+ foreign faculty 講師 rank or above that I've found listed so far, all have substantial publication records (including multiple books in some cases), and all but three have PhDs. Which makes sense in that Waseda (!) will typically get over 100 applicants responding to a full-time job search there. I.e., I sincerely doubt you have "quite a few friends" teaching at Waseda without an MA--at least not on full-time contracts!
| Quote: |
| To add to the discussion, not only does one need merely a Master's degree to get a university teaching job in Japan, most of the tenured foreign professors in Japanese universities teaching English only hold M.A. degrees! |
15 years ago, this may have been true. However, particularly if you're just starting out now, you're not going to be considered for one of the few tenured positions without significant Japanese ability, 3+ publications and a PhD (or an MA with substantial--quantity trumps quality--publications, work experience and great references). Similarly, it's also gotten much more difficult to get hired for full-time contract positions--unless you're applying to a place way out in the countryside.
Thanks to the horrible global economy, the proliferation of online/distance degrees, etc., you guys are kidding yourselves if you think it's a problem finding people with the degrees/publications necessary to "qualify" (I agree it's overkill) for these positions (especially in/near Tokyo). Heck, they appear to have Harvard/Oxford PhDs teaching English at Waseda now (along with all those people without MAs, I'm sure)! |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:37 am Post subject: |
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Who said anything about full-time contracts? None of the people I know working at Waseda have full-time contracts, it's all hourly paid stuff. Chiba also employ people without MA's on a similar basis. But this also applies to many of the teachers holding MA's as well.
So then, it's perfectly possible to get work in universities without an MA, which is the point I and others are replying to. No one's saying these jobs are easy to come by or that you're likely to get a tenured position, but it's perfectly possible to get a job. Getting a tenured lecturing job should require a PhD and publications as I said earlier, although judging by some of the posts this isn't always the case.
| gaijinalways wrote: |
I find that very hard to believe. |
Believe!
| gaijinalways wrote: |
This wasn't the 6 day a week job they were advertising for a long time was it? A few of the jobs they have advertised recently almost had dispatch terms (fixed hours, large number of classes, lower pay).
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Yes those at Rikkyo were on that six day a week job, actually 5 days plus Saturday mornings. The pay still works out around 5 million a year with the bonuses, so if you're struggling to find work it's not a bad option at all compared to some of the drivel on offer. They get the crazy long paid university holidays as well I think plus the classes are very small, maximum of eight students. The teachers I know seem to be having a perfectly good time there. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 11:51 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the info Taikibansei. Makes sense for the people I've been meeting, though I assumed Wombling was talking about part-timers. The part-timers I know are not so desperate, but for uni experience I suppose it would be useful.
womblingfree posted
| Quote: |
| Yes those at Rikkyo were on that six day a week job, actually 5 days plus Saturday mornings. The pay still works out around 5 million a year with the bonuses, so if you're struggling to find work it's not a bad option at all compared to some of the drivel on offer. |
I forget, what was the koma allotment on that for 6 days? I think though since I make a fair amount more than 5, I'll keep what I have. Also, when will those guys be back out looking for a new contract, 3, 4, 5 years? |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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| gaijinalways wrote: |
I forget, what was the koma allotment on that for 6 days? I think though since I make a fair amount more than 5, I'll keep what I have. Also, when will those guys be back out looking for a new contract, 3, 4, 5 years? |
It wasn't too bad I think and apparently they get permission to go home early sometimes. I thought about applying myself at one point. But yeah, out in 3 years I think. Most of the jobs I see these days seem to say maximum of 2 or 3 renewals which is pretty shameful. Does anyone know how strictly universities keep to this? I'd have thought if someone's proved themselves to be an exemplary employee it was open to negotiation, depending on the management at each individual institute?
For a foot in the door at uni's there's always dispatch companies as well. Funnilly enough there's a woman at my work with no MA that's just quit university work through Westgate (shudder) and now has a sessional contract with a UK university on the proviso that she works towards a relevant qualification. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 458
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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| womblingfree wrote: |
| Most of the jobs I see these days seem to say maximum of 2 or 3 renewals which is pretty shameful. Does anyone know how strictly universities keep to this? I'd have thought if someone's proved themselves to be an exemplary employee it was open to negotiation, depending on the management at each individual institute?. |
In my experience this is non-negotiable. If the contract is for 3 years, then it's only for 3 years and not longer. It's common for contracts not to be extended, regardless if the instructor is popular with the students, a good colleague, and actively involved in professional development activities. I have 2 friends right now that are coming up to their 3 year contract end and asked them the same question you asked above. They pretty much told me that it was always clear that they were only going to be there for 3 years and no discussion was every had about them staying longer.
2 - 3 year contracts for foreign EFL teachers at Japanese universities, often with no possibility for renewal, have become the norm. Of about 65 university advertisements that I have for 2010, roughly 50 of them are terminal positions that expire in 1 - 5 years. This is not good for teachers who are in their late 30s or 40s in such an age conscious society like Japan. These contracts are fine for the younger instructors who have time on their side, but most schools are not going to be hiring teachers in their 50s.
Another issue is the cost of moving apartments and paying deposits and key money every time a 2 or 3 year contract comes to an end. Even if one does find a new position, it will involve the cost of another move. Not a good way to save money. Recycling of foreign English teachers at Japanese universities has become a fact of life and that's what people need to consider before they jump into teaching at universities here.
The old joke in Japan for university EFL teachers:
Q. What's the first thing one does when they get a university teaching position in Japan?
A. Start looking for a new job.
Last edited by Shimokitazawa on Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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