Job Discussion Forums

[Kublakhan]

Hello,

It is common knowledge that the Japanese love anything that moves to be young, fresh looking and innocent - derive from this what you will - but how about from a teachers perspective?

I have glanced at a number of posts which suggests that our Asian cousins don't perhaps regarded old age and wisdom with the same respect as other ESL nations but is this really true?

Saudi Arabia and other middle east countries, apparently, doesn't share this same point of view towards maturity, but how far exactly does the land of the rising sun enforce its ageist attitude against teachers, and at what age should one (who has the right credentials and experience for argument sake) reside themselves to forgetting about working in Japan, even say within the more rustic locations?

Thanks

[Mr_Monkey]

I think the proposition is a little simplistic.

If you're advertising a job where the quality of the product is not the primary concern - and indeed the product is manufactured elsewhere - then perhaps young, otherwise unqualified staff will do. You really don't see many people in their 50s working in McDonalds; there are only so many ways you can flip a burger. It's certainly true that there are older people working in ELT in Japan, although there are, from my experience very few working in eikaiwa.

However, not all Japanese schools are like this, and not all Japanese attitudes are such as you describe. I've worked in schools who employed teachers in their sixties. I've also worked for GEOS (many moons ago).

Interestingly, age is accorded enormous respect in Japan. Maybe you should be seeking out schools that don't service the 'you can have a gaijin friend' market - they do exist.

[benshi]

I was hired at the eikaiwa I work for at age 48. Now I do the hiring there, and I sometimes hire people in their 50s and 60s, if I think they'll work out well.

Don't give up. Good luck!

[rxk22]