Job Discussion Forums

[aleconner]

Hello. I'm taking my college general education courses now and am trying to decide what I should major in. I'm leaning toward history, possibly with a minor in English or linguistics. I also plan to get a CELTA. I'm interested in teaching at a university in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or China after I graduate.

I'd like to teach history abroad, in addition to English. If I get a history teaching credential, I have the option of teaching at an international school as well. I'm more interested in history than English and don't want to be stuck teaching English only in Asia or the US.

Here are my key questions:

1) Has anyone here used their social science degree to teach a subject other than English at a Japanese university?

2) Is there any demand for foreigners to teach social sciences at the university level or is English the only desired subject?

3) Will obtaining a BA or MA in history make me less competitive than someone who majored in English? As I mentioned above, I plan to get a CELTA.

Thanks!

[currentaffairs]

I think it would be very hard to teach in Japanese universities anything other than English without a PhD. There may be a few openings at instructor level, and some opportunities as a part-time lecturer perhaps... I have an MA in Religious Studies and I taught one university lecture class that was related to my studies, and everything else was English.

If you are interested in teaching History then I would seriously consider getting your teaching certs and finding work at an international school.

[aleconner]

That's good to know. How was teaching English at a the university level there? Was it hard to find a job?

I wonder if a master's degree in a humanities subject, along with a CELTA, is good enough to teach English at a university there.

[nomad soul]

[mitsui]

Depends on the university.
I taught global issues, which was a content EFL class.
Students learned about a variety of topics such as about the UN, the environment, how developing countries can improve their health care and education,
global terrorism, etc.