Job Discussion Forums

maggietulliver · Joined: 06 Oct 2011 Posts: 19

Hey All,

Anyone know what kind of position a Masters in Ed. (TESOL) (plus a Grad Dip TESOL and BA) would get in Japan? I am becoming more and more disillusioned by working in Australia as a teacher... sigh.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Do those qualifications come with any peer-reviewed publications or experience? Please elaborate, otherwise the best we can tell you is that the degree alone won't get you much beyond ALT or eikaiwa work (initially, anyway).

maggietulliver · Joined: 06 Oct 2011 Posts: 19

No peer-reviewed publications, unfortunately... Coursework. I also have over 5 years experience teaching here in Australia ( I am Australian), and am also about to complete a post grad degree in Counselling, too.

G Cthulhu · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: MA Ed. (TESOL) Question

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

I wouldn't count on a large percentage of applications to those middle to low level places to extend interviews. Just my opinion having been in the uni market for a while now and hearing what others have to say. See what the FAQ stickies have to say about job hunting in those circles. Competition is very steep, so you'll be facing people who do have publications (and, contrary to what G Chulhu wrote, it does matter where the publications come from a lot of time) and who have experience in Japan, so for many places you'll see 20-100 applicants per opening.

Unis and 2-year institutions are almost exclusively offering little more than part-time jobs nowadays and a large percentage of them are calling for master's or PhD people with publications. For the FT jobs, expect a 1- to 3-year contract, maybe renewable once, then you're out. (Hokkaido U has been offering a 1-year non-renewable slot for almost 2 years now, and the course load is fairly steep. HU is not a low level school.)

As for those middle to lower level unis, I see one (Toyo) is advertising now for a FT position, but they don't even ask for any particular degree (BA, MA, PhD), so I expect a high number of applicants and a hard time for anyone in your position to land an interview. Just an example. As for others of a similar quality school, find out just what they are like, and you may not even want to work there. The whole uni/college biz in Japan is becoming worse and worse for everyone concerned.

Personally, I wouldn't count much with a counselling background unless your Japanese language ability is very high. Mainstream K-12 schools usually don't have any counselors/psychiatrists themselves, and it's up to the homeroom teachers to serve that role. We foreigners usually don't get involved in anything like that.

Shimokitazawa · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 458 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

Shimokitazawa · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 458 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

Here's one I saw on JREC this morning:

Nagaski University of F.L. - English Department Position

steki47 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: BFE Inaka

maggietulliver · Joined: 06 Oct 2011 Posts: 19

Thanks for your advice everyone.

I have been searching job sites and it seems more viable for me to simply stay in Australia and work at a university here!

Crazy times indeed...

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

It's not impossible, but it's not likely either.

They do want Japanese, publications and presentations as well.

However, occassionally you'll find the rare university that is a little lenient in one of those categories, or even all three of those categories. But it isn't the norm, by any means!