Teaching in Japan

I'll start off this blog post by saying that I'm a qualified teacher and I've taught in both private schools and public schools in Asia. In South Korea I taught in public schools for two years through the government-run EPIK program. In Japan I taught at a private language school which is also known as an "Eikaiwa" (英会話). I'm currently teaching in a public school in South Africa. In this blog post I'll talk about the different ways to teach in Japan and the pros and cons of each option.

Teaching in Japan:

There are a few different ways to teach in Japan. The main ways are through the JET program, ALT jobs or at an Eikaiwa (a private language school). You can apply for if you have a University Degree and in addition some schools also require a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a foreign language) and you are a native English speaker. You also need to meet the requirements to obtain a working visa for Japan. There are also teaching jobs at International Schools. If you have a Masters you can also apply for lecturing jobs at Universities.

An interesting thing about English teaching jobs in Japan is that they don't all require you to be able to speak Japanese. Some schools will mention that they prefer candidates with basic Japanese language skills while others don't require you to speak Japanese. The school's top priority is whether you are a native English speaker, hold a Degree and meet the requirements to get a working visa. In order to live your daily life in Japan it’s obviously much better if you can speak / read / understand Japanese and it will also help you to move into other careers in Japan aside from teaching. It's always better to be able to speak /read/ understand the language or try to learn. Also the computer systems in the schools often have their programmes in Japanese (with some English). I learned how to use computers in Korean and Japanese during my time teaching overseas.

Which program do I recommend to teach with in Japan?
Everyone is different and likes different things so it is hard to tell others what the best program will be for them. The best thing you can do is find out as much information as you possibly can, weigh up the pros and cons of each option, and then decide which option is best for you.

Personally I think teaching teaching either through the JET program or doing ALT work is a safe option. I taught at an Eikaiwa and it was really tough. I have taught in both public schools and Eikaiwa in Asia and my personal opinion is that Eikaiwas have more business duties in addition to teaching your classes, more difficult working hours, more unpaid overtime work, a heavier workload and more pressure and work abuse than you would usually experience at a public school. There are decent Eikaiwa positions out there, but they seem to be more the exception than the rule.

Why did I decide to teach at an Eikaiwa? Well, I already taught in a public schools for two years in South Korea with the EPIK program. The EPIK program is like the Korean version of JET. With the EPIK, JET and ALT jobs you have a co-teacher with you in all your classes. I had already experienced having a Korean co-teacher with me for two years. I had finished my post graduate studies to become a qualified teacher and I wanted to grow in my teaching skills and teach my classes on my own. I opted to work at an Eikaiwa so I could teach my classes on my own without a co-teacher. Another reason I chose an Eikaiwa is because you can have more control over your location and placement in Japan. With the JET program rural and middle of nowhere placements are normal and you could end up in a small village in rural Japan. Some people prefer more rural placements while others prefer cities.

What is the JET program?
The JET program is the official government run program that places people in public school teaching positions in Elementary, Junior High, or Senior High schools in Japan. You work together with a co-teacher to teach classes. Your working hours are based around public school children so you usually work from 8 am until 4:30 pm Mondays to Fridays with weekends off. It is a nice program and it is a secure, trustworthy contract. Applications for JET begin nearly a year in advance. JET teachers are often placed in smaller towns and more rural areas so just be aware that you might get sent to the sticks! You can ask for a certain location on your application form but it is not guaranteed and you will be sent where they need you.

I've taught in the public school system in Asia.  I taught in public schools for two years in South Korea with the EPIK program. The EPIK program is very similar to the JET program in Japan. Both are programs run by their respective governments that place teachers in public schools and you have a co-teacher. I had a really good experience with EPIK. I think working in a public school in Japan is a good option as long as you get a nice Japanese co-teacher.

The pros of teaching through the JET program:
1. You have a Japanese co-teacher with you in all your classes. Your co-teacher can be helpful in many ways especially when it comes to translating things. Most schools have a policy where your classes must be taught only in English and the students must try to only speak English in the class.

2. You work regular hours from 8 am until 4:30 pm and you also have the weekends off.

3. You usually have more vacation than Eikaiwas because you have vacation when the public schools do. You might have to teach English camps for part of the school vacation.

4. In public schools you work hard, but you will generally teach fewer classes a week than you would at an Eikaiwa and you will probably have more time at work to do lesson planning and other things. At an Eikaiwa you may have to teach upwards of 30 classes a week and you often have little preparation time at work. Another nice thing about public schools is that your lunch hour is usually included in your 8 working hours, whereas Eikaiwas either won't pay you for your lunch hour or they simply turn your working day into 9 hours instead of 8. Plus you may find that with your extra duties at an Eikaiwa like cleaning, your working day turns into a 10 hour day.

5. You teach a certain age group whether that is Elementary, Junior High or High School. It is not the same as working in Eikaiwas where your students can easily range from toddlers to 70 years old all in the same day.

6. You will probably get an opportunity to go on school outings with your students and have some fun school field trip experiences. I certainly did when I taught at public schools in Korea and South Africa.

7. Your students will clean the school. In public schools in many countries in Asia like South Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan the children have to clean their own classroom at the end of the day. If you work at an Eikaiwa then you, the teacher, will have to clean the toilets and the school and not the paying customers (the students).

8. There is a more relaxed dress code. You should dress smartly as a teacher in Japan, but you won't be expected to wear the kind of business suits that Eikaiwas expect you to wear.

9. If you teach in a public school you'll probably get to enjoy lunch at the school cafeteria which saves you time preparing food. When I taught at a public school in South Korea I paid a monthly fee and I ate lunch with all the teachers in the school cafeteria each day.

10. You can experience Japanese school life and get to see what their public school education system is like and what their daily public school life is like.

The cons of teaching through the JET program:
1. You could be sent rural. Some people like small towns while others like big cities. Being sent rural may not even be a problem for you. It depends on personal preference. You can request on your application form to live and teach in a certain area, like Tokyo, but it is definitely not guaranteed placement and the chances are slim. Lots of people want to be in Tokyo. JET will take into consideration your preference for placement but they will ultimately send you where they need you and you might be sent to a very small Japanese town in the rice paddies where there is hardly any English around you.

2. It is luck of the draw when it comes to Japanese co-teachers and you never know who you will get. You work closely with this person every single day and whether they are nice or difficult can greatly affect your work experience.

3. You will teach a larger class than at an Eikaiwa. In a Eikaiwa your class size can be from 1-10 students. I must say that generally even the classes in public schools in Asia are small. I currently teach in a public school in South Africa and I have 37 students in my class.

4. The level of motivation of students ranges and some students are motivated while others don't care about learning English.

What is ALT work?
ALT work is similar to the JET program because you are placed in a public school (Elementary, Junior High, or Senior High) as an Assistant Language Teacher, where you work with a co-teacher to teach classes. ALT placement companies include Interac, Borderlink, Heart, etc. How it differs from JET is that when you working as an assistant language teacher (ALT) you’ll move around and work in one or several Japanese schools. The class sizes are bigger than the class sizes in Eikaiwas. The student's motivation varies and some students are interested while others don't care about learning English. Usually you work during school hours (morning – afternoon) and you will work with a co-teacher. You’ll probably have less responsibility and a less heavy workload than in an Eikaiwa school.

The pros and cons of ALT jobs are really similar to JET.

What are Eikaiwas?
Eikaiwas are private language schools for children and adults who pay to attend extra English classes. Eikaiwa (英会話) consists of the kanji for “English” (ei, 英) and “conversation” (kaiwa, 会話) so it means an English conversation school. It's common that you’ll have students of any age raging from babies to 70 year olds. Students will come for extra English lessons after they finish public school and adults come for classes after work or on weekends. Some mothers even bring their 6 month old babies for mother and baby classes. The classes have to be at a time when the clients are not busy at their jobs or, at public school, so the teaching hours run from the afternoon to fairly late in the evening, and you may very well have to work on Saturdays. Eikaiwas aso focus on test preparation for English tests like the EIKEN or TOEFL test in Japan. Workers may need to pass certain English tests for their jobs and students may need to take an English test for entrance into certain Universities. Another thing that sets Eikaiwas apart from public schools is that Eikaiwas are businesses selling education and they have a big business focus and an aim to make money, so you will have sales and business responsibilities on top of being a teacher. Eikaiwa schools include AEON, the former NOVA, Gaba, ECC, Berlitz, and Amity Corporation. Japanese Eikaiwas are a lot like Korean hagwons (학원).

The pros of teaching at Eikaiwas:
1. Small classes. The class sizes are roughly from 1-10 students per class. Small class sizes mean that students have more time to practice speaking and you can give them more individual attention.

2.The students can be quite motivated. The parents pay for the students to come and study. Some students (especially the younger kids) are forced to come by their parents but other students and especially the older and adult students are quite motivated and they have a desire to learn English.

3. You will spend more individual time with students and bond with them. It's harder to do this in a big class in the public schools.

The cons of teaching at Eikaiwas:
1. The working conditions. There are some decent Eikaiwa positions out there, but they seem to be more the exception than the rule. It really depends on your manager, staff and many other factors. Since I've taught at both public schools and a private language school in Asia I have experienced first hand how different they are. When I taught at a public school I never had to do the kind of things I was asked to do at an Eikaiwa.

At the Eikaiwa in addition to teaching a huge amount of classes, selling textbooks and seminars and making money for the school, I had to weed the school yard in the freezing cold, clean the air conditioner filters with a toothbrush, scrub the toilets, mop the bathroom floor, clean up when children couldn't aim straight and I was told to clean the carpets with a lint roller because the manager said vacuuming is too expensive. I was told to work when I was sick because there was no sick leave or else they would dock my pay or take away my vacation. It is hard to even take your vacation because your manager can say no and you can only take it at a time that suits the school's schedule. I was dropped off by my manager in the city and told to walk down random streets and hand out flyers advertising the school and put them in the mailboxes. I never had to do any of this kind of stuff when I worked at public schools in Asia.

Some Eikaiwas make you work a lot of unpaid overtime and you will be given far more classes than you can reasonably be expected to teach with an excellent standard. In some Eikaiwas you may not be paid for all of your overtime work and your time records may be deleted. I heard about other teachers who were verbally abused by their manager. The internet is full of people's horror stories about working in Eikaiwas. Just google "working in an Eikaiwa." Some people will tell you don't listen to horror stories you read on the internet. Now I'm not saying all Eikaiwas are bad. All I'm saying is do your homework and be careful. You might find a decent one but be very careful about which Eikaiwa you choose to work at. It can be very hard to know what you are in for. You can try to prepare by getting as much information as possible and also try to contact teachers who have worked at that school (but sometimes teachers are too afraid of management to tell you the truth and scared of what management will do if they put you off the school). Try get as much information as you can so you can make the best informed decision you can, although you often never truly know until you have been in a situation and experienced it.

2. There is a heavy workload. I have taught in both public schools and Eikaiwa in Asia and my personal opinion is that Eikaiwa has a heavier workload. Although this depends a lot on the school, you might have to teach five 50-minute lessons in a row and upwards of 30 classes a week and you might not have much preparation time or marking time at work. Some Eikaiwas expect you to spend the 10 minutes between classes talking to students in the lobby and helping them practice English between classes. When I taught at public schools in South Korea and South Africa I usually only taught around 24 classes a week and the rest of my time at work was preparation and marking time. Also in a public school you'll only teach a few grades. At an Eikaiwa you may have to teach up to 13 different types of classes/ levels to accommodate the huge variety of students from babies to 70 year olds and you'll need to then follow around 13 different lesson plans.

3. You usually have less vacation than JET and ALTs (assistant language teachers) who work for public schools and have vacation time when the public schools do, although the JET and ALT teachers may be required to teach English camps for part of the school holidays. It's also very hard to even take your minimal vacation time at an Eikaiwa because it has to be taken at a time that suits the school and the manager can deny your request.

4. You may find that you need to be more of an entertainer than a teacher. When working with younger students you have to jump around, dance, sing or just simply make a fool out of yourself to keep them interested and then if you have extremely quiet and shy teenagers you need to get them to open up and talk. You need to be entertaining and to surprise them and be super genki all the time. It's different to teaching in public schools you can be the regular and more traditional kind of teacher.

5. You will have to clean the school. I had to clean the bathroom when children don't aim straight, clean the air filters with a toothbrush, pull out the weeds outside the school in the freezing cold in winter, and clean the carpets with a lint roller because management said vacuuming is too expensive. True stories. You probably won't have enough time to clean between classes, because you have a lot of classes and you're busy, so you may end up staying late after work until 10 pm at night cleaning the school.

6. Sales pressure, business responsibilities and pressure to make money for the school. Eikaiwas are primarily businesses selling education  and they want to make money. This means you have constant pressure from management to make money and meet financial goals set by management. You'll probably have to sell textbooks and seminars and you have to sell these items to Japanese parents even if you can't speak fluent Japanese and they can't speak English well.  Eikaiwas have a big business focus. Sometimes it feels like they are more interested in making money than teaching. It's a challenge to be both a salesperson, marketer, entertainer, cleaner and a teacher!

7. Very strict dress code. Image is extremely important in Japan and Eikaiwas often expect you to wear a formal business suit to work every single day and your boss will dictate the exact colours and styles you are allowed to wear. It's quite hard to jump around and sing songs with small children while you are wearing a business suit and it's quite uncomfortable and impractical for teaching children. Plus you also freeze in winter and you are not allowed to wear a scarf or coat indoors as it's seen as improper in Japanese business culture.

8. Teaching the same material over and over and over. Eikaiwas usually have their own specially designed lessons and textbooks and you have to teach your lessons according to the style they want and their materials. You have to adhere to these plans and lessons and there is limited room for creative flair. You’ll have to teach these lessons again and again and you are not allowed to change things and it can become really boring. It can end up feeling like a very robotic style of teaching.

9. Working nights and Saturdays. You are teaching private extra lessons so classes have to be at a time when the clients are not busy at their jobs or at public school so the teaching hours are from the afternoon to the evening and on weekends, You may work from 12 pm noon until 9 pm at night and and sometimes later, especially considering Japanese workplace etiquette. You will most likely have to work every Saturday but you will get Sunday and probably a Monday off work and a lot of places in Japan are closed on Mondays. Sometimes working on Saturdays can interfere with other events you want to attend on the weekend. You can never make dinner plans during the week with your friends or Friday night or even Saturday day time plans. It's hard to teach properly on Saturdays if you are out until late on Friday night. You can do it but it probably won't feel too good. Teaching is demanding. While your friends are preparing for Saturday night’s shenanigans, you’ll still be teaching and counting the minutes until it is time to leave. The hours can cause your entire body clock will start to get out of whack and you end up eating at very odd times of the day like having dinner at around 10 pm which is not very healthy.

Pros or cons at Eikaiwas depending on your preferences:
1. The working hours can be a con for some and a pro for others. It really depends on individual preferences.

2. You teach a variety of abilities and ages. This can be a pro or a con depending on your personal preferences and whether you like variety or whether you prefer to just teach a certain age group. There are a few exceptions like Eikaiwas who mainly focus on adults but the majority of schools will have plenty of kindergarten aged kids.

There is a lot to consider when you decide to teach in Japan. Each program has it's pros and cons which you have to think about which path is right for you. It can be very hard to know what you are in for before you move to that country and see for yourself and it’s hard to tell whether a school is for you or not. You can try to prepare by getting as much information as possible and making the best informed decision you can, although you often never truly know until you have been in a situation and experienced it.