Average salary for International School in Tokyo

[tinopener]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what the average salary for a full-time, contracted teacher in Tokyo is?

I'm currently working at a school, every week I'm spending 25.5 hours teaching classes, a further 5 hours supervising (lunchtime etc.) and a hell of a lot of time grading and planning lessons, as well as various other responsibilities.

I don't mind this kind of workload, but I think my salary - 4,000,000 a year without any housing stipend - is pretty low for the amount of work I'm having to do.

I'd be grateful to hear what others think.

[tinopener]

I should have added, I'm at an international school in Tokyo, but one of the lower/bottom tier ones.

[sid]

I can't help on the question as asked, but I am wondering what your next step would be if you found out other schools pay more.

[tinopener]

sid wrote:
> I can't help on the question as asked, but I am wondering what your next
> step would be if you found out other schools pay more.

Thanks for your reply.

Depending on the responses, I will have a few follow-up questions. For now, I'm trying to gauge whether I'm being underpaid.

[wrldtrvlr123]

The only current salary I know is ASIJ's (because it's on their website) which is 7,700,000 yen plus housing but they are the top of the food chain there. I do know that 7 or 8 years ago I was at a very small, specialized int'l school near Tokyo and I was making 5,500,000. And I have heard that (unofficially) another midsize school pays in the 6,000,000 range plus a small housing allowance.

Your salary does sound very low for Tokyo. Does your school not offer housing to anyone or are you on a local hire contract? Are you a certified teacher with experience? If so, I would imagine you could do much better at one of the other int'l schools in the area should you be able to make a move.

[tinopener]

wrldtrvlr123 wrote:
> The only current salary I know is ASIJ's (because it's on their website)
> which is 7,700,000 yen plus housing but they are the top of the food chain
> there. I do know that 7 or 8 years ago I was at a very small, specialized
> int'l school near Tokyo and I was making 5,500,000. And I have heard that
> (unofficially) another midsize school pays in the 6,000,000 range plus a
> small housing allowance.
>
> Your salary does sound very low for Tokyo. Does your school not offer
> housing to anyone or are you on a local hire contract? Are you a certified
> teacher with experience? If so, I would imagine you could do much better at
> one of the other int'l schools in the area should you be able to make a
> move.

Thanks for you reply.

'Does your school not offer
> housing to anyone or are you on a local hire contract? Are you a certified
> teacher with experience?'

There's the rub. Although I've got quite a bit of experience, I don't have the certification and am a local hire. I don't expect to be paid equivalent to the amount of a qualified teacher, however I also don't want to be overly exploited.

Although I'd like to continue in Tokyo (I've been here a few years now), I'm weighing up whether it's better in the long run, financially and career-wise, to bite the bullet and go back home to get certified.

I want to continue living in Tokyo and teaching, however am weighing up whether it's worth it, so thought I'd see how the land lies for others.

[sid]

If you intend to stay in teaching long-term, the certification is definitely worth it, and the sooner the better. The better schools won't want to hire you until you have it, and they probably won't "count" your uncertified years of experience when they place you on the salary scale, though they might consider it as an advantage in the hiring process.
You might look into doing a lot of the courses on-line from overseas, so you can keep working simultaneously. And some states will even allow you to do your student teaching overseas, as long as it's in an accredited school and you're supervised by someone they considered qualified (so probably an American with a certificate and a masters or such). In theory you could be working in the school in the same job you're doing now, getting paid, and someone pops in now and again to fill in official forms, and 18 weeks later you're certified. Much better than doing student teaching for free back home, but it is hard to arrange.

[tinopener]

Thanks again for the reply.

I would ideally stay here and get qualified. The only problem is I'm a Brit, so not sure whether I'd qualify for the American teaching credentials, and if any international school here would consider it as valid a teaching qualification as one gained through teaching practice in the state. And I've heard certain countries expect you to be registered as a teacher in your home country.

I did look into doing it online through two unis in the UK, though the feedback from that wasn't great.

I will look into the American license anyway, thanks for your advice.

[SafariDude]

There are a lot of online American Universities that offer teaching license + Masters degree online. One of them being USC (Southern Cal), though it is very expensive. Just Google teaching masters programs online and you'll get a ton of results. You'll have to do student teaching, but many school districts in the states offer year-round schools. Your program, if it is any good, will assist you with this. Good luck!

[Rhysboy]

Although Japan has a large population with the third largest economy in the world, the number of quality international schools is not that great.
Number one is ASIJ as everyone knows. Great package but extremely competitive I imagine.
Next is probably YIS, very good package ( I know of a few teachers who work there), and overall it is a great school. It is an IB school so they want teachers with IB experience.
The remaining schools in Tokyo are a mixed bunch, on one end of the scale you've got K. International which is supposed to be a terrible place to work and a few others which are better (check the paid review section on this site if you want more information).
Regarding salary, you won't get much more as an unqualified teacher (in fact what you are making is pretty good), so as others have said, get qualified asap.
But also bear in mind that Japan is a very competitive place (especially Tokyo).

[sid]

If you're a Brit, be very careful about exploring US certification. My understanding was previously that you had to be a US citizen to get certification. (Certification is granted by the government, the Dept of Education in the relevant state - it is not as simple as completing a specified list of uni courses, though that is the typical first step.) I seem to recall that I was corrected on the citizenship point, that some state or states allow you to get a license as a foreign national, but I can't remember the details. In any case, explore carefully before forking over dinero.
Many countries require appropriate certification or they won't grant an employment visa. They base their definition of certification on the country of your passport. US citizens need a full-on certification. Scandinavians need a teaching BA, since there is no other form of licensure in those countries. But a US citizen with a teaching BA wouldn't be given the visa, since they have other options that the government prefers. So what I'm trying to say is, as a Brit, you need a full-on PGCE/QTS, rather than earning a teaching degree from the US without a license to go with. So if you can find a state that will grant a license, you'd be fine. Otherwise, don't be fooled by a school that tells you "Go with us. Complete our program and we'll give you a letter that says you've completed all the requirements for a certificate, but you can't have a certificate due to citizenship" - that letter won't help you when your next country or school says "yeah, but you could have UK QTS, so what about that?"

[tinopener]

Thanks for the advice, Rhysboy.

[Kilg0re]

Tin opener,

I used to live in Japan and was a "teacher" in various forms for several years (eikaiwa first, then ALT and jukku work). My wife and I ended up moving back to my home (the States) so that I could go back to school, get a Master's, get certified and get several years' experience under my belt. At the time our intention was to return to Japan and for me to secure a job at an international school as I knew there was a salary ceiling I would face unless I became a certified teacher.

Five years later we're in a place where we're ready to leave the States. Looking back on the experience, it has certainly taken a while, and my intentions are different than when I left Japan, but it has been more than worth it. I'm 100 times the teacher I was and I am very confident in my abilities as a teacher (whereas I was not back in '09).

I'm looking not only at Japan now, but it's certainly one of my focuses. As such I've been researching schools in Japan for some time and I have to say that 4 million yen is great pay for someone that is uncertified but definitely low for an accredited international school.

As you know, things in Japan are done a certain way and that's just the way it is. As others have said, the sooner you get certification the better as your time teaching as an uncertified teacher will likely count for nothing.

This was just my experience and you might end up having a wonderful life on a better salary without getting certified, but I just figured I'd share. Best of luck...

[shadowjack]

Tinopener,

check out Teach Now. They are out of Washington, DC, offer certification, and you don't have to be American to get certified.