Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

seanyc4
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:00 am

Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by seanyc4 »

Hey everyone, I'm planning on leaving Japan when my current contract expires at the end of July.

I was hoping to find a decent job teaching English in Europe, somewhere closer to my home in Ireland. I'm a little nervous as I have a good steady job with a decent salary 280,000 yen per month.

I've read many horror stories of really bad English teaching jobs. I was hoping some kind people could point me in the right direction to finding a decent job in Europe.

I have two degrees (not related to English teaching) Celta and two years teaching experience in a public senior high school in Japan.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Nothing, sorry.

1) ¥280K is not decent coin. The very bottom of professional IE is ¥300K in JP, plus some form of OSH package.
2) Everyone wants to go to the EU, especially WE, its one of the most desirable postings.
3) You dont say what your degrees are in, but a CELTA is worth nothing in IE. You need a professional educator credential, in Ireland this would be a PDE and full registration with the teaching council/bureau.
4) Your senior high school experience teaching ESOL doesnt count, and isnt worth anything. Lots of ETs think they can transition to IE because they have stood on one side of a desk and talked to young people on the other side of the desk. No one in IE considers you a "teacher".
5) The typical bar to entry in IE is 2 years post credentialing

Since you are from Ireland you have a significant advantage in marketability but you are a long way from having the resume that will even get you in the door to any IS thats "decent". The major and minor contributors would be happy to address more specific inquiries, and there are some options that may allow you to be credentialed by July, the challenges for you though are:

1) The peak of IE recruiting begins in January, the EU has a later window of Spring, but by July there wont be much thats decent.

2) You do not have any applicable experience, as stated above the typical bar to entry is 2 years, and ISs are typically not resourced to provide an NQT mentoring.
seanyc4
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:00 am

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by seanyc4 »

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not limiting myself to IS. Teaching English as a foreign or second language is just as important, if not more than teaching lord of the flies for GCSE. I was speaking more broadly about EAL in general. My degrees are in Environmental planning and Social Work.
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@seanyc4

No, its not really that important. In IE any lesson outside of those ISs that are predominately expats is a language lesson. Lord of the Flies is FAR more important. Literature exam results are important, English language is a utility subject, it gives access to the extended curriculum. ESOl in IE is taught by non-bilingual foreigners, in many instances ESOL is learning support, and for many ISs English proficiency is an admission requirement. Many ITs especially at secondary just dont have the time to develop CALP.
seanyc4
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:00 am

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by seanyc4 »

I do appreciated your opinions psyguy, thanks for taking the time to reply. Can I ask one last follow up question? You mentioned there is a way to improve my credentials by July, could you tell me more about this please.
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@seanyc4

There are a few potential options:

THE GOOD

You could apply to the state of Utah (UT) for a level 1 APT credential. The requirements are an undergraduate degree, a clear CRB and passing the PRAXIS exam for the subject you would want to teach. This is a 3 year renewable professional educator credential. There is no EPP/ITT requirement. The problems are its going to take you a couple months to get a social security number (though they might have the CACTUS issue fixed by January), then you would have to have your transcripts reviewed by an NACES credentialing service, and have fingerprints rolled in Japan for your CRB (takes a month going through the post and processing) and then you would have to take the PRAXIS is whatever subject you wanted to teach (you can take it in Japan). All together if you started now, you might have it done by summer. You could would then have a educator credential, which you could then use to apply for QTS from the TCL (Teachers College England).

THE BAD

There is a possibility you would be eligible for a CT (Connecticut) entry level credential based on your JET experience since you were technically obtaining that experience for the JP MEXT. If they accepted your JET experience then again you dont need an EPP/ITT. You complete the NACES process, and a CRB and your done. this credential is renewable for a total of 18 years. Its easier but its more of a long shot.

THE UGLY

Its more of a long shot, but you could apply for a rinji menkyo from your BOE in JP. Its not renewable anymore and is only valid for 3 years, but its a credential. Its the easiest of the three, because its just copies of your transcripts, degree scrolls, and an application, and fee. You can do it in an afternoon easily. The other option is you could apply for a 中学校教諭特別免許状 or 高等学校教諭特別免許状 which take more work, and has greater requirements, but being in JET you have better access to the BOE. You get one of these and then try to use it towards getting a license in the states, such as Hawaii which would only get you an entry level credential, but you then use it to apply for QTS. If you really saved up your Karma over the lifetime it could work. Lastly, you could take the necessary courses at Keio Uni (it would be a year of study) and then apply for your kyouin menkyo. At that point however there are a lot of other options that are about a year long.

THE REAL UGLY, like FUGGLY:

Its such a long shot, but generally when theres someone in the US who goes to a fair or gets an appointment their spouse who isnt an IT or DT for a number of reasons either gets an offer or the offer made to them is contingent on a teaching spouse that needs to get certified within the next few months (before the job starts), before the UT APT credential (which came out in July 2016), the only program that could do it mid year was the Texas Teachers program (in Texas). You can power through the online training at your own pace (a very quick pace) anywhere in the world then youd have to travel to Texas to do 12 weeks of clinical teaching in a DS. At that time youd take the licensing tests and you could be done by June. There is a small chance that they may let you use JET experience especially if you gave them the rational that your working on Bilingual Japanese language acquisition) and your working in a regulated JP DS, but youd have to be in the program and able to access your class during the program. If it all works out youd be credentialed by this summer. You could then use the Texas license to apply for QTS.
chilagringa
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Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:19 pm

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by chilagringa »

You'd be better off posting to an ESL board like Dave's ESL Cafe if you're not interested / qualified for real international schools.
seanyc4
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:00 am

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by seanyc4 »

FUGGLY hahahahahaha I nearly fell of my seat laughing! That's really good advice psyguy! Thank you for taking the time to give me your advice. If I stayed in Japan until July 2018 *another year* would that change the options available or would it be a similar route to the ones above?

Many thanks.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@seanyc4

Another year and you could complete the kyouin menkyo. The other options that open up would be a PGCEi (which I wouldnt recommend because you have a classroom) or an ACP programs such as Teach Now out of DC.
Teach Now is a 12 month field experience, you do the online preparation part on your own as cohort model, you move through the seminar portion as a group, reading material, submitting feedback online, then meeting at certain times online with your instructor and other members of your cohort. Teach Now uses the PRAXIS which you can take anywhere. Teach Now gives you handful of worthless Uni credits. The cost is about USD$6K and takes about 9 months.
The Texas Teachers program becomes viable at that point as well, assuming you can do your field experience in JP, the only advantage is that Texas Teachers has clinical teaching as an option if Teach Now wont accept your classroom contributions as an ALT as 'teaching' since you arent the TOR. There program is a little less expensive, but you would have to travel to the states to do the TeXas exams which negates the cost, of which you would have to take 2 at least and youd want to take 3 or 4 (maybe 5) of them.
After either of those you can apply for QTS once you have your credential.
seanyc4
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:00 am

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by seanyc4 »

Im from Ireland / UK though, am I able to apply for a teaching credential form the USA and if I pass will I earn qts to teach in public schools in the UK?
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@seanyc4

Yes, this is why I restricted my response to DC and the Teach Now program, there are others such as Teach Ready in FL, that would only give you a letter of eligibility, which isnt a credential. UT doesnt restrict foreign national from being issued a credential but you need a social security number to complete the CRB (no they will not accept a DBS check).
Rhysboy

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by Rhysboy »

I was in a similar situation as you are now in about 10 years ago. I has been teaching English in Japan for about 4 years and realised that it was a dead-end position. I left Japan and did a PGCE in the UK and got a job teaching at a school in England. I did two years there (that's about all I could manage due to the terrible behaviour) and then returned to Japan. Having a PGCE means that you can get a foot in the door at "proper" schools, although the top international schools such as Yokohama international school are still highly competitive. I can't comment on what Psyguy is proposing about getting qualified in America and then being allowed to teach in the UK, but it does seem like a long shot. The easier option would be to get qualified in the UK and go from there.
PsyGuy
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

Its not a long shot transferring a credential from the US to the UK, its a standard process, takes 1-2 weeks and requires little more than an application. You can find the guidance here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/qualified-t ... nd-the-usa

You can confirm the availability of Teach Now and DC certification to foreign citizens here:

https://teach-now.com/faq/

There is more extensive background in the DC municipal regulations.

UT is similar the issue isnt the UT DOE its the company they use for their fingerprint and CRB check. In the past UT would just assign whats called a CACTUS number which is what is used in UT to identify every educator in their system, however this number is no longer acceptable by the CRB company, they want a social security number. It makes the process longer but you can obtain a social security number for purposes of application if the agency requires it.

The advantage of applying for QTS as an OTT (overseas trained teacher) are 1) You never have to worry about or be concerned with doing PD to renew a credential. 2) You get full QTS not NQT meaning you dont have to do induction, thus cutting your program time from 2 years to one year.
joshefmaria
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:43 pm

Re: Advice: Leaving Japan (JET) aiming for Europe

Post by joshefmaria »

Why are You Leaving Japan.. You Know Like So much Tokyo..

Japanese People Are Too Good

Cheers
joshefmaria
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:43 pm

Re: Discussion

Post by joshefmaria »

PsyGuy wrote:
> Its not a long shot transferring a credential from the US to the UK, its a
> standard process, takes 1-2 weeks and requires little more than an
> application. You can find the guidance here:
>
>
> https://www.gov.uk/guidance/qualified-t ... nd-the-usa
>
> You can confirm the availability of Teach Now and DC certification to
> foreign citizens here:
>
> http://www.abcdreamusa.com/mom-finds-f1-visa-success/
>
> There is more extensive background in the DC municipal regulations.
>
> UT is similar the issue isnt the UT DOE its the company they use for their
> fingerprint and CRB check. In the past UT would just assign whats called a
> CACTUS number which is what is used in UT to identify every educator in
> their system, however this number is no longer acceptable by the CRB
> company, they want a social security number. It makes the process longer
> but you can obtain a social security number for purposes of application if
> the agency requires it.
>
> The advantage of applying for QTS as an OTT (overseas trained teacher) are
> 1) You never have to worry about or be concerned with doing PD to renew a
> credential. 2) You get full QTS not NQT meaning you dont have to do
> induction, thus cutting your program time from 2 years to one year.



That's Nice Information ...

Very Helpful

Cheers
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