Do teachers get paid well in Japan?

[MMM]

Glad to be of help.

If you really do plan on raising children in Japan, I would agree that a smaller town might be better. Larger cities are more dangerous, have dirtier air, and I feel like don't really cater to raising children, unless you have a lot of money and can afford the pay play areas.

[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by MMM

In general ALT positions are filled by fresh, young college grads. In general they last 1 to 3 years, with the rare teacher making it more than 5. ALT jobs are not intended to be life-long careers. So, yes, the needs of the career teacher will almost always outweigh the needs of the temporary one.

Yet brand new Japanese teachers are nearly incompetent as they get next to no student teaching during college, unlike American teachers. I have a new teacher under me because he knows, and the school knows, he has no idea what he's doing.

To me, ALTs should not be filled by fresh young college grads, and they should be moved up into the area of career fields. This is my career, not just my job, and it is incredibly frustrating to be met with this:

Yes, Japanese schools have systems and bureaucracies that will remain in place long after the gaijin teacher leaves. You are invited to teach in Japan to work within that system. If that doesn't work for you, then you won't last long in Japan.

I was not "invited." I met certain qualifications and was hired. The teachers that think of me not as a real teacher but of some sort of student teacher, teaching assistant, or worse yet, a human tape recorder really, really offend me.

That isn't what I am, and given that I teach my own classes, in Japanese, explaining English grammar in Japanese with the same methodology as JTEs and have every intention to pursue both a Masters and a Japanese teaching license, plus my own credentials in America, ought to be a clue to them.

Luckily, most teachers I meet do not think this way, and the system does work for me. I would just like to make my role bigger, and in Kyoto at least, this is a fairly simple process.

[MMM]

I agree with you, Tsuwabaki, that it would be smarter to hire career-minded teachers who were willing to live long term in Japan. Teaching experience and training were not required to be hired for JET, the largest government-sponsored program for putting ALTs into public school classrooms. Certainly there are career-minded teachers out there, but in some cases that's the opposite of what they were looking for.

I use the word "invite" because, at least JET, is a temporary position.

[Tsuwabuki]

Oh, I know you were merely describing the reality and not agreeing with it. The fact I have met teachers who look at me this way is an issue with the system as it stands now and sadly, how often ALTs internalise this and fob off responsibilty and act like it's a paid Japanese vacation where they can do as little as possible. It's hard to work against that stereotype.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

Oh, I know you were merely describing the reality and not agreeing with it. The fact I have met teachers who look at me this way is an issue with the system as it stands now and sadly, how often ALTs internalise this and fob off responsibilty and act like it's a paid Japanese vacation where they can do as little as possible. It's hard to work against that stereotype.

I would say that it seems like there are more serious teachers working there now then there were in the 90s when I was there. At that point JET was still expanding, Japan was growing, etc. I had heard stories that from some consulates there were more openings than there were applicants (like in Anchorage) and sometimes Hawaiians and people from places with lots of applicants would interview in Alaska to "guarantee" a spot. I am confident these days are over, and the hiring committees can be more selective than they used to be.

[Tsuwabuki]

Well, I'm sad to say that the current crop here in Fukuchiyama all replaced really awful folks, so this BoE still has recent memory of totally irresponsible folks. But yeah, I think you're right, that the situation is getting better. Positions are down, applicants are up, and while some school districts seem to be in a race to the bottom, others are realising hiring on full time native English teachers as part of the staff is a wise investment. The positions are the reason I am pursuing a masters and a Japanese teaching license: they pay 350,000円 or more a month.

[MMM]

I think the reason the government in Japan have adapted a system where they limit the careers of their ALTs is because they have created a self-fulfilling prophecy of flakiness. Take a 22-year-old straight out of school, and of COURSE she isn't going to want to spend the next 20 years or 30 years of her life in a foreign country. So people quit after a year (sometimes less) and foreign teachers develop a reputation of flakiness.

Surely there are people that would do this for similar pay and a longer contract with more experience...

[Tsuwabuki]

Part of it is that the Old Men running things still haven't figured out Japan either starts having babies, attracts immigration, or dies. Since younger Japanese refuse to have kids, immigration is the only answer.

[Zagato289]

Originally Posted by MMM

I think the reason the government in Japan have adapted a system where they limit the careers of their ALTs is because they have created a self-fulfilling prophecy of flakiness. Take a 22-year-old straight out of school, and of COURSE she isn't going to want to spend the next 20 years or 30 years of her life in a foreign country. So people quit after a year (sometimes less) and foreign teachers develop a reputation of flakiness.

Surely there are people that would do this for similar pay and a longer contract with more experience...

If i ever get a chance to teach in Japan and really like it, I wouldnt mind staying there for ever. when i really enjoy doing something like work I wouldnt care how much they paid me as long as i enjoy my job. : )

[Bugg333]

There are only a couple things i'll be looking for.

-able to be long term in japan (like some people, i too would live there forever. )
-Pays enough to raise a family in an ok area and live well. The better the living the better in general to be honest. But anywhere in japan would be a super super win win for me cuz that's my dream.
-promotion and such is possible so that improved living is achievable.