Public or Private: Which education sector has the job for me?

(Note: this post refers to teaching up to high school. For information on university positions, please see this post.)

So you've made up your mind and you want to teach English in Japan. There are a couple of ways to do this: teach in a school or teach in a private company. So which one should you choose? It really depends on your purpose for coming to Japan and how much autonomy you feel is necessary to be satisfied with your job.

The Public School System
Teaching in the public school system is a good idea as you learn the ins and outs of the education system in Japan and you have a more respected position in Japanese society. There are a few ways to find a position within the public school system in Japan: 1) get hired by the government via the JET Programme, 2) get hired directly by a school, and finally 3) get hired via a private company and placed in a public school. These three hiring methods are explained in more detail here.

No matter the means through which you get a job in the public-school system, the likely result is that you will end up becoming an ALT or assistant-language teacher. The reason this is likely is because 99% of the public-school system jobs out there are for ALT positions. So what is an ALT and what do they do? An ALT's job is to assist the main English teacher (usually a Japanese citizen) called a JTE (Japanese teacher of English). How much you assist and how often varies extremely from position to position, however don't fool yourself. You are not the main teacher, you are an assistant.

The JTE or main teacher is in charge of content, handouts, test-making, student-parent relations, students’ academic progress, etc. Basically, it's their responsibility if the class doesn't go well, not the ALTs. As a consequence, the likelihood of you creating or leading a class on a regular basis is slim, while the likelihood of you standing at the front of the class and doing almost nothing is high. This is because consistenly handing entire classes to you to plan and teach would be abrogating their responsibilities, and if you botch the job, the main teacher is the one who will get the blame.

So, it is highly likely that you will not have much in the way of "real" responsibility in this job. Your role is to make class a bit more interesting and provide the students with a chance to speak to a native-speaker of English from another country (i.e. internationalization). It is possible to increase your range of responsibility through proving yourself to the staff as a competent teacher who truly cares for their students, but this takes time and effort.

***Some Exceptions***
ALTs who work in elementary schools often have a much bigger role to play in the content-creation aspect of class because the main teacher often has little or no English ability (or confidence therein).
Additionally, ALTs who work in high schools are often responsible for conversation classes. These classes have no bearing on the entrance examinations students must take for university, so they are often given to ALTs. The purpose of these high school conversation classes is to increase the students' enjoyment of English and to give them an opportunity to use the grammar they are learning in their other classes.

In summary, an ALTs job is usually fairly easy, well-paid and not high in responsibility. It might be tiring physically, but usually not mentally. This job is not for ambitious go-getters who like to be in charge. Sometimes, you might need to be the kind of person who can watch someone do a job poorly that you feel you could do better, keep your mouth shut, and smile happily at your students' pathetic English ability. Choose this option if your main purpose in Japan is to travel around, find a Japanese boyfriend/girlfriend, be close to the source of anime, or any other non-educational priority and/or you do not intend to become a teacher in the future.

Private Companies
Teaching in a private company like a business, kindergarten, cram school or conversation school, has its own advantages. Although this job is considered by Japanese people to be less respectable than an ALT’s, it should actually be the reverse as private English teachers have all of the responsibility and often, less pay. Now that may not sound particularly appealing, but don't write it off yet.

Generally, working in the private sector means smaller classes and you may have the same students for many years. This means that you can clearly see the progress your students are making and if you are their sole English teacher, you have the satisfaction of a job well done.

Teachers who work in the private sector generally become better teachers than ALTs because: a) they have all the responsibility and moreover, they can see very clearly due to the small classrooms, which activities work well and those, that while fun, don't result in learning. b) They can give students more individual attention and they can move students around into different classes to be with those of similar ability; an option completely not available in the public sector. c) They are often responsible for and have full control over (if not the actual content of the lesson) then the way this content is taught, learned and reviewed. d) As there are no school semesters, tests or other deadlines, they can also often choose the speed with which a given topic is taught; spending more time on difficult lessons and breezing through easy ones.

Basically, if your goal in life is to become a teacher and/or you will not be satisfied with little to no authority/autonomy, then going private is right for you. Choose this option if you can't stand old-fashion ways of doing things, you like to have control over you work, and/or you are the hands-on type.