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.

The Japanese University Workplace

Some people have asked me about working in a Japanese university and what that entails. Here is a description of the kinds of working conditions you can expect in a Japanese-university workplace.

Part-time Work
Working part-time at a university in Japan is great. If you can teach more than 8 koma (90 min) a week, your pay is pretty good for not much work and little to no responsibility. The average pay for 1 koma is about 10000yen, or somewhere around 100 USD or 75 Euros. If you have at least eight of those a week, that makes for a weekly pay of 80000 yen for 12 hours of (official) at the school work. Of course there is always class prep and marking and you won't be paid for that as those hours are included in your 10000yen per koma. This puts you in an annual income of just under 4 million yen per year, which is very decent pay for Japan.

The downsides to working part-time are that you have no input into any changes in your department, nor will you generally even be consulted by the full-time teachers unless you have a close working relationship with them. This is more disadvantageous for some people than others. Some individuals really care about improving the level of education at the school, and some people care mostly for their own students. If you are the kind of person who likes to make a difference in your workplace, part-time work might be tough for you.

Finally, you don't get any benefits, bonuses, research money, and you can't apply for most grants. You will probably not have a private office, and your computer/printer may be ancient. However, the biggest negatives are that your salary will never increase and you have no job security.

Full-time Work
Just like part-time work at a university, full-time work is a mixed bag of good and bad points. The main negative is pay vs. responsibilities and work hours. You will often start off making less than a part-timer would with a lot more responsibility. You will work at least 40 hours a week. Most teachers have on average 6-7 classes per week with language teachers often having more. Beware of any institution that has you teaching more than 12 classes per week, this is an unfair course load.

The average starting salary for a full-time university teacher varies so widely it is hard to give accurate numbers. It can be as little as 250000 (equivalent to a cram school teacher), or up to 480000 yen per month. Private schools will tend to pay less than public schools and lower-ranking schools (i.e. not famous or distinguished academically) will pay even less. However, these low-ranking schools are good entry jobs and may be more lenient in their hiring practices. Maximum salaries also vary with each institution.

Full-time university teachers get all standard benefits offered including health insurance, sick leave and holidays. Your salary will increase over time and most universities give you bonuses twice yearly. Also, you may have much greater job security usually with the possibility of tenure, although this depends on your institution and if they employ discriminatory-hiring practices for foreign employees. You will often get a yearly amount of money to spend on research and trips to conferences. You will also often get subsidised housing, dependent allowance, as well as a private office.

A big difference between full-time and part-time teachers is the number of responsibilities you will have. In additional to classes, full-time teachers are in charge of committees, research rooms, and in particular, seminar students. Seminar students are students that choose to engage in research with you for the full term of their 4 years at the university and ultimately, you are often responsible for helping find employment for them when they graduate. (Obviously a big responsibility.) You may be responsible for giving intensive courses during the summer months and also for administering test on weekends. You will have to help out during open campuses, festivals, and so on. You can expect to work during all school holidays. The students may not be in class, but this does not mean vacation for you.

Working at a Japanese university is a prestigious job with a lot of respect and better than average pay. Therefore, your co-workers will generally be very intelligent and well-educated. It is a great work if you can get it, less busy than working as a office worker, and generally with a better working environment.