OP,

I have only one more year of certified experience over you, and I am starting my IT as a Learning Support teacher this summer. I did have experience teaching English overseas prior to my certificated experience. My spouse does not teach.

So.... I would say, yes. You most definitely have a chance. Especially if you are willing to work in a wide variety of locales.

Good luck!

@wrldtrvlr, "I'm glad we had this talk." Really? No need for the condescension...

That said, I suppose that did come across as smug and that wasn't my intention. I am grateful for having secured a job. Nothing was easy about it though. For the better part of a year I pored through a very large folder of bookmarks on a nearly daily basis, wrote dozens of cover letters, and had some heartbreaks when after great interviews the jobs were offered to others. That doesn't even take into account the past two years spent trying to crack into the DOD system.

If a person is disheartened by hearing of another's success, that's unfortunate. Perhaps they need to reassess their strategies. I know I did. I think it's foolish to attribute success to luck. Sometimes the timing is right and sometimes it isn't but the world is what you make of it, not the other way around.

@Bananas, I hope the London fair in April works out for you. In spite of my personal views on fairs (under-informed as they may be), they hold them every year for a reason and obviously tons of people end up with great jobs.

Just got accepted my first international school position a little less than two weeks ago (so late-January).

I never went to a fair and didn't register with Search or ISS. I targeted schools in Europe and Japan, had four interviews and ended up at a great school, with a great salary in a great country in Western Europe.

My job search consisted of two elements: TIE Online and Google. In the end, I believe that contacting the school directly and interviewing (via Skype) with the school-based staff that I'll be working with gave me a distinct advantage over people at fairs who were interviewing only with the director. Let's face it, the director has the final word, but the principal and leadership team of the school are the ones that really matter as they are who you'll be working alongside on a day-to-day basis. In the end I got the job (obviously) and the people who interviewed at the fairs were sent "we regret to inform you" emails....

I plan on having a long career as an international educator but I have a hard time imagining I will ever go to a job fair.

That said, I teach in a specific field and don't have as much competition as a regular classroom teacher.

Can't help you with number 1. As a devout atheist I never consider working at Catholic schools and so haven't looked into St. Mary's.

As far as living in Tokyo, THAT I know about. The school IS in Tokyo (in south Setagaya) but it's only two stops away from Kanagawa, which is the next prefecture over to the west. In other words, it's in the outskirts/boonies. I lived in northern Tokyo so I'm not really sure about that area. However, I can share some thoughts.

I'm assuming you won't drive and will thus be at the mercy of the train lines. Luckily that's not such a bad prospect as the trains in Japan are great, but the school lies in an area that doesn't offer many options with regards to train lines. This means you'll need to live near stations on those train lines unless you want to have multiple transfers every time to go to or come from work. Japanese people do that all the time, often travelling an hour each way every day. I don't recommend doing that.

If you do get the job, I would look at living in Nakameguro which is a nice area closer to the center of Tokyo. Not only because it's a nice area near Ebisu and the Yamanote train line, but because you're going to want to go against the flow during rush hours. Trust me, you don't want to be in the most crowded trains EVERY morning. If you live in the center and head AWAY from the center in the mornings, your blood pressure will thank you. That area of Tokyo (Setagaya, Ebisu and Meguro) is fairly expensive and I'd probably lose the notion of having 2 bedrooms, but it all depends on the salary/benefits, I guess...

Explore this website: http://www.realestate.co.jp/

Ability to save depends on salary and such, but Japan is not the easiest place to save. Things can be cheap or outrageously expensive. Eating and drinking in Japan is not too expensive, if you're willing to eat local, but travelling within Japan is. In fact, it's often cheaper to travel internationally than it is to explore other cities in Japan. Daiso, a 100-yen shop, is your friend.

Japan rocks. Safe, clean, efficient trains, AMAZING food, kind people, rich culture, fascinating history, gorgeous women (if you're into that)... The good FAR outweighs the bad. In fact, from my perspective there really isn't any bad.

Hope you get it if you want it.

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...

I agree with most of what robbyp88 said but take umbrage with the American comments. As an American that imbibes regularly I can attest that a large portion of American teachers that I have known and work with DO drink after hours and on weekends without having ANY negative effect on their professional duties. What's more: this is known by administration and colleagues alike and it is not an issue. In your words "it is quite normal to go to a bar and drink."

Just as the OP made sweeping generalizations about people he or she did not know, you are doing the same thing when you insinuate that all Americans are prudes (or whatever it is you're alluding to). I'm assuming you've met many American's you haven't liked for whatever reason. I have too, but I can say the same thing about Aussies, Brits, Canadians and Japanese. That said, the number of people from any given place that I DON"T know will always outnumber those that I DO know. As such I would never disparage an entire country's population based on my inherently limited knowledge. I would hope that an international educator would share this mindset...

Anyway, to the OP, you really need to worry more about yourself. Some people are alcoholics. And some of those people are teachers. Whether any of those people are your coworkers is not your problem. That would be their problem. They are adults. If it makes you uncomfortable, don't socialize with them. Crisis averted... If one of them dies from their drinking, it won't be your fault.

Agree with Yokohama being a good place to target schools. If you're willing to commute to work/school, the Kamakura area is amazing with older homes available for very reasonable rents.

I lived in Tokyo for 3 years and while my experience barely scratched the surface of such a HUGE city, I think you'll find that rent will be higher than you're willing to pay or can afford if you're worried about having enough space. You could of course change your mindset and take on a smaller apartment, after all you can spend tons of time out of the house as many Japanese do. Tokyo is an amazing city that can't be fully explored in one lifetime.

Alternatively, the other larger cities of Japan have plenty to offer. There's an area called Nishinomiya that is nestled right between Kobe and Osaka. Space is affordable and many expats opt to live there from what I've read. That would open up possibilities in those two cities (though Kobe has more options than Osaka when it comes to reputable international schools). Sendai is a cool city as is Sapporo, but winters are understandably more and more brutal the farther north you go.

Most teachers don't want a long commute but millions upon millions of people do it every day in Japan. If you can handle the claustrophobia/ocholophobia that packed rush hour trains can induce then your options are significantly greater. You could work in Tokyo proper and live in southern Saitama, western Chiba, western Tokyo, etc... That said, I imagine it would be nearly impossible to know what your options are without having already spent a good deal of time in country already. You'll undoubtedly end up relying on advice from your school.

Wonderful response. Thank you very much for the time you took.

I believe ASIJ's position is for two years from now, unless you know more than is posted on their website. Still... good to know, though, that the lack of IB experience isn't quite the dagger in the heart I'd read it was.

I will continue to plug away and rework my cover letters a bit based on this advice...

Again, much appreciated, wrldtrvlr123.

Hello all,

I want to get a gauge from people that have experience working for international schools in Japan and/or are Learning Support/Special Education teachers in international schools (anywhere).

Background: I am an American male SPED teacher in my lower-30's. Less than 5 years’ experience, but with several years’ experience "teaching" English in Japan in the past. I'm certified to be a classroom teacher from K on up to middle school, but have only worked as a special needs teacher (almost exclusively with students that have mild to moderate learning impairments). I have no IB experience or training, but have a Master's in SPED as well as Reading and ESOL endorsements (for whatever that's worth). My wife is a Japanese national and we're looking to move back by next summer. If it matters, I speak Japanese, though not terribly well.

So here are my questions:

1) How difficult is it to find a job as a SPED teacher? How saturated is the field?
I am under the impression from what I've gleaned during my job search, that top-tier schools tend to have Learning Support positions but that lower-tier schools do not. That's nice in a way as I'd love to work at a higher-tier school and benefit from the better... well, benefits... On the other hand, it stands to reason that higher-tier school are more discerning and I worry that my lack of experience may hurt my chances when competing with other individuals that undoubtedly have more international experience and/or IB experience.

2) Would playing up my ties to Japan be counter-productive?
I have been mentioning that my wife is Japanese in cover letters to alleviate the concern that a school might have about her visa, but I wonder if playing that up might paint me as someone that ONLY wants to live in Japan and not as a serious teacher. Reality is kind of both, that I'm a serious teacher that is not (at this time) interested in living somewhere other than Japan.

3) If nothing materializes and we move back to Japan, and I take a non-certificated teaching position... Would I be shooting myself in the foot with regard to later obtaining the kind of job I'm actually after? Would it be easier to get a SPED position if I were already in country? Along these lines, does subbing at a decent school ever turn into working full-time at that school in your experience(s)?


Apologies for the novel. Brevity is not my strong suit...