Graduates teach abroad with JET
Caitlin Case
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
The Japanese Exchange Teaching program sends students from English-speaking nations to teach in Japan, Hugh Prevost, director of cooperative education said.
"I think JET has a three-fold goal," Prevost said. "One, teach English, two, teach culture and three, take Japanese culture back to where you come from."
The program has accepted 15 university students to their program since beginning he said.
Jared Bissonette, a graduate who is visiting Japan on the program, said: "I'm in Anan City. It's a semi-urban location on the eastern coast of one of the main islands, Shikoku."
"On a typical day, I go to one of my four junior high schools to teach from one to four classes. These usually involve leading the class in activities I create at home and/or following the native
Japanese English teacher's plan," said Bissonette.
Alyssa Griffin, a senior from Chattanooga, Tenn., said, "I knew from the beginning I wanted to teach English in Japan, and there are a lot of different ways that you can do it but [the program] actually runs through the government so it's the most stable, secure way to teach English in Japan."
Griffin said she is applying to the program this year and after her four years of renewal are up with the program she plans on staying permanently and finding a different way to continue teaching in Japan.
Bissonette said, "It can be a great opportunity for a brief and fulfilling stay in a foreign country, or it can be a launching point for a life-long career in English education in a country in which the demand for good English teachers is only going up.
As for what to expect after one gets accepted, the base salary is roughly $40,000 a year at the current exchange rate, which, for a first job, is not bad," he said.
Bissonette said it helps to have a degree in English or Education, along with classroom and study abroad experience.
"Five days a week, I get to work with hundreds of students to better their education, and introduce them to another culture and way of thinking. I'm basically paid to open young people's minds to a larger, fuller world than the relatively small town they know," Bissonette said. "If there's a better job than that out there, I can't imagine what it is."
"I think JET has a three-fold goal," Prevost said. "One, teach English, two, teach culture and three, take Japanese culture back to where you come from."
The program has accepted 15 university students to their program since beginning he said.
Jared Bissonette, a graduate who is visiting Japan on the program, said: "I'm in Anan City. It's a semi-urban location on the eastern coast of one of the main islands, Shikoku."
"On a typical day, I go to one of my four junior high schools to teach from one to four classes. These usually involve leading the class in activities I create at home and/or following the native
Japanese English teacher's plan," said Bissonette.
Alyssa Griffin, a senior from Chattanooga, Tenn., said, "I knew from the beginning I wanted to teach English in Japan, and there are a lot of different ways that you can do it but [the program] actually runs through the government so it's the most stable, secure way to teach English in Japan."
Griffin said she is applying to the program this year and after her four years of renewal are up with the program she plans on staying permanently and finding a different way to continue teaching in Japan.
Bissonette said, "It can be a great opportunity for a brief and fulfilling stay in a foreign country, or it can be a launching point for a life-long career in English education in a country in which the demand for good English teachers is only going up.
As for what to expect after one gets accepted, the base salary is roughly $40,000 a year at the current exchange rate, which, for a first job, is not bad," he said.
Bissonette said it helps to have a degree in English or Education, along with classroom and study abroad experience.
"Five days a week, I get to work with hundreds of students to better their education, and introduce them to another culture and way of thinking. I'm basically paid to open young people's minds to a larger, fuller world than the relatively small town they know," Bissonette said. "If there's a better job than that out there, I can't imagine what it is."
