Becoming A Teacher Of Japanese Language
Are you seeking a permanent position or a temporary position? Are you thinking about teaching Japanese as your life-long career, or as a temporary job? Do you need income from teaching to support yourself, or is this part of your "experience" for the future and income is not your major concern --or, even if it were your concern, could you manage to live on a part-time salary--?
Are you a native or non-native speaker of Japanese? Are you interested in teaching at the pre-collegiate level (elementary and secondary schools) or the college level?
Teaching in K-12 Levels
If you are interested in becoming an elementary or a secondary school teacher as a serious career move, you will first need to obtain certification, in the form of a teaching license, certificate, or credential. Requirements differ from state to state, so find out from the credentialing agency in your state.
(Try http://www.uky.edu/Education/TEP/usacert.html for links to each state you are interested in.) In order to obtain teaching certification, you will probably need to enroll in a teaching certification or credential program at a university or college. Procedures also vary among states, and may vary among colleges within different states as well. You can meet some states' requirements by majoring in Elementary or Secondary Education and obtaining a BA degree; in other states, you will need to enroll in a one-year "add-on" graduate program after receiving a BA degree in Japanese or a related field. If you are a native speaker of Japanese with a bachelor's degree, some states offer a test in Japanese (language, culture, literature, methodology, etc.) in place of a BA degree in Japanese. In most states, you must pass a test in order to be enrolled in the credential program and/or get certification. Please note that a few states do not even offer a teaching certificate in Japanese: in such cases teachers must be certified to teach some other subject area as a springboard (e.g.'s, Math, P.E., American History), or receive an "emergency certificate" which may last a year or longer. The best approach is to contact the state certification agency or someone at a university in your state that offers teacher certification programs. Please note that once you have obtained a teaching certificate in one state, you cannot use it in any other state. However, many states will accept another state's certificate as full or partial fulfillment of requirements in the certificate application process.
Licensure
This Summary of Licensure Programs in US was created as a resource for potential Japanese-language teachers of elementary/secondary and post-secondary levels. The list includes contact information for institutions that offer a program to license its participants as Japanese-language educators based on a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles .
The data was collected between 2006~2011 and 42 institutions in the US replied indicating that they offered a licensure program in Japanese-language instruction. Of these institutions, programs offered vary from one that leads to a master's degree, a bachelor's degree, or an add-on degree (post-baccalaureate). Most license programs are reflective of their state Department of Education's requirement to teach at the various levels, though degree programs are relatively more general and also likely to be a gateway to doctoral studies in education in a foreign language.
This information should be used as a reference to get you started and by no means is this list is comprehensive. If you are interested in one of these programs, please contact the school directly for more information.
Licensure Programs in the United States
Note: Some of the information in the list was compiled from data received from the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL). Without their contributions, this page would not have been possible.
Teaching at the College Level
If you are interested in teaching at the college level, you need to have an MA or Ph.D. in an appropriate field of study. The majority of current teachers of Japanese have typically earned their MA or Ph.D. degrees in such fields as Japanese Linguistics, Japanese Literature, East Asian Languages & Literatures, Applied Linguistics, Educational Psychology, TESL, or Curriculum and Instruction. Some institutions offer MA programs in Japanese language pedagogy. You should be aware, however, that it has been extremely difficult recently to locate a permanent college teaching position without a Ph.D.: the majority of the positions offered to MA holders are limited to one year temporary positions or annually renewable positions that are typically subject to the program's funding situation.
Teaching in a Different State
The PDF below explains the basic conditions under which states do or do not grant reciprocity for out-of-state teachers, or accept their out-of-state qualifications and experience in the certification process. All teachers must be certified in the state in which they teach, and the requirements vary greatly between each state. Please use this chart as a starting point to find the information you need, by clicking on the links under "FURTHER INFORMATION."
Recipricocity
Native Japanese Speakers Interested in Teaching Japanese
1. If you are a native speaker of Japanese and you're considering a short-term "experience," you may want to consider the following options:
ALLEX (Alliance for Language Learning and Educational Exchange) has the IEP (Intercultural Exchange Program) in Japanese, which enables post-secondary institutions to begin or maintain a high quality Japanese language program by providing them with professionally trained, native Japanese instructors who teach in exchange for tuition waivers to pursue a master's, associate's or second bachelor's degree. http://www.eastasia.org/
“The J-Corps program is a new offering of The Laurasian Institution. It is the mission of J-Corps to help teachers create classrooms that are stimulating exchange environments where learning about Japanese language and culture is enhanced.” http://www.laurasian.org/Programs.htm
The REX（Regional and Educational Exchanges for Mutual Understanding） Program is a teacher exchange program facilitated by regional and local governments in the US and Japan. http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/rex/english/main.htm
2. If you are a native speaker of Japanese, are interested in a teaching experience, and do not need to support yourself, there are some agencies in Japan that send volunteer assistants to U.S. schools and universities.