International Schools in Japan

[wasim]

Greetings all,

I'm considering options for teaching in Japan, I'm an experienced primary school teacher with a TESOL Grad Cert (currently bumping it up to a Masters) I'm wanting to work with 8-12 year old students in a formal school environment. Anyone got some tips for working within International Schools? Which ones to approach?

<<EDIT: gell>> Wasim: Keep threads to the 1 topic. Place your below paragraph in a new thread. Thanks.
Can anyone shine light on some professional challenges that gave them early grief in Japan i.e. not knowing cultural norms/expectations, communication issues with staff or administration, facing exotic curriculum etc.

Cheers for any info
Wasim

[gfell]

International Schools would only be concentrated around major urban areas. Best to place yourself in either Kanto or the Kansai area.

The British Schools are the first ones to come to mind. There are other International Schools for Germans and other nationalities as well, but unless you can speak this language, you can forget about it.

See below some schools I would recommend:

• Nagoya International Junior and Senior High School
• Tree House International School Nagoya
• Hiroshima International School
• Osaka International School
• GREGG International School
• The British School in Tokyo
• St Mary's International School

Gaining a teaching job at an International School is not easy. Most often, recruiting is done via introductions and word of mouth. If you see a job ad for an International School, it will more than likely be for a position starting in 6 months of so.

The best would be to email your resume with a DEFINITE arrival month. Then follow-up with a phone call a few days later if no reply received.

[wasim]

Thanks for the information, most helpful bit of substance yet from the net. I just have to go post my next run of questions now.
Wasim