Go for it then. Always better to be near family. Just remember the grass won’t necessarily be greener… just cut differently. 
Some frustrations you’ll leave behind in Japan… and some new challenges will replace them in Taiwan. I have nothing else to add at this juncture. Let us know how it goes!
1 Like
If you can do it, I’d recommend the NZ teacher’s license. Long-term this is a ticket to international schools all around the world (first stop, Taiwan). International schools tend to be good jobs if you can get them, and I imagine even being a teacher in NZ is an alright gig. You may need to renew annually to teach in NZ but probably you will only need to get the certificate accredited once per country you move to. International schools also often have the bonus of other international teachers to hang out with, but there is still the problem of people coming and going.
I had a buddy in Thailand, he met his GF there who was working for another international school. The went to China for a few years, now they are in Turkey. Both qualified to teach in the US before going overseas.
Grass is indeed always greener. I went the master’s route years ago and have since pushed on to a PhD. Considering all the time and money spent, if I could go back in time 20 years I’d advise myself to get a teacher’s license, because I would be considerably wealthier now and have more options for employment. Teaching adults has had certain advantages, I certainly can’t see myself doing shots with my students otherwise.
3 Likes
Cut differently is a good way to put it. 
Thanks for all the info today. I’ll probably be back in the future with more questions. Still got a long while to plan and decide, but here’s hoping it all works out in the end.
1 Like
I’ll have a look into those. Thanks for the advice! 
I know, right? Sometimes you can use a homeroom teacher’s card which is paid for by the parent association but they tend to be pretty stingy about it (don’t set it below 28 and only for 20 minutes!) so I just pay for my own. Completely worth it in the summer months.
We have camps. Our school’s winter camp was this week M-W, so for the next few days I’m free to “lesson plan.” Other than the camps you aren’t given much to do. You just have to be at the school.
1 Like
NZ teaching grade school teaching maxes at 90K local bucks with a master’s. Then you’ve got taxes and living…best in a rural area…but then who you gonna meet there?
Was in the same crossroads as the OP. Perhaps the teacher license is better if you can stand kids. But with Covid you can’t go back until you pay the 3000 quarantine fee now. It’s 10k to do the one year teacher’s course and you’ll need a car for your placement. You’re looking at starting around 50k NZ a year as a newbie…Good luck getting anyone to accept your experience as a non-cert teacher abroad, too.
Might be best to bite the bullet, return to NZ, do the teacher’s license then run like hell again to an international school. A master’s will afford you screw all in NZ without a teacher’s license. Best though in my opinion to do the teacher’s cert then the master’s back-to-back. 2 years in total but you’d be set and well 17k NZ in the hole potentially for both courses. Gotta do it all outside of Taiwan for Taiwan to accept it unless you want a cookie cutter master’s in Taiwan. A lot of busyness with less than 50% relevance to what you want to get out of it. Perhaps various subjects are different…for me it is like this.
So, yah bare minimum…teacher’s cert if you can deal with facing immature kids for the best part of your life.
2 Likes
Thanks for being frank. xD I’m curious which direction you took.
I think it’s still free to move home for me unless there was a recent change (I was overseas before the borders closed and haven’t returned in between), but here’s hoping that by the time I’d be heading home that the situation would be a bit better, vaccinations and all.
Education is always a hole in the wallet. I have no debt atm, so that’s something at least. Looks like a teacher’s cert may scrape in at a level where I could get a student allowance so that’ll help. Commuting will be a pain in the ass considering I can’t drive (still on a learner’s; part of why I like living in Tokyo), but I managed before so I’m sure I’ll manage again. Might even get my driver’s license sorted out this time. ^^; Auckland public transport/traffic still pretty meh as far as I can tell.
Curious about the cert/master’s back-to-back; is it only 2 years total? I thought a master’s was 2 years by itself. I thought maybe if the master’s was the same length in either, it might be worth looking into some of the master’s programs offered in Taiwan, given some of the universities rank just as highly as some New Zealand universities.
1 Like
Yes, that’s what I’m doing now. There are some decent part time MAs you can do while teaching. Night classes or alternate weekends. Let me know if you want more details. I’ve just signed up.
what takes more prep time at a uni job comparred to a private school? I think that would vary depending on the subject and age group taught.
never had to do any desk warming at a buxiban, but I never worked for any big chains, don’t know if they gotta do crap like that at Hess or KJ.
You’re constructing your own week-by-week syllabus from scratch when you teach uni classes. That can be fun, but also challenging. Unless it’s a standardized class developed by a committee (sometimes required classes are standardized), it’s up to the individual instructor to develop the course material and provide their own supplementals as well as choose the appropriate text. Then we also make our own exams and mark our own exams as well, but this part is probably the same for private schools. This is aside from other uni duties, such as being involved in extracurricular committee assignments, conducting independent research and trying to get a paper published every 4 years.
The one year I taught at a private junior high school it was pretty much all standardized. Standardized text books, mandatory sections we had to teach, no freedom to do our own supplementals, bench marks in the textbook we had to reach by the end of each week, pretty much zero or very little autonomy in the classroom. Much less work, but boring and less rewarding from a teaching perspective imo.
Hope that answers your question.
Yeah, would love to hear about some of the details. Which university is it through (if you don’t mind me asking)? I’m surprised they have enough students to different options time options.
Also, is it a “first year” do papers, “second year” do thesis kinda deal?
guess it depends on the school. I worked at a private school (high school level) where we just got a textbook tossed at us and told “figure it out.” Had to create the curriculum from scratch, although a book kinda helps. No curriculum or even standards though, I found that frustrating. I think there should be something in the middle to help balance out that situation. I also had to create my own tests and mark them of course as well. Didn’t have to do research, lol… is that only relevant for those holding PhDs?
No, I only have an MA and I have to do research and try and get papers published (if I don’t get a paper published every 4 years, that’d be bad for my continued job security).
I think there’s a distinction between “no curriculum” and “no standards.” It’s quite liberating to have the autonomy and freedom to develop your own curriculum, especially when you have a degree in what you’re teaching. You have to be confident in your material and instruction though. Most elective courses at unis are developed by the instructor or professor in charge of the class, not by the department (required courses sometimes have standardized curriculums as I said before).