Career Compass Part 2: Building a Career as a Japanese Language Educator
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
7:30-9pm ET
This event will dive into Japanese language teaching opportunities and credentialing across Kentucky and Michigan. Learn about integrating Japanese skills into language teaching careers, obtaining relevant credentials, and understanding both local and national opportunities. This impressive panel will share their experiences and guidance regarding teaching Japanese language in K-12 and higher education institutions.
*Zoom link will be emailed to you upon completing registration.
Join us again for our last part of this Career Compass series:
Driving Opportunities: The US-Japan Automotive Industry
(Tuesday, 10/22 @7:30pm ET)
Looking to break into the Japanese automotive industry? Connect with JET alum professionals in the industry to learn about career opportunities in this field.
Featured Speakers:
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An experienced teacher educator, instructor, and administrator, Dr. Hooghart has taught Japanese language and culture for over 30 years, focused her doctoral research on schools and teacher learning in Japan. She has earned degrees from the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Siena Heights University, and post-BA K-12 teacher certification from Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Hooghart became a believer in international exchange during her high school exchange homestay with a host family in Yokohama. Her interest in Japan continued to grow throughout her career, first as a JET Program English instructor in Shiga prefecture, then a K-12 Japanese teacher in Michigan, a professor, dean, business consultant, translator, and world-language teacher educator. Her current work is focused on college-level, online Japanese instruction at Mott Community College in Flint, MI, as well as teacher preparation and youth education through Hinoki Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting Japanese-English bilingualism and multiculturalism, where she serves as Educational Research Coordinator and a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Hooghart and her technical-translator husband, both non-native speakers of Japanese, have raised their two children in the U.S. to be bilingual in Japanese and English.
LinkedIn page:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-m-hooghart-phd/ -
Chris Conner (Niigata, 1987-1991) was an ALT as a member of the first ever JET class. His experiences there eventually inspired him to join the teaching profession as a middle school English teacher in Indianapolis, followed by two stints in the Japanese automotive industry in Kentucky. The lingering influence of his time in Japan ultimately led him to become a Japanese adjunct instructor at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in 2012 in Lexington, Kentucky, followed by a decade of teaching Japanese at Scott County High School in Georgetown, Kentucky. He has also been an adjunct instructor at Georgetown College and is currently in his first year of teaching Japanese at Berea College. Chris always encourages his students to visit Japan, consider joining the JET Program, and immersing themselves in their language and culture.
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Motoko Tabuse is the Director of the School of Japanese at Middlebury Language Schools and a professor at Eastern Michigan University. She received her Ph. D. in Foreign Language Studies from The Ohio State University. She is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.
She has served as President of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese, Chief Reader of the AP Japanese Language and Culture Examination, World Languages Consultant for the College Board, and Teacher Certification World Languages SPA program reviewer of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), formerly known as NCATE, and other organizations.
At Middlebury she created a master’s degree program (2021) and actively recruit JET returnees. She will launch a doctorate program in Japanese Language and Culture (teaching focus) and Secondary Japanese language certification program (Vermont) in Summer of 2025.
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Thor Sawin has taught in the Language Teacher Education programs at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey (MIIS) in 2013, and started as Associate Dean for the Language Schools in 2023. Thor taught in Middlebury’s German School from 2018-2022 and has taught both German and English as an Additional Language in 7 countries at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Sawin’s research focuses on language learners’ comfortability with technological tools and on learning methods to carry out social impact work in multilingual settings. He has also consulted and done contract teaching in this area with the State Department, the Fulbright Program, the Air Force, several international organizations, as well as many universities around the world.
Funding support for this event provided by:
