Pathways to Becoming a Japanese Language Educator: December 9, 2025
Are you a JET alum or Japanese language enthusiast interested in teaching Japanese?
Join us for a 90-minute session that brings together a panel of educators, including JET alumni teaching at the high school and university levels, as well as experts from Middlebury Language Schools and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ).
Explore pathways into Japanese language education, from credentialing and certification to navigating career opportunities in K-12 and higher education. Our panelists will share their experiences, offer practical advice, and discuss resources to help you get started. The format will include informative presentations, a panel discussion and space to virtually network with our presenters and fellow participants. If you're exploring or considering teaching Japanese here in the US, this session is for you!
Date & Time
US: Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 7-8:30 PM ET
Japan: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 9-10:30 AM JT
This event is free for USJETAA members (must be a JET or JET alum) and $5 for the general public. If you do not have a membership with us, you can sign up for a free or supporting membership here.
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.
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Joyce Arellano-Bravo teaches Japanese and Spanish at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, California. Now in her eighteenth year of teaching, she holds credentials in Japanese, Spanish, and Computer Science and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Japanese Pedagogy at Columbia University, focusing on deepening her pedagogical expertise and advancing best practices in Japanese language education. From 2003 to 2006, she served as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Chiba Prefecture, teaching at both the elementary and middle school levels. Her years on the JET Program were profoundly transformative, deepening her connection to Japan’s language and culture and inspiring her goal of becoming a Japanese teacher.
Guided by that same curiosity and cultural sensitivity, Joyce designs her lessons to help students engage meaningfully with language and culture alike. Her experience as a language learner shapes how she integrates technology and culturally responsive pedagogy to create inclusive and dynamic learning spaces for her students. In her previous position, she expanded the Japanese program from a combined upper-level class into a standalone Honors Japanese IV course, reflecting unprecedented student interest and growth under her tutelage. Beyond her classes, she actively participates in professional development for world language teachers and was invited to take part in the AATJ/JFLA Japanese Teacher Leadership Summit, joining fellow educators from across California to advocate for and advance Japanese language education.
Beyond Japanese language instruction in the classroom, Cameron has been involved in developing professional development workshops for world language teachers through the Monterey Bay World Language Projects (MBWLP), leading trainings for US and Japanese teacher participants in the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP) (a “reverse JET Program”), and presenting at state and national conferences. In addition to supporting in-service teachers, Cameron also led a methodology course for a single subject credential program student candidates at CSU Monterey Bay. Cameron was recognized by the California Language Teachers’ Association Outstanding Teaching Award in 2023.
Cameron is currently serving as President for the California Association of Japanese Language Teacher (CAJLT), having served on the CAJLT board since 2016.
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Helena Shirai is a longtime educator and Boulder, Colorado native. Ms. Shirai has taught German I through AP at Boulder High School since 2001. She also taught Japanese I and II for 15 of her teaching years, sharing her deep connection to Japan and her passion for language learning with her students.
Helena earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College, completed her major in German at Sacramento State University (OR California State University, Sacramento), and later received her Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University. Her teaching career was inspired by her experience on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, where she served as an Assistant Language Teacher in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture from 1994 to 1997, co-teaching English at local junior high schools. Following JET, she continued teaching English in Japan from 1999 to 2001, working with the Karuizawa Board of Education in Nagano Prefecture to teach English to elementary students in the town’s three public schools.
Outside the classroom, Helena enjoys reading, cycling, and traveling- pursuits that reflect her lifelong curiosity and global outlook.
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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:
