Professional excellence isn’t a goal; it’s a never-ending process. As such, one of the core principles of Independent School Owners and Teachers is that we are always learning. We are always searching for opportunities to become better teachers and small business owners.

That’s why professional development events are a large part of what we do.

Each of us has learned, individually, so much over the course of our journeys as school owners and independent teachers. We’ve all had positive and negative outcomes as we’ve tried new way of running our businesses, marketing our schools, hiring and employing people, building schedules, making the financials work and in so many other ways. And while some of us take classes or read books, all of us have learned some of these lessons the hard way. One of the goals in hosting our School Owners’ Conferences is being able to take and share that collected wisdom, so that each of us as independent teachers and small business owners are able to learn from each other.

Initially beginning with the JALT School Owner’s Special Interest Group, we held several conferences in the past. Moving forward as Independent School Owners and Teachers, we will continue holding conferences each year.

By popular demand, we will continue our conference lineup with two major events in 2026: our 8th conference in Tokyo and 9th in Kansai. Past conferences have featured insightful presentations, hands-on workshops, panel discussions, and engaging discussions for independent teachers and school owners.

For more details on upcoming and previous events, check out the conferences page.

For more than two decades, Language Teaching Professionals, in conjunction with English Teachers in Japan, have held a series of English Language Teaching Conventions all over Japan.

The 2025 academic year conventions have all been completed. Please look forward to details regarding the 2026 dates.

For more details, including locations, schedules, and sign-up information, check out the Conventions page here. (Please note that the link currently only contains information for the January/February 2026 Conventions.)

We continue the student-centered teaching seminar series originally led by David Paul. These one-day events provide practical teaching strategies and professional development opportunities across Japan.

The 2025 academic year sessions have all been completed. Please await further details on the 2026 academic year sessions.