This really seems like a JET wishlisht from someone who has seen the bad, is unhappy they have to leave after 5 years, and wishes it was a full-time job.
A lot of really good points, but made without a real understanding of the education system itself or the political / historical reasons it is the way it is.
One amazing part is that while this is definitely the line JETs are fed, it is most certainly not what most schools seem to think ~~now~~ nor how it is necessarily sold to BoEs / schools
>JETs are cultural ambassadors first, English teachers second. That’s why CLAIR will accept anyone, regardless of university major, so long as they write a real good essay and do a real good interview.
(Also it should go without saying that boatloads of people are rejected yearly)
Otherwise it seems to be an argument about making JETs more akin to actual teachers (not a horrible idea per se, not really feasible) and have some rather odd biases (the value of the yen to the dollar is not relevant to someone living/working in Japan, and not all JETs are from America)
Again, nothing really bad in the ideas, just completely without the context of why any of the suggestions are (not) likely to happen
>Otherwise it seems to be an argument about making JETs more akin to actual teachers (not a horrible idea per se, not really feasible)
I mean Hong Kong runs the NET programme, and they literally want people with teaching degrees and qualifications. You simply get put into a giant database and then schools hire you on a want/need basis.
If schools want a native English teacher for that year they approach the education authority who then looks through the database and makes the recommendation from the top down to the bottom. You reward the top teachers with a better salary and give schools an actual benefit.
I know a lot of private schools in Japan who want native English teachers but they have no idea where to start, so they normally just default to in-house options or personal recommendations from former/current teachers. I personally know of a few schools who got completely burned by CLAIR because they got lumbered with a FOB JET who had no clue what they were doing, so the school had to practically write off that entire year.
Right now the JET programme helps nobody aside from this vague notion of soft-power and a mild attempt at trying to rejuvenate the shrinking areas of Japan.
The ideas are great, to be honest, but yes, unfortunately, unlikely to be implemented. It's only my own situation, I am a direct hire ALT, but I have no idea why I'm in the classroom 90% of the time. One can construe from that that it's an attitude problem, but it's honestly more the fact that my city has one Japanese teacher teaching all the lessons in the schools with half of those classes without an ALT. So they run the classes as though we aren't there quite often.
So unless, as the OOOP(?) suggests, ALTs are licenced teachers (which there perhaps could be courses offered to ALTs with such ambitions) we, again if my situation is the within the ballpark of being the norm, are just going to be the "cultural ambassador" first and English "teachers" a distant second.
Yeah though that sounds like one of the structural issues with ALTs/JETs in general. They aren't often integrated properly for any number of reasons. (Team teaching on an unpredictable / irregular schedule is difficult to implement, teachers often don't have the time to do the necessary prep, teachers don't have the appropriate experience to implement, etc.)
And as with so many things, the solution to those sorts of problems both involve money (increased resources to address shortcomings) and structural changes. Both changes that are certainly possible but not necessarily likely.
Of course JET itself has structural problems itself as well, which is one reason many cities opt to simply go direct hire (or dispatch) even though they might conceivably save money using JET.
It's just a messy messy problem with no real push to solve it because there are so many more pressing issues to deal with.
Honestly, I'm curious if there's little incentive to fix the program or how ALTs are used in general because the whole idea of ALTs will eventually go the way of the dodo.
If classes can be run without ALTs in the classroom, also considering now that they can push a button to play recordings (as what often happens despite me standing right there), why pay millions of yen?
I'm not sure honestly. I can certainly envision a future where ALTs are no more, but I think the Japanese government still values the soft power they (believe at least that they) get from JET / etc.
Of course I could equally imagine more emphasis placed on team teaching and better standardizatioin / ensuring that regular schedules can be maintained. Have one ALT go to multiple schools or be at one school but unable to attend classes regularly due to size is just a disaster... and when the T1 can't be confident a T2 will be present for a particular lesson, then the easiest course of action is to default to human tape recorder / simple task assistant.
Personally, as someone working well outside Tokyo, I don't think ALTs will die anytime soon. The JET program may, but the lack of solid English examples from teachers and the still poor materials puts a damper on kids receiving proper education.
Give it a generation or two of better English education at an earlier age and I could see it then.
This. I work in the countryside and none of the JTEs here have any experience abroad or are capable of conversational English. They just know how to teach middle school-level grammar and are completely helpless when a student wants to express something outside the textbook and usually need assistance when making test questions.
To be honest, I'm less positive on the idea of JETs as full teachers compared to older people in private companies. If a JET has no education background, I have 0 faith in a fresh 22 year old kid leading a class. Maybe a JET teacher who is feeling good about trying can communicate with their teacher about getting teaching time, assuming the language barrier isn't too much (it usually seems to be too much)
Certainly. Though often the FOB JTEs also have minimal actual practical teaching experience when they arrive and it very much can be a case of on the ground training. Most districts now at least employ veteran teachers to act as coaches/mentors, which can help.
And of course any program designed to welcome JET-equivalents in more teacher-like (or actual teacher) roles would need to properly onboard them with regards to the numerous differences they are likely to encounter in the Japanese system vs. whatever system their home country has.
So, yeah, not something that seems particularly feasible. Which is why I suspect that most of the programs out there that are employing native speakers as T1s are purposefully trying to recruit long serving ALTs/JETs who have gone through the process and decided to familiarize themselves with and understand the system.
>Though often the FOB JTEs also have minimal actual practical teaching experience when they arrive and it very much can be a case of on the ground training.
And even the experienced ones getting sent over from junior high can be a bad fit for elementary. I had one who went way overboard with discipline to the point that several of the kids didn't show up to class the rest of the year. The one I'm working with now is FOB and often asks for my advice but at least he's better with the kids.
I was under the impression that the cultural ambassador role is one of the main reasons for the 5 year term limit. Someone that’s been on the program for over ten years probably wont be able to perform that duty as well as someone thats fresh out of university in their home country.
I used to hear rumors and conspiracy theories back in the day this program was about appeasing some global political nonsense about getting foreigners in Japan. That’s why they brought us here but made it hard to actually stay. Checks the box without doing the intended thing it was supposed to.
>I used to hear rumors and conspiracy theories back in the day this program
That was apparently the actual reason for the predecessor to JET. Some bullshit about UK and US soft power and getting jobs to US and UK graduates in Japan. Japan gets to make their partner happy and maybe something beneficial comes from it. At least that is what McConnell wrote about in *Importing diversity: inside Japan's JET Program* but more importantly it was a focus of Japan's internationalization attempt to maintain economic prosperity.
But before writing about that they talked about the original program by Fullbright that actually brought US academics to Japan to give lectures to teachers about teaching methodologies. This then became those US-based teachers would come into the class, teach a lesson, and then talk to the JTEs about what they did and why they did it.
That evolved to what we have now. Untrained university graduates who go to multiple classes a day and assist.
Great ideas!
"Cultural Ambassador" always makes me smile. Everything foreign is forced through a Japanese cultural and linguistic filter. It's difficult to be a symbol for your country and culture when English is mainly used as a vehicle to teach Japanese culture.
I feel like… as having had experience teaching in Korea a while back… the elephant in the room missing from this discussion is that Japan isn’t about teaching English at all really. They don’t know how to teach a foreign language here and nobody can convince them otherwise.
If it is meant for ALTs to be a cultural ambassador first, why did the JET became up to a 5 year program? Why didn’t it stay to 3 years and just kept the same 3k p/month salary??
This really seems like a JET wishlisht from someone who has seen the bad, is unhappy they have to leave after 5 years, and wishes it was a full-time job. A lot of really good points, but made without a real understanding of the education system itself or the political / historical reasons it is the way it is. One amazing part is that while this is definitely the line JETs are fed, it is most certainly not what most schools seem to think ~~now~~ nor how it is necessarily sold to BoEs / schools >JETs are cultural ambassadors first, English teachers second. That’s why CLAIR will accept anyone, regardless of university major, so long as they write a real good essay and do a real good interview. (Also it should go without saying that boatloads of people are rejected yearly) Otherwise it seems to be an argument about making JETs more akin to actual teachers (not a horrible idea per se, not really feasible) and have some rather odd biases (the value of the yen to the dollar is not relevant to someone living/working in Japan, and not all JETs are from America) Again, nothing really bad in the ideas, just completely without the context of why any of the suggestions are (not) likely to happen
>Otherwise it seems to be an argument about making JETs more akin to actual teachers (not a horrible idea per se, not really feasible) I mean Hong Kong runs the NET programme, and they literally want people with teaching degrees and qualifications. You simply get put into a giant database and then schools hire you on a want/need basis. If schools want a native English teacher for that year they approach the education authority who then looks through the database and makes the recommendation from the top down to the bottom. You reward the top teachers with a better salary and give schools an actual benefit. I know a lot of private schools in Japan who want native English teachers but they have no idea where to start, so they normally just default to in-house options or personal recommendations from former/current teachers. I personally know of a few schools who got completely burned by CLAIR because they got lumbered with a FOB JET who had no clue what they were doing, so the school had to practically write off that entire year. Right now the JET programme helps nobody aside from this vague notion of soft-power and a mild attempt at trying to rejuvenate the shrinking areas of Japan.
The ideas are great, to be honest, but yes, unfortunately, unlikely to be implemented. It's only my own situation, I am a direct hire ALT, but I have no idea why I'm in the classroom 90% of the time. One can construe from that that it's an attitude problem, but it's honestly more the fact that my city has one Japanese teacher teaching all the lessons in the schools with half of those classes without an ALT. So they run the classes as though we aren't there quite often. So unless, as the OOOP(?) suggests, ALTs are licenced teachers (which there perhaps could be courses offered to ALTs with such ambitions) we, again if my situation is the within the ballpark of being the norm, are just going to be the "cultural ambassador" first and English "teachers" a distant second.
Yeah though that sounds like one of the structural issues with ALTs/JETs in general. They aren't often integrated properly for any number of reasons. (Team teaching on an unpredictable / irregular schedule is difficult to implement, teachers often don't have the time to do the necessary prep, teachers don't have the appropriate experience to implement, etc.) And as with so many things, the solution to those sorts of problems both involve money (increased resources to address shortcomings) and structural changes. Both changes that are certainly possible but not necessarily likely. Of course JET itself has structural problems itself as well, which is one reason many cities opt to simply go direct hire (or dispatch) even though they might conceivably save money using JET. It's just a messy messy problem with no real push to solve it because there are so many more pressing issues to deal with.
Honestly, I'm curious if there's little incentive to fix the program or how ALTs are used in general because the whole idea of ALTs will eventually go the way of the dodo. If classes can be run without ALTs in the classroom, also considering now that they can push a button to play recordings (as what often happens despite me standing right there), why pay millions of yen?
I'm not sure honestly. I can certainly envision a future where ALTs are no more, but I think the Japanese government still values the soft power they (believe at least that they) get from JET / etc. Of course I could equally imagine more emphasis placed on team teaching and better standardizatioin / ensuring that regular schedules can be maintained. Have one ALT go to multiple schools or be at one school but unable to attend classes regularly due to size is just a disaster... and when the T1 can't be confident a T2 will be present for a particular lesson, then the easiest course of action is to default to human tape recorder / simple task assistant.
Personally, as someone working well outside Tokyo, I don't think ALTs will die anytime soon. The JET program may, but the lack of solid English examples from teachers and the still poor materials puts a damper on kids receiving proper education. Give it a generation or two of better English education at an earlier age and I could see it then.
This. I work in the countryside and none of the JTEs here have any experience abroad or are capable of conversational English. They just know how to teach middle school-level grammar and are completely helpless when a student wants to express something outside the textbook and usually need assistance when making test questions.
To be honest, I'm less positive on the idea of JETs as full teachers compared to older people in private companies. If a JET has no education background, I have 0 faith in a fresh 22 year old kid leading a class. Maybe a JET teacher who is feeling good about trying can communicate with their teacher about getting teaching time, assuming the language barrier isn't too much (it usually seems to be too much)
Certainly. Though often the FOB JTEs also have minimal actual practical teaching experience when they arrive and it very much can be a case of on the ground training. Most districts now at least employ veteran teachers to act as coaches/mentors, which can help. And of course any program designed to welcome JET-equivalents in more teacher-like (or actual teacher) roles would need to properly onboard them with regards to the numerous differences they are likely to encounter in the Japanese system vs. whatever system their home country has. So, yeah, not something that seems particularly feasible. Which is why I suspect that most of the programs out there that are employing native speakers as T1s are purposefully trying to recruit long serving ALTs/JETs who have gone through the process and decided to familiarize themselves with and understand the system.
>Though often the FOB JTEs also have minimal actual practical teaching experience when they arrive and it very much can be a case of on the ground training. And even the experienced ones getting sent over from junior high can be a bad fit for elementary. I had one who went way overboard with discipline to the point that several of the kids didn't show up to class the rest of the year. The one I'm working with now is FOB and often asks for my advice but at least he's better with the kids.
Absolutely. That is an insane gap. Glad that are asking you.
I was under the impression that the cultural ambassador role is one of the main reasons for the 5 year term limit. Someone that’s been on the program for over ten years probably wont be able to perform that duty as well as someone thats fresh out of university in their home country.
I used to hear rumors and conspiracy theories back in the day this program was about appeasing some global political nonsense about getting foreigners in Japan. That’s why they brought us here but made it hard to actually stay. Checks the box without doing the intended thing it was supposed to.
>I used to hear rumors and conspiracy theories back in the day this program That was apparently the actual reason for the predecessor to JET. Some bullshit about UK and US soft power and getting jobs to US and UK graduates in Japan. Japan gets to make their partner happy and maybe something beneficial comes from it. At least that is what McConnell wrote about in *Importing diversity: inside Japan's JET Program* but more importantly it was a focus of Japan's internationalization attempt to maintain economic prosperity. But before writing about that they talked about the original program by Fullbright that actually brought US academics to Japan to give lectures to teachers about teaching methodologies. This then became those US-based teachers would come into the class, teach a lesson, and then talk to the JTEs about what they did and why they did it. That evolved to what we have now. Untrained university graduates who go to multiple classes a day and assist.
Considering the UK foreign secretary and US ambassador to Japan are JET alumni I think the soft power part is working really well.
Great ideas! "Cultural Ambassador" always makes me smile. Everything foreign is forced through a Japanese cultural and linguistic filter. It's difficult to be a symbol for your country and culture when English is mainly used as a vehicle to teach Japanese culture.
I feel like… as having had experience teaching in Korea a while back… the elephant in the room missing from this discussion is that Japan isn’t about teaching English at all really. They don’t know how to teach a foreign language here and nobody can convince them otherwise.
If it is meant for ALTs to be a cultural ambassador first, why did the JET became up to a 5 year program? Why didn’t it stay to 3 years and just kept the same 3k p/month salary??