Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

[rslrunner]

[HLJHLJ]

There is no brain washing. You are being utterly ridiculous.

You were late for class because you literally couldn't blow your nose without making a drama out of it. You thought it was unreasonable that they should object to you being late.

You were unable to cope with the methodology, which you claim is 'impossible' in the time available, despite thousands of other AEON trainees being able to adapt to it.

You therefore claim that all other AEON teachers are mindless drones because it's the only possible explanation for your failure when virtually everyone else succeeds.

By your own admission, you were unable to suitably grade your language, so you were asked to stick to a script, and you couldn't do that either.

You were told to stop slouching around with your hands in your pockets when you were teaching because it's culturally inappropriate, but you were either unable or unwilling to comply.

You were asked not to clutter your desk with water bottles, etc. Again you were unable or unwilling to comply.

That isn't brain washing, no-one was trying to 'break' you, it's just training.


EDIT: I can't believe I've let myself get dragged back into this train wreck.

[mitsui]

I know one teacher working at AEON in Yamaguchi and he is decent.
He got his MA in the US.
Obviously he would prefer to work somewhere else, but he needs to work.

[weigookin74]

[TokyoLiz]

None of the instructions rslrunner received from induction are surprising (aside from the strict instruction to teach from the front at all times).

These instructions about formal behaviour are not just for the workplace. When you attend a ceremony (wedding, grad, funeral), or you learn a cultural activity (calligraphy, tea, martial arts), you show membership in the group by observing manners. And people will respond to you because you show respect to the Japanese way of doing things.

If you don't bow well, or disregard cultural norms, people won't say anything to your face. They'll just ignore you, or grumble about the gaijin who doesn't care to learn the culture. How many times Japanese colleagues have complained about resistant gaijin they can't seem to get along with.

If you're not up for experiencing such a high-context culture, then maybe Japan isn't for you.

[Lamarr]

It sounds to me like Aeon "advise" you to do these things or watch out for them. Some of them sound ridiculous: I've never known anyone to get offended by putting your hand on your head, moving around the room, putting your elbows on the table etc. It may be Aeon's way of trying to straitjacket you some more, make you feel uncomfortable, stiff and on edge, exploiting your ignorance of Japanese culture in order to control you and keep you in line (which isn't an unusual tactic for an eikaiwa).

When it comes to cultural norms, I'd just go with the flow. So many newbies in Japan get very awkward and stiff with the bowing and the manners, not really knowing how and when it's appropriate or expected to do these things. That's something that comes with time and experience. You can't be expected to pick it up in 5 minutes, and I would think that any reasonable Japanese, especially ones attending an "international workplace" like an eikaiwa, would realize that and make allowances.

The reason eikaiwa do things like this is because they sometimes hire some right idiots to fill up the numbers, people who've never been abroad or who are just socially inept anyway, or else are in Japan not for the work but to go travelling, party and live it up. They impose these stupid and restrictive rules to try and make you feel uncomfortable and thus keep you in line. It's just another symptom of the fact that these places aren't interested in quality, but are purely out to make money.

[weigookin74]

[dove]

Many (most?) Japanese people are exceedingly worried about how others might view, think about, perceive them. I think, unfortunately, many Japanese people go through life fearing that others might be viewing them negatively, so they are keenly aware and self-conscious of their behavior at all times. For example, you will notice that most Japanese people cover their books . They fear being judged negatively, based on what they are reading. I had a friend who liked to read English books. She told me that if people, say, on the train, were to see she was reading an English book, they might think she was showing off. Yes, she feared what a stranger MIGHT be thinking of her.
I saw this fear when I taught in Japan. Once, I asked for a day off to go to a hot spring. I was granted the day off, but I was told to tell the students I was going to a training session at the head office. My supervisor feared that the students would think I was shirking my responsibilities. Other examples: never call on students directly to answer questions (fear that a student might be severely embarrassed for not knowing an answer) Never bring the teacher's
guide to a textbook into the classroom (fear the students will think you are just reading from a script).
Luckily, my last few years in Japan were spent teaching private lessons and company classes where I could, for the most part, stay clear of this aspect of
Japanese culture.
This, weigookin74, is what makes Japan so "special."

[TokyoLiz]

Dove says

[mitsui]

I don't get why it is always the foreigner who must go along to get along.
Why don't some of these Japanese at least try to get along with certain foreigners? Especially if they must team teach with them.
What do they expect, especially when some people are fresh off the boat and had not studied Japanese previously?

When the foreign teacher never bothers to learn Japanese after years of being here, I can understand the annoyance.

But what I cannot stand is when the foreign teacher does make an effort, does study and will speak Japanese but still gets gossiped about because he did not do some petty thing. And it seems the more you know Japanese the worse the pettiness is.

I recommend the book Straightjacket Society by a Japanese psychiatrist who studied in New York.

Dove, I think I found that I have had my fill of K-12 and want to try business English, testing or something where I don't have to fit into a group.

[dove]

Mitsui, I was not happy teaching junior high school, high school, or, worst of all, college students. I just couldn't deal with the apathy and the group-think mentality that suffocated the drive necessary to learn a foreign language. So, my last 4 years, I focused on corporate classes, community classes for seniors, private lessons, and part-time classes at a conversation school for adults. My favorite classes were with seniors and with my private students. It was challenging to commute to different locations ( which is why I loved the lessons I taught in my apartment), but the financial rewards were worth it. Also, I never had to attend any bull$%it meetings or parties where I would be asked for the
millionth time if I could use chopsticks. Also, not being around other teachers was great. I don't know if it's just me, but dealing with other foreign teachers can be an unpleasant experience (I didn't like the oneupmanship that seemed to prevail). If you go this way, you have to self-sponsor and arrange your own insurance and deal with taxes by yourself. But those things weren't so difficult to manage.

[mitsui]

Dove,
I can deal with university or high school as long as I don't have to team teach.

I agree about some foreign teachers.
As I get older I get tire of the drunks, skirt-chasers and the bad language.
Some teachers speak like they are in a bar all the time.
What also irks me is when they have been in Japan long enough that they take on
certain Japanese mannerisms without realizing it and tend to treat certain foreign teachers like Japanese teachers would.

As one university teacher told me, he said you have to act genki at the secondary level. The foreigner has to play a role. But you don't get a script, and you have to ad-lib.
Being serious is not enough.
Honestly sometimes it seems that one's personality matters more than if students learn.

[rxk22]

[TokyoLiz]

Dove said