Job Discussion Forums

[SeasonedVet]

I believe that ALTs do contribute to education in Japan, although the system of ALT/NET/Dispatch/Outsourcing is not perfect.
There is a bigger contribution that could be made.
ALTs acting as human tape recorders is not achieving much as someone said, the cd player can do that just fine.

There are ALTs who complain of being underutilized. Just look at the thread about How you spend your abundant free time.
Then there are concerns about ALTs who don't do a good job either because they don't want to or because they just don't know how to.
The so called training that I have seen in eikaiwas as well as ALT training....I believe that teachers are being set up for failure. This, I think is not necessarily deliberate, it is the way the system is...sometimes the wrong people are in those positions of authority.

Even though it would be beneficial to have some background in education, teachers would still have to be" re-educated" if you will as teaching in japan is a" different animal".

There are a lot of tricks I have learnt from JTEs concerning classroom control, creating realia for this culture, things that kids here are generally interested in,tips on lesson preparation, tips on handout creation.

I have seen a lot of negative comments wwhen it comes to JTEs but I have learnt a lot from them.
Some ALTs believe that they can come and teach the way they want and believe that it is way better than a JTE could ever hope to do. They believe that a few games of hangman (not allowed anymore), is just what the kids need, not what the JTEs do.

I do have my peeves about the way some JTEs go about teaching, in another thread I said they teach grammar like a science. They, some of them, tend to make what could be an interesting lesson, dull, with their overexplanations and spoonfeeding. That can be tiresome for the ALT as well as for the students. But those JTEs are just doing what they have been taught the same way ALTs are doing what they were taught when the trainer told them to play hangman (no longer allowed).

I have worked with other JTEs who do a wonderful job (especially at high schools).
At junior high schools teachers (especially women teachers) tend to "baby" the students.

But there is the bigger question of
"why was the ALT programme set up?" and "Is it achieving the goals stated?"
There is a good discussion going on in another thread now that has/is addressing this very issue.
*EDITED*

[SeasonedVet]

Above post edited, this post removed.

[steki47]

[Tsian]

So, should ALTs be expected to have completed some sort of TESOL degree and/or have a level of Japanese proficiency?

[Glenski]

Some level of J proficiency, yes.
A TESOL-like degree? Not necessarily, but when one considers that ALTs teach in public schools, not eikaiwas, and have an influence on young minds as to the L2 and perceptions of foreigners, it only makes sense (to me anyway) that an ALT should have at least a certificate in some TESOL field, if not a degree related to teaching.

I have degrees in life sciences, and despite the fact that I felt my English command was pretty darned good, I was not so naive to think that even for eikaiwa teaching I should just zip on over without getting a certificate to show me something about what I might be expected to do.

[steki47]

[Kionon]

[nightsintodreams]

Grr.....must resist....temptation....to post...argh...negative.....insulting... comment....

[OneJoelFifty]

[SeasonedVet]

Tsain wrote

[SeasonedVet]

Tsain wrote

[steki47]

[TokyoLiz]

The ALT job is only valuable and useful if the ALT can demonstrate that he or she is valuable.

I'm not an ALT, but I serve as one a few times a week. The Japanese elementary school homeroom teachers are relieved that I can communicate about pedagogical issues in Japanese, understand their needs (improving their own English language skill, learning about second language acquisition, managing outliers, etc.), and can think on my feet.

The one junior high school teacher I work with has never had a competent and experienced co-teacher before. She's always had non-Japanese fluent young people with little or no theory or practice in TESOL. She initially had no idea how to make use of me, so I brought her a list of things I can do for her. We've decided to slowly ease me into preparing writing and conversation strategies. Eventually, under her oversight, I'll be teaching segments within her lessons.

The feedback from the learners tells me that what I'm doing is valuable to them.

Another deciding factor of whether the ALT job is valuable or not is who you work for. To the average ALT recruiter, you're just another warm body. To a school board, you're a civic worker with obligations to the public.

Because ALTs are a box of chocolates due to the lack of professional standards, it's hard to make a case that ALTs have an impact on Japanese learners beyond simply providing one more teacher for an hour a week to each junior high school class.

[Kionon]

[Kionon]