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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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 Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:20 am Post subject: |
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| Pitarou wrote: |
| We have to go through a complicated dance every year which, AFAICT, is designed to prevent us from gaining any workers' rights. |
A good job, then, comparably speaking. But it also seems that they aren't willing to let you guys in completely as regular employees, and so, as you say - "permatemps".
I'd be curious to see what would happen if one of you were ever let go after several years of service and decided to test it in the courts. Your status sounds precarious, but with the new laws, people might have a case if it ever came to that.
Schools are being a lot more careful now in how they articulate the terms of the agreements - even for part-timers! Nothing more than 4 or 5 years max. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| Solar Strength wrote: |
I'd be curious to see what would happen if one of you were ever let go after several years of service and decided to test it in the courts. Your status sounds precarious, but with the new laws, people might have a case if it ever came to that.
Schools are being a lot more careful now in how they articulate the terms of the agreements - even for part-timers! Nothing more than 4 or 5 years max. |
I don't know, but I'm not optimistic for two reasons.
First, I know that workers' legal rights are enforced more weakly when the employer is the state. For instance, if I were to complain to the Labor Standards Office about unpaid wages, I know they'd just tell me, "There's nothing we can do. Go and talk to the mayor about it." I've also heard that judges will bend over backwards to favor the state.
Second, I think the BoE knows what it's doing. I get hints, here and there, that the BoE has taken advice from a lawyer, and is following that advice to the letter. Weird procedures whose purpose they lie about. Surprisingly strict adherence to contract conditions. That kind of thing. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:28 am Post subject: |
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At this point you should join the union.
No one else will look out for you.
One teacher I know in Kyushu got help from them to keep his job at a public university. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| mitsui wrote: |
At this point you should join the union.
No one else will look out for you.
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Which union did you have in mind?
If you mean the normal teachers' union, I find it hard to imagine them sticking their neck-out for some part-time foreigner. But maybe I'm wrong about that. Is there more you can tell me about the teacher on Kyushu? |
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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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| mitsui wrote: |
At this point you should join the union.
No one else will look out for you.
One teacher I know in Kyushu got help from them to keep his job at a public university. |
mitsui,
Yes, what was the problem facing the teacher in Kyushu?
Was the union effective in helping him / her resolve the problem? |
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marley'sghost
Joined: 04 Oct 2010
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 12:29 am Post subject: |
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| Pitarou wrote: |
[
Second, I think the BoE knows what it's doing. I get hints, here and there, that the BoE has taken advice from a lawyer, and is following that advice to the letter. Weird procedures whose purpose they lie about. Surprisingly strict adherence to contract conditions. That kind of thing. |
You don't work in Kashiwa do you?
A quick search will lead to some interesting reading. That drama hit the fan a few years ago. I seem to remember the result was direct hires, but on a tight, short leash.
About that time all that went down, my company really got, well not strict, but very "formal" about our gyomu itaku contracts. "You don't work for the school, you work for the company. All instructions must come from the office, not the school, etc. etc. " Completely impossible, of course. There is not way the half dozen office staff can micro-manage 100+ ALTs spread across 3 prefectures. But they create enough of a paper trail to make it look like they do.
To be honest, the schools don't really manage me either I have the JTEs trained to get me a schedule early enough that I can prep in advance. In class, I pretty much run the show. I don't get JTEs trying to make me play human CD player or ordering me around. But if I went crying, "Oh no! That would violate my contract!" every time a teacher asks me, "Sorry, I need the first 10 minutes of class to hand back tests. Is that okay?" I'd have no friends either here or in the office. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| marley'sghost wrote: |
| You don't work in Kashiwa do you? |
Narita. And we're all direct hires.
| Quote: |
| ... my company really got, well not strict, but very "formal" about our gyomu itaku contracts. "You don't work for the school, you work for the company. All instructions must come from the office, not the school, etc. etc. " Completely impossible, of course. ... But they create enough of a paper trail to make it look like they do. |
Yes, it's all about the paper trail. The "weird procedures" I referred to earlier are clearly designed to generate the paper trail appropriate for a succession of separate 1-year contracts. I have to submit the same set of documents every year, as if I've never worked there before.
And, like I said earlier, they're very careful to make sure I never have to work outside my contracted hours. That suits me, but I don't think they're strict like that out of consideration for my welfare.
| Quote: |
| To be honest, the schools don't really manage me either I have the JTEs trained to get me a schedule early enough that I can prep in advance. In class, I pretty much run the show. I don't get JTEs trying to make me play human CD player or ordering me around.... |
It's very different here in Narita.
Narita BoE gets extra funding from MEXT for a "Communication English" program: enough to hire approximately one full-time ALT per school. (Small schools get a part-timer. Big schools get two full-timers.)
In Elementary schools the ALT runs the lesson, and I've seen amazing results. But the JHSs throw it all away. "Fun and games are over. Now we're going to concentrate on the serious business of translating passages in your textbook into Japanese, word for word." The ALT works under the JTE so, of course, I'm mainly used as a text-to-speech engine (the kids copy the JTE's pronunciation rather than mine, so what's the point?) plus a regular program of "Casual Talks" (call me Sheherezade).
There are JHS "Communication English" classes which are supposed to remedy the flaws of regular teaching. I believe the premise is deeply flawed: you can't teach communication as an optional module. But there we have it. In theory, I'm supposed to be in charge of those classes, but there aren't many JTEs who are comfortable working that way, and the guy who wrote the curriculum wouldn't know a "communicative" lesson if you beat him over the head with it. So it often degenerates into: "Write a speech + poster, and then deliver your speech to the class." And we sometimes get good results, but I don't think they're the results that MEXT is paying us for. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:38 am Post subject: |
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The union is not your enemy.
This guy was going to lose his job at a university, but he still has it thanks to the union.
Technically he is part-time too but in terms of hours it is closer to full time. |
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Ryu Hayabusa
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
Posts: 182
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:38 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| What do the ALTS do while school's out in August? Or is the school year different in Osaka? |
@Pitarou
The school year is largely the same as the rest of Japan but it's a little different school by school. I'm not an ALT but the NETs contracted by the Osaka BoE just stay at school doing lesson/curriculum planning, Japanese study, internet surfing, etc. NETs get 5 days of special summer holiday and if they use 15 paid leave days, can have the whole month off if they want.
| Quote: |
| Ryu, still, that's a great job by today's standards for TEFL teachers in Japan. |
@Solar Strength
Yeah, it's sad that this is how it is in Japan. But I agree that it's a pretty great job considering what else is out there. But for qualified teachers with experience teaching in their home countries, international/reputable private schools are much, much better in terms of salary and benefits! |
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marley'sghost
Joined: 04 Oct 2010
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:38 am Post subject: |
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@Pitarou
Thanks for the description. Always interesting to compare notes.
How do you handle prep time/checking papers etc. if you are hourly? Are the schools generous enough to pay you for that time or are you expected to come to walk into the staff room with your worksheets and flashcards 100% ready on your time and your dime?
As gyomu itaku, I'm only "working" 29.5 hours out of a 40 hour week. I have a reasonably light class load, averages to about 15 hours a week in the classroom. The other odd 14.5 hours will be spread about as "prep" time. So to keep me on the school grounds the whole day I'll always have "P" for the 1/2 hour before 1st period, and for the half our after 6th. No one checks on me, I think I'm on "P" time right now as I write this.
And how does that "Communicative English" class work into your students’ schedule? Is it a 5th hour for everyone, folded into the standard 4 classes a week or just the name of the English sentaku?
I hear you and am with you on the whole "throw it out the window" come JHS. I see that too. But that's the way it will be as long as English is a "test" subject and the students' "success" is evaluated by multiple choice tests for the purpose of determining high school and higher education placement. Gotta teach "the textbook". No time for anything else. I often am amazed an how much the good Japanese teachers (and there are some real good people here) can accomplish, given the system they have to work with.
All that messy, communicative stuff that we do is takes too much time and effort to objectively evaluate on a national scale. I mean, I had 35 kids running around the classroom today with "I have a headache/cough/ fever/ etc. worksheets and asking each other, ""What's wrong?" Can't grade that on a multiple choice test.
But I digress. We are talking about working hours and money here. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:36 am Post subject: |
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| marley'sghost wrote: |
@Pitarou
Thanks for the description. Always interesting to compare notes.
How do you handle prep time/checking papers etc. if you are hourly? Are the schools generous enough to pay you for that time or are you expected to come to walk into the staff room with your worksheets and flashcards 100% ready on your time and your dime?
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When I say "hourly" I don't mean "by the lesson hour". I mean, "My wage is calculate per hour." Sorry for confusing you. I'm paid to be on-site for 7 hours a day (+ 45 minutes lunch break) 5 days a week. What happens during that day can vary enormously. I can spend the whole day at my desk, or the whole day running from class to class to daily school cleaning (I'm expected to take part) and so on.
I probably average about 4 hours lesson / day.
| Quote: |
| And how does that "Communicative English" class work into your students’ schedule? Is it a 5th hour for everyone, folded into the standard 4 classes a week or just the name of the English sentaku? |
When English in most schools was 3 hours a week, kids in Narita got a 4th hour of Communication English.
These days, they just try to squeeze in the occasional extra class somewhere.
| Quote: |
| But that's the way it will be as long as English is a "test" subject ... |
If my experience is anything to go by, it's not the fault of the High School Entrance exams. I had a look at some (they were published in the newspaper) and, much to my surprise, I found that the skills needed to do well in the exam are not being taught in schools.
The kids are trained to do two things: pass technical grammar / vocabulary tests, including responses to simple question patterns; and translate English texts into Japanese word-by-word. The exam had the technical stuff, of course, but it had no translation questions. Instead, it concentrated on things like describing a picture and gist reading. The gist reading question, in particular, was the antithesis of what they'd been taught. If they attempted to translate every word, they got nowhere. The text was too long, and too difficult. To answer the question, they needed to scan the text, looking for the information they needed to answer the question, and not worry too much about the bits they didn't understand. Not surprisingly, most students did poorly on that question. |
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marley'sghost
Joined: 04 Oct 2010
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:18 am Post subject: |
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@ Pitarou Not such a bad deal then (if they kick in their 50% towards your pension and health insurance). I have heard of stories of folks getting paid by the lesson hour. Not a pretty scenario.
I'll have to actually read the paper one of these days and look at a real test. I've seen the "gist" reading/describe a picture sort of thing in the STEP tests. I've done "describe a picture" tests myself, though more with a Q\A format. But I always assumed the high school tests looked like the kids' midterms and finals. |
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eiyosus
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:21 am Post subject: |
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| mitsui wrote: |
At this point you should join the union.
No one else will look out for you. |
Yes, do this. Pitarou, are you in Osaka? Join EWA.
I made a thread a few months ago about how I wasn't rehired after six years of employment at a high school. While I still can't actually reply to that thread and say what my situation is until everything is 100% finished (this week or next), EWA (which is based in Osaka) did a stand up job at defending me.
I'll be updating that thread about my experience once I can. |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| eiyosus wrote: |
| mitsui wrote: |
At this point you should join the union.
No one else will look out for you. |
Yes, do this. Pitarou, are you in Osaka? Join EWA.
I made a thread a few months ago about how I wasn't rehired after six years of employment at a high school. While I still can't actually reply to that thread and say what my situation is until everything is 100% finished (this week or next), EWA (which is based in Osaka) did a stand up job at defending me.
I'll be updating that thread about my experience once I can. |
Thanks. That's very helpful, and encouraging, although I'm in Chiba, not Osaka.
I looked at the website of the nihon kyoushokuin kumiai (the Japan Teachers' Union -- many tens of thousands of members) and found that they had a large section in English, that's clearly addressed to teachers working in schools in Japan. That was quite a surprise. I'm seriously considering joining.
But there are other issues. My job is funded directly by the Ministry of Education, as part of a special "experimental" program, and I'm not confident that the funding will be there for much longer. (Anyone who's read my "Chicken Little" posts about Abenomics will know exactly why.) Does anyone have thoughts about how much the union could do for me in that situation? |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:20 am Post subject: |
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There is Nambu too, and they have a branch in Tokyo for the Kanto region.
Employers can say otherwise but being in a union is a right for any worker in Japan.
That is the law.
It matters not whether you work at a public or private school. |
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