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Ministry proposes skills for Japanese English teachers
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:59 pm    Post subject: Ministry proposes skills for Japanese English teachers Reply with quote

Ministry proposes minimum skills for present, future English teachers
The Japan Times | Feb 28, 2016
Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/28/national/ministry-proposes-minimum-skills-present-future-english-teachers/#.VxAd0nri560

The education ministry has proposed guidelines on the minimum capabilities and skills college students need to acquire when studying to become licensed English teachers. The ministry, which unveiled the proposals at a symposium in Tokyo on Saturday, expects the guidelines to be used in training programs for university students willing to become English teachers and for established teachers starting in fiscal 2018.

The guidelines come as the ministry is planning to set a goal of having half of high school students acquire English proficiency equivalent to Grade Pre-1 in the the Eiken English proficiency test by graduation, by improving their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. According to the ministry’s plan, English will be taught from third grade in elementary school and become an official subject for fifth and sixth graders, starting in fiscal 2020. English classes taught in English are scheduled to begin in junior high school in fiscal 2020.

But there are problems that need to be addressed to implement the plans. Elementary school teachers have no experience offering English classes, and teaching methodology is not a mandatory subject in elementary school training courses. Critics have also pointed out the need for English teachers in junior high school and high school to improve their capabilities to teach speaking and writing.

According to the proposed guidelines, courses on English education, including on teaching skills and overseas children’s literature, will be mandatory to acquire elementary school teacher licenses.
In training courses for English teachers in junior high and high school, candidates will be advised to acquire English proficiency equivalent to Eiken Grade Pre-1 or above.

The guidelines call for improvements in the ability to measure students’ proficiency and expressive ability in English, as well as the promotion of intercultural exchanges such as studying abroad. The guidelines also stress the importance of teaching experience and cooperation among elementary, junior high and high schools. The ministry also found it necessary for incumbent teachers to have similar capabilities.

(End of article)
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TokyoLiz



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 2:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

At my school, our English department is using past university exams for teacher professional development. The aim is to sit the tests ourselves, so that we have first-hand experience of the testable skills under time pressure. We're also aiming at all Japanese teachers of English attempting the Eiken pre-1 test.

On my side, in solidarity, I'm studying the JLPT N2 grammar and vocabulary.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The number of Japanese studying abroad at unis in the US, UK, Canada, etc., is rather low. I wonder if that trend will change given these proposed guidelines.
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weigookin74



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Give lots of teachers 6 month sabbaticals studying English and TESOL at local universities with one to two months spent in an English speaking country like they do in Korea. Also, if they want to speed up English knowledge bring a truckload of foreigners into more of the schools. The teachers will be forced to use more English communicating with the foreign teachers. But if they are serious about that, get rid of those stupid dispatch companies and give free housing in rural areas as an incentive. Also simplify JET along the ways of the Korean EPIK program. Pay a bit more too. Otherwise their efforts will be futile.
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rxk22



Joined: 19 May 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

weigookin74 wrote:
Give lots of teachers 6 month sabbaticals studying English and TESOL at local universities with one to two months spent in an English speaking country like they do in Korea. Also, if they want to speed up English knowledge bring a truckload of foreigners into more of the schools. The teachers will be forced to use more English communicating with the foreign teachers. But if they are serious about that, get rid of those stupid dispatch companies and give free housing in rural areas as an incentive. Also simplify JET along the ways of the Korean EPIK program. Pay a bit more too. Otherwise their efforts will be futile.


I think it would be amazing to simplify JET and make it so you can transition into a perm job within the BOE somehow. The ALT dispatches need to go, they simply stifle quality.
Get people here, and retain them. That is how you get quality teachers. Constant turnover isn't the way, and they need to stop more or less encouraging turnover.
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steki47



Joined: 20 Apr 2008
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Location: BFE Inaka

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rxk22 wrote:


I think it would be amazing to simplify JET and make it so you can transition into a perm job within the BOE somehow. The ALT dispatches need to go, they simply stifle quality.
Get people here, and retain them. That is how you get quality teachers. Constant turnover isn't the way, and they need to stop more or less encouraging turnover.


Or use JET and dispatch ALT work as an apprenticeship. 3-5 years and BOEs would offer some ALTs a permanent position.

Unofficially, this happens on its own.

Reading between the lines, the system does not want experienced ALTs in the classroom. It wants constant turnover. (Yet everyone seems baffled by the poor results.)
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Nemu_Yoake



Joined: 02 Aug 2015
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Location: Iwate

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's not true: they want experienced native speakers as English teachers BUT they want them to have a teaching license. Why? Because it costs money to have 2 teachers (team teaching or the JTE watching the native speaker's class) in the same classroom, at the same time. If the native speaker is "just" an ALT, then it doesn't matter if there is a turnover (for the BOE's guys). The JTEs are the ones complaining that they have to train a new ALT every year.
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TokyoLiz



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
they want experienced native speakers as English teachers BUT they want them to have a teaching license.


Many private schools prefer foreign teachers who already have Japanese language skill and those who are acclimated to Japanese culture. They also want people with TESOL or middle school/high school preparation or certification.

My colleague and I have PGCE and TESOL, respectively. We teach our own classes.

JET provides a stipend for TESOL training, and a basic Japanese language training course. Those ALTs who have acquire both TESOL certification and language skills are valuable and can likely find positions that pay more than entry level salary.
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weigookin74



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 265

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

steki47 wrote:
rxk22 wrote:


I think it would be amazing to simplify JET and make it so you can transition into a perm job within the BOE somehow. The ALT dispatches need to go, they simply stifle quality.
Get people here, and retain them. That is how you get quality teachers. Constant turnover isn't the way, and they need to stop more or less encouraging turnover.


Or use JET and dispatch ALT work as an apprenticeship. 3-5 years and BOEs would offer some ALTs a permanent position.

Unofficially, this happens on its own.

Reading between the lines, the system does not want experienced ALTs in the classroom. It wants constant turnover. (Yet everyone seems baffled by the poor results.)


Will a lot of folks get hired by a BOE for better pay and benefits over time?
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Lamarr



Joined: 27 Sep 2010
Posts: 190

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another way they shoot themselves in the foot vis-a-vis getting more qualified, experienced and committed teachers staying for the long haul is from the way the visa system is set up. I went back to Japan a few years ago, with 6 years working experience teaching English in Japan already, plus (not trying to blow my own trumpet) a CELTA certificate with post-cert experience, a Japanese postgrad degree, dan-grade martial arts, and roughly an intermediate level of Japanese language. I mentioned this stuff on my visa renewal applications but kept getting one-year visas (three of them in succession). A guy I was working with came over for his first year in Japan, had no background in Japan, Japanese language or Japanese "stuff", yet when he renewed his visa, he got a three-year visa. Another girl I know, with a degree in Japanese, and a year spent in Japan during her course, got a five-year visa (all doing English teaching, eikaiwa jobs).

And to add, the guy who got the three-year visa got married during that time, then kept getting one-year visas after that.

The system is useless. It would make sense to give longer visas to people with more qualifications and background in Japan, more ties to Japan, and encourage them to commit more to the country and allow Japan to benefit more from their skills. The present system just seems to dish out visas randomly, so some goon who doesn't care about Japan and just wants to tear the place up could be getting a 3 or 5-year visa, while someone with Japanese background and experience, or someone who's married, ends up with a one-year visa.

I've since left Japan and this was a major reason why. It really restricts what you're able to do if you have to keep renewing your visa each year. They don't value or care about the skills that people bring, and any genuine interest, background and commitment to Japan that people have. It's self-defeating for them.

Well done Japan.
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rxk22



Joined: 19 May 2010
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

steki47 wrote:


Or use JET and dispatch ALT work as an apprenticeship. 3-5 years and BOEs would offer some ALTs a permanent position.

Unofficially, this happens on its own.

Reading between the lines, the system does not want experienced ALTs in the classroom. It wants constant turnover. (Yet everyone seems baffled by the poor results.)


The direct hires aren't permanent positions. After 3 or so years, you have to work elsewhere, so you won't become a Seishain.


But, yes, between the lines they want fresh faces, and they want them every time. Which as you mentioned, helps lead to the current terrible situation.
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TokyoLiz



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nomad Soul wrote
Quote:

The number of Japanese studying abroad at unis in the US, UK, Canada, etc., is rather low. I wonder if that trend will change given these proposed guidelines.



I get the impression from observing a lot of JTEs that they know they can just get by with grammar knowledge, and next to no oral fluency or composition skills. I figure they know the English threshold is low, and their real motivation is that they want to become teachers. There's little passion for the subject.

The minimum requirements, if imposed, could result in better skilled more motivated English teachers, but fewer
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nomad soul



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PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TokyoLiz:

I'm curious... How are JTEs perceived by:

- their students
- ALTs/foreign teachers
- Japanese society as a whole?
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steki47



Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: BFE Inaka

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rxk22 wrote:
steki47 wrote:


Or use JET and dispatch ALT work as an apprenticeship. 3-5 years and BOEs would offer some ALTs a permanent position.

Unofficially, this happens on its own.

Reading between the lines, the system does not want experienced ALTs in the classroom. It wants constant turnover. (Yet everyone seems baffled by the poor results.)


The direct hires aren't permanent positions. After 3 or so years, you have to work elsewhere, so you won't become a Seishain.


But, yes, between the lines they want fresh faces, and they want them every time. Which as you mentioned, helps lead to the current terrible situation.


From what I have seen, the status varies between BOEs. One town in my area does 3-year direct hires, while other schools offer unlimited term positions.

(I was networking a bit trying to get a direct hire gig but then was offered a lecturer position at a local uni.)
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TokyoLiz



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 3:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

TokyoLiz:

I'm curious... How are JTEs perceived by:

- their students
- ALTs/foreign teachers
- Japanese society as a whole?


Students may see the JTE as an authority figure if they lead a homeroom. in society in general, people have historically held teachers in high regard, though this high status may be eroding.

There was a thread a while ago, discussing lazy teachers. You can see the attitudes of non-Japanese who work in schools right there.
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