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kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:20 am Post subject: |
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| bosintang wrote: |
| [How many of the 6000 JETs are non-Western? (I honestly would like to know.) |
About 200 or so. See for yourself: http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/outline/Country%20Totals-E.pdf
I absolutely think there should be far more hired from China, Brazil, Korea, Russia, and other countries with minority populations in Japan and closer current political issues. But Something is better than nothing.
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| You have an interesting argument, but I just can't see it myself. I think our presence is too limited to really make a difference. At least in my BoE, I think the schools see us more of a thorn in the side rather than a great benefit. |
It:s not my argument. It's the officially documented aim of the program. English teaching is not the end but the means (ie, the the excuse to put a foriegner in a town). If you read what CLAIR has to say about the point of the JET program, they aren't hiding that English teaching really isn't the point.
Look, I understand that it can be frusterating, and that most ALTs aren't given the resources they need to do anything of impact in ther communities, even if they are willing to put in the effort. But I guess what I want to say is don't underestimate the impact you do have on people's lives every day just by existing, and on your students. Even if you never find out about it, you are making a difference somehow to someone.
I am not saying the program can't be improved. I am saying that it needs to be judged on what it was designed to do, not on the criteria others try to impose on it. And just because you can't see your individual impact doesn't mean the impact of thousands of people over decades all over the country is negligable. Sure, each one may be a drop in the bucket but I think it adds up. |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:06 am Post subject: |
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| kdynamic wrote: |
It:s not my argument. It's the officially documented aim of the program. English teaching is not the end but the means (ie, the the excuse to put a foriegner in a town). If you read what CLAIR has to say about the point of the JET program, they aren't hiding that English teaching really isn't the point.
Look, I understand that it can be frusterating, and that most ALTs aren't given the resources they need to do anything of impact in ther communities, even if they are willing to put in the effort. But I guess what I want to say is don't underestimate the impact you do have on people's lives every day just by existing, and on your students. Even if you never find out about it, you are making a difference somehow to someone.
I am not saying the program can't be improved. I am saying that it needs to be judged on what it was designed to do, not on the criteria others try to impose on it. And just because you can't see your individual impact doesn't mean the impact of thousands of people over decades all over the country is negligable. Sure, each one may be a drop in the bucket but I think it adds up. |
If there were an infinite amount of treasure on these islands, I'd agree. It's a nice idea. The problem is, from my position as a taxpayer here, I'd really prefer the government not pay 3.6 million yen (plus housing) X 6,000 just so some Japanese people can have a foreign friend. (Or if they absolutely have to, send Japanese English teachers overseas to make foreign friends while improving their English so there's some sort of increase in human capital that stays in Japan after the foreign JET teachers pack up and leave.)
Japan is going to face a huge tax crunch in the coming years as fewer and fewer workers have to support more and more retirees. If the JET program is going to make those workers more productive by teaching them to speak better English, then I suppose a good argument could be made to keep it. However, I happen to know for a fact that's not how it works in practice and when the organizers of the program themselves seem to be saying "it's not really about English teaching" then I think taxpayers have a right to ask whether JET (and other similar "pork" projects) are really worth all the money we're pouring into it. |
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kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:43 am Post subject: |
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I see your point that an argument could be made for better ways to spend the money. But the JET program budget is NOT that big when compared to the seriously wasteful pork projects. How about that Y1400000000000 bridge to shikoku? Or the countless other examples of useless projects that make the JET budget look miniscule in comparison. I think the program does serve its purpose. And unlike truly pork projects implemented just to manipulate budgets and politics, the program was concieved with that purpose with intention to do good.
And, I would like to add, it's not only meant to affect Japanese in Japan who come in contact with JETs, but, as is clearly stated in the programs mission, it is meant to give people from all over the world experience with Japan so they can then go home and share that with others and spread understanding of Japan. That's why the program limits how long you can stay: it's meant as an exchange program, and you are meant to leave Japan and take your experience with you to share.
JET is just different from eikaiwa's and the hiring of private ALTs. It's a government program with a mission statement that's about more than teaching English or the work of any one JET. It was always meant to be a long term program and never expected to have clearly visible quantifiable results, but to slowly effect more international understanding and diversity nationwide. |
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luckyloser700
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 308
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:08 am Post subject: |
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Lots of foreigners live in Japan. Lots of Japanese have a hard time with that fact. Lots of young kids pick up anti-foreigner feelings from their parents and grandparents (If you're an ALT and you understand Japanese, you're most likely aware of this). Exposure at younger ages to the presence of foreigners (especially the kind of positive exposure an ALT is supposed to provide in the classroom) in Japan often helps younger children to independently build a more positive image of them. I'm not saying this is the main point of having ALT's, but it is one positive aspect. Lots of young people I meet tell me of the positive experiences they had with one or more of the ALT's they had at their schools.
One more young person having a positive experience with an ALT at school potentially means one less adult thinking that foreigners living in Japan are to be avoided and looked down upon. |
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tokyo story
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:03 am Post subject: |
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To the OP, the WHMA posts job ads for waiters and barmen.
| bosintang wrote: |
| I won't pretend I know the answer to fixing this, but I believe it starts here. If you want students to be communicative, you ultimately have to design a program meant for students to be communicative. |
This surprises me.
I'm an ALT for a nationally founded junior high school and when I teach we do nothing but communicative exercises -- usually interviews. Granted it's a good school (with difficult entrance exams) and the native Japanese teachers are highly qualified and published authors, but quite a few of the students are good English speakers (& not returnees.) The majority rely on forumaliac expressions, but occasionally I'm approached in the street by a student and we have no problem conversing.
It sounds like your school isn't making the most of having you there. |
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