Job Discussion Forums

[Sweetsee]

Witnessed a mentally challenged school girl nearly get splat yesterday at a crosswalk in front of the city hall. I see her every day. Old geezer in a k-pickup had it locked up all the way through the intersection and the girl barely broke stride as he nudged here off of her line.
No, it's fine to drive through crosswalks in school zones at over 60 k.p.h. refusing to yield to pedestrians here. It was one of the first things that I noticed about this neighborhood and one of the many I won't be missing.

Look both ways,
s

[sushi]

I'm curious. How long do ALT teachers stay in their jobs before they get burned out, and want to move on. The limit for being a JET is five years. Is their a limit for being an ALT.

If you don't like it can't you just quit, and move on to a more meaningfull place of employment? Or do many ALTs just stay on in their exercise in futility because they don't know how to get out of their ruts.

[furiousmilksheikali]

[canuck]

[c-way]

At ECC Best Career their pay structure seems to promote transience.

You have an upaid summer holiday that is about 6 weeks, and unpaid winter holiday that is about 3-4 weeks and about a two and a half period between the end of contracts and the beginning of new contracts.

The only teachers who can afford to live during these long unpaid periods are people who have accumulated a decent amount of private lessons or other work to supplement their income.

The work is only part time anyway, but it seems like their system is set up for you to work for one contract and then move on. Of course some teachers will stay for another and possibly a third term, but this is not the norm.

This probably serves ECC Best Career well because schools come to expect a new teacher every year and if there are any problems with teachers or with schools, the problem will only last one contract term. This is quite contrary to the situation for Japanese teachers, who will be guaranteed stable employment regardless of how haphazard and lazy they are, and teachers will routinely be moved around from school to school.

[cornishmuppet]

sushi wrote:

[sushi]

Cornishmuppet I was genuinely interested, because of the disparagging comments in some previous posters about their lot as ALTs. No offense ment. I guess I haven't read of enough positive ALT experiences from other members of this site.

I checked out the Korean site and in the equivalent programe to Japan's JET and ALT programes in that country there are numerous positive experiences from the teachers involved in such programes. Teachers there aren't restricted to teaching in their public schools with KETs either. Many go it alone from day one, and bar the usual complaint from other Korean teachers about the noise in that teachers room, they seem to cope pretty well.

Someone I know who worked in the Korean programe said there is a high drop out rate,because of cultural shock and lack of teaching experience shock, but the government still persists with it anyway. Must still be worth it maybe, because of the quality of the teachers they retain.

The teachers who stay on get perks as well.

Read a post in the Korean thread about an expat public school teacher there who took a group of his highschool girls on a trip to his home in Canada as well. Trip was sponsered by the school of course with a parent or two going along as shaperons. Could you guys visualise yourselves doing such a jaunt with your Japanese students. Maybe you could, but I think Japanese inflexibility would prohibit it.

[cornishmuppet]

Sushi, no problems, I must have taken your comments out of context, gomen! I just read a lot about people talking down about ALTs ( I guess this is why the thread exists! ) when really I think a lot of negetive can be written about any form of English teacher in Japan. Which is not to say there aren't positives, of course.

Ok, so my job isn't so taxing, but I get satisafaction out of the smiles I see on the kids faces after my activities, and when I get cheered as I enter each class I guess I must do something right (unless the JTEs are doing something very very wrong/boring in all the other classes, which wouldn't surprise me one bit). And I TRY to find work to do, asking to mark tests, correct workbooks, etc. That I'm usually declined with thanks isn't my fault, or that of any other ALT in similar positions. Having said that, I haven't ever formed a particularly good opinion of most of the JETs I've met. Clicky, starry-eyed, for the most part ( 'wow, I so do love flower arranging' ) Certainly it is rare that any of them ever contribute to the email activities share we have going on, but they always look nice in their suits at the meetings, while the direct hire old timers usually turn up in shorts. That is of course not to say there aren't very highly skilled, well qualified JETs, but they usually move on after a couple of years. Two of my fellow direct hires are JET old boys, and a good job they do too, as far as I know.

Regarding trips, I'm hoping to get invited along on the summer hiking trip this year. At my last school I wasn't, and I don't think there's much chance this time unless I offer to pay, and even then I'll certainly have no authority. I think it is a sign of our standing within our schools that in my last school I shared a table in the staff room with the janitor, the school nurse, the secretary and the part time school counsellor.

Sorry to bang on, but its late and I have nothing much else to do, but to answer your question, of those I work with, they've been in the job for 7 years, 6 years, 3 years, 2 years, 1 year (me) and six months respectively. It must be noted that the longer stayers are all integrated into the community with families and all that, but they seem pretty happy with their lot.

Saying that, on dispatch company salary/holidays I'd be more inclined to leave, though I think I'd still find it preferable to working in an eikawa. Of course, that's just me.

[gaijinalways]

Cornmuppet, don't feel bad, I believe many university teachers are frustrated as well, they just usually have better pay and vacation time.

cornmuppet posted

[japanman]

Don't know if this has been covered at any point in this thread but why is it illegal for an ALT to be teaching alone in a classsroom but yet it is legal for a class to be left alone all day without their homeroom teacher when the teacher is sick? This is a little odd to me.

[canuck]

[japanman]

But I can't read.

[canuck]

[japanman]

Is that a link to apply for comedian of the century competition?

[furiousmilksheikali]