|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 11:25 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| I've owned my own business and managed a couple of schools and Paul is right on. As a teacher, we don't have the same kind of risks. Sure coming overseas to a new job and language is a risk, but we're not going to lose our life's savings and house if the school goes out of business. When I owned my business I used to dream of getting a regular salary and just doing my work and going home at the end of the day worry-free. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 11:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ScottishMike wrote: |
Why should some guy sitting in an office doing FA get money when I`m the one teaching. Its a SCHOOL right?
Actually, maybe wrong |
Several possible reasons
1. Major ass-kisser who sucked up to boss or cheats on his golf handicap.
2. Moved to the office/administration away from sales and students where he cant do any more damage
3. Wife's brother in law who needed a job.
4. Seniority based on age who pushed pencils for however long it took.
Anyway, we are not Japanese so the same rules dont apply to us- most of us here will not be here for 20 years, consider teaching eikaiwa to be a career, have families or kids to put through college or 30 year mortgages to worry about.
Someone mentioned about salarimen staying up to midnight- he probably has a poor wife at home who doesnt recognise him and has her own life and friends (not to mention secret boyfriend) , his kids never see him and he doesnt have a LIFE outside the company. At least most of us get to travel, learn the language and experience a different culture for a few years, which is more than most salarimen here get. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Wolf
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 1245
Location: Middle Earth
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 1:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| shmooj wrote: |
| While what you say has an element of truth to it Wolf, you are presenting this argument with one important presupposition. THat is that the Japanese actually use or need to use their salary to live on. This is patently not so when you get to know a few people well here. They have savings, they have money from relatives, they have a little put by... |
I see. I was shooting in the dark. But it seems to me that this means there is even a greater disparity, then. As I said before, many EFL teachers have to pay their own way for everything; there is no help or millions of yen in savings.
| Quote: |
| Also, you should compare the salary of a Japanese person who has worked thirty five years at a company with someone who has worked the same length of time at an eikaiwa to make your comparison really work. |
Fair enough. On paper many schools seem to offer a decent enough deal (or used to until a couple of years ago.) The big problem is that most schools WILL get rid of you before you've hung around long enough to get 35 yearly increments. One older EFLer I knew cited this fact as his pet peeve: that most jobs were only realistically possible to do for a couple of years, and then it was necessary to start over again at the bottom of the pay scale. Asking for more in compensation for expereince/qualifications was to price yourself out of the market.
| Quote: |
Of course, we know, that in doing so (laying aside the important fact that this is well nigh impossible to do so anyway), the whole argument will go to pieces. Therein lies the rub for us here. Try as hard as we professionally can, we are sold short somewhere along the line. This means we can either not bother and still get paid the same anyway, or bother and then find it difficult to find rewarding work or work that we feel pays us in accord with our qualifications and experience.
This latter scenario is what will cause (is causing?) a brain drain from EFL in Japan. |
I think this is an extention to what I just said: there is no real system in place for EFLers to make their career in Japan. This will drive off its best expat teachers in spite of a demand for such individuals.
Last edited by Wolf on Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomadder
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 709
Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 2:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yes with the lowest level teachers who don't give a damn you get poor teaching and then students will quit(if mother allows) and the whole thing spirals lower especially with many getting some kind of English supposedly at juku. My old boss said that was becoming the trend but really the English there was next to nothing. You know how the Japanese love trends. It could be said that juku itself is a foolish trend.
At my eikaiwa I was treated well and paid well and hence spent many hours at home making up tests, games etc. because I liked my job and wanted the students to learn. I went to book fairs and upgraded the books we were using and more. I sometimes spent my own money on prizes, stickers etc. If I felt I was being taken advantage of-200,000 salary and the like I probably would have given the minimum-ie. come in 30 minutes before class and do the same old thing. Any eikaiwa owners reading? Moral: You get back what you give out(usually-I had a slacka$$ co-worker who should've been paid 200,000-though he did get less than me).
Speaking of juku-anyone have anything to add?
Speaking of trends if the trend becomes paying 200,000 or lower -look out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Ishihara
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 15
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 5:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Wolf wrote: |
Fair enough. On paper many schools seem to offer a decent enough deal (or used to until a couple of years ago.) The big problem is that most schools WILL get rid of you before you've hung around long enough to get 35 yearly increments. One older EFLer I knew cited this fact as his pet peeve: that most jobs were only realistically possible to do for a couple of years, and then it was necessary to start over again at the bottom of the pay scale. Asking for more in compensation for expereince/qualifications was to price yourself out of the market.
|
Interesting.
The market structure set up by the Japanese privately held
Eikaiwa companies along with the Japanese government
for ESL conversation strikes me as quite similar to the business
model of McDonald's. Both depend on a de-skilled workforce
(the jobs themselves are set up not to require extensive training or experience) where any employee is easily replacable and there is an intentional high rate of turnover. Keeps wages & benefits in check, prevents unions from developing.
On the other hand, the "salaryman" employment deal
doesn't look more appealing to me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
[quote="Mr. Ishihara]The market structure set up by the Japanese privately held
Eikaiwa companies along with the Japanese government
for ESL conversation strikes me as quite similar to the business
model of McDonald's. .[/quote]
Im not sure I see the connection between the Japanese government and private language schools. The government has nothing to do with hirng of teachers at NOVA, how long teachers work there or what they are paid, as there is no award rate. The market decides what teachers are paid, which largely depends on what students are willing to pay for lessons. Obviously if you are in a brand new office building in the center of twon with high traffice and high rents and over heads its going to cost more to study there.
there is no ESL in Japan. English is a foreign language- we teach EFL.
[quote="Mr. Ishihara]The market structure set up by the Japanese privately held
Eikaiwa companies along with the Japanese government
for ESL conversation strikes me as quite similar to the business
model of McDonald's. Both depend on a de-skilled workforce
(the jobs themselves are set up not to require extensive training or experience)
You are also forgetting that MacDonalds also has business executives who have business degrees and MBAs, managers that started as counter staff and in the kitchen and worked their way up into managerial and supervisor positions. You probably have managers and trainers at NOVA earning 300-350,000 yen a month or more based on experience and qualifications.
.[/quote]
[quote="Mr. Ishihara]The market structure set up by the Japanese privately held
Eikaiwa companies along with the Japanese government
for ESL conversation strikes me as quite similar to the business
model of McDonald's. Both depend on a de-skilled workforce (unskilled- de skilled means they were once skilled and had their skills taken away from them)
(the jobs themselves are set up not to require extensive training or experience) where any employee is easily replacable and there is an intentional high rate of turnover.
Maybe not but that does not mean qualified and experienced teachers do not get jobs at NOVa and make good teachers.
Does someone make teachers leave or quit their jobs? Do they put a gun to your head and kick you out the door, or is that teachers lack 'spine' and cant hack a hectic 40 hour a week schedule and 10 days off a year?
If you worked back home how much more time would you get off working for a company back home? 2 weeks?
quote]
[quote="Mr. Ishihara]Keeps wages & benefits in check, prevents unions from developing.
On the other hand, the "salaryman" employment deal
doesn't look more appealing to me.[/quote]
The only reason you have the wages and working conditions you do now is because of the unions such as NUGW, Osaka General Union kanto teachers union,, who negotiate on members' behalf. Those who are not union members become indirect beneficiaries of union intervention, when the large language schools try to pull a fast one on their employees. With no representation and alack of language ability you have no clout or legal sway with your employer, which a union does.
If you check the union websit such as at http://www.generalunion.org you will see what the unions have done for eikaiwa teachers, much of which would not have happened were it not for unions.
Besides, companies can not prevent you from joining a union, penalise you for being a member or stop you setting up a union chapter in your workplace. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
guest of Japan
Joined: 28 Feb 2003
Posts: 1601
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
Glenski.
In defense of my statement that you quoted about most high school wanting to hire young but mature teachers, I have to repeat that I said most. Your school seems quite exceptional in that it has multiple foreign teachers and your duties go a little beyond the standard oral communication classes. It seems to me that your school has made quite a commitment to the quality of the English program.
When I was hired for my present position my boss described me at being the perfect age (2 . If I were any younger, either I would likely be unreliable, or the students wouldn't respect me as a teacher. If I were any older the students might not be interested in trying to relate to me. These were his words. I'm quite certain it has a lot to do with image at the average private high school. My picture is in all the brochures. When there is some kind of public happening I'm always placed in an easy to see spot. Basically I was told that he probably wouldn't have contacted me for an interview if I were over 30.
As far as the McDonald's debate goes, if you start working at McDonald's after achieving your college degree you will certainly begin in a management position if you have any people skills. A McDonald's manager often makes over $50,000 a year. With education McDonald's does offer a career. If you are a good manager then there are opportunities higher in the company.
What infuriates me about Japan is even if you do follow the career track that some of the bigger eikaiwas have you will only be able to exercise power over other foreigners. A young 22 year old Japanese teacher who has never been to university has more power than the 50 year old foreigner who has been teaching for the company for 20 years. I'm quite sure there are good career opportunities but there are not that many.
The university track seems to be the only logical direction to go in, but even they seem to set a time frame when you career is ending. My guess is that you had better land your first university job with an MA by 35, or with a PhD by 40. And I would guess that most new job opportunities end about 10 years later respectively. That seems to be a lot of education for such a short career.
I would love to be wrong so If anyone can dispute my ideas, feel free. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Ishihara
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 15
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
[quote="PAULH"]
Im not sure I see the connection between the Japanese government and private language schools. The government has nothing to do with hirng of teachers at NOVA, how long teachers work there or what they are paid, as there is no award rate. The market decides what teachers are paid, which largely depends on what students are willing to pay for lessons. Obviously if you are in a brand new office building in the center of twon with high traffice and high rents and over heads its going to cost more to study there.
there is no ESL in Japan. English is a foreign language- we teach EFL.
/quote]
Hmmm. I'm not familiar with NOVA directly (heard of it, of course).
Sounds like you worked there for a while.
I mention the Japanese government because their action and
inaction affects the world of eikaiwa. For instance, the Japanese
educational system has enough of a gap in English that
it creates the market for conversational English schools.
As I understand it, the focus in the Japanese educational
system is all about grammar and such.
Japan struck me as much more regulated in general, requiring
licenses & permits. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some
regulation or 2 out there that is relevant. Perhaps someone
else knows for sure.
ESL should definitely be EFL, you're right. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mr. Ishihara wrote: |
Hmmm. I'm not familiar with NOVA directly (heard of it, of course).
Sounds like you worked there for a while.
. |
I worked there for one year and about three years teaching eikaiwa as well as companies, and a stint teaching the Japanese Self Defence Forces (officers etc)
| Mr. Ishihara wrote: |
I mention the Japanese government because their action and
inaction affects the world of eikaiwa. For instance, the Japanese
educational system has enough of a gap in English that
it creates the market for conversational English schools.
As I understand it, the focus in the Japanese educational
system is all about grammar and such.
ESL should definitely be EFL, you're right. |
This is a problem which can not possibly be covered in its entirety in one thread but you havethe systme whereJapanese learn English to pass a written entrance exam, not to learn communiucative English. You have teachers who teach large classes of forty students, the teachers themselves do not speak or understand the spoken language, but are adept at explaining in Japanese the intricacies of english grammar and translating vocabulary. A Japanese university entrance exam is like a multichoice test, where they have to underline or translate certain words. No productive knowledge is required.
The government is trying to rectify this by bringing about 4000 native speakers to work in high schools, but for the most part they are young, in experienced and unqualified to teach english. Many are just out fo college with no practical teachin skills but work as assistants to the Japanese teachers. Nowadays the boom industry is teaching English in elementary schools, to 5 and 6 year olds.
Im not exacty sure what the government can do to improve Japanese peoples conversational abilityb becuase the powers that be have a schizophrenic attitude to english and western culture in general.
The governments job has been to educate workers for the Japanese economy and for Japanese companies. to do this they have to pass an entrance exam which includes English. Japanese students sole concern has been to pass the exam and get into university, not to become fluent in the language (how many graduates of Japanese at your university do you know who can speak the language after 3 years of kanji study?)
Japanese english teachers are trained in the Grammar Translation which is a perfectly effective method for teachers who do not speak the language, and for getting their students into a university. but is ineffective as a communicative teaching tool. The goals and means of achieving them are totally different. at any rate, if students were to be taught in a communicative method you need teachers who are proficient in English, who are trained to assess speaking and listening. skills, pronunciation, intonation etc. who is going to test and assess these hundreds of thousands of students who take the exams every year? There are not enough native speakers of English who are trained in testing and assessment, let alone japanese high school teachers who are up to the task of assessing spoken english in an examination.
Society wants Japanese to learn English but shun those who go and live overseas and come back speaking fluent english. Bilingual children are teased and ostracised by their classmates. Japanese teachers trumpet their ability to teach without making an effort to learn the langauge in case they appear 'less' Japanese.
Anyway, there is a market for conversational schools in countries like Australia, New Zealand and the United states- it just doesnt happen to be as big as the one in Japan.
| Mr. Ishihara wrote: |
Japan struck me as much more regulated in general, requiring
licenses & permits. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some
regulation or 2 out there that is relevant. Perhaps someone
else knows for sure.
ESL should definitely be EFL, you're right. |
I could write a book about that too but ill leave that for another day. Japanese education (elementary, junior, senior high school, and to some extent, universities) are tightly contolled by the ministry of education in terms of syllabus, content, teacher training, financing and funding, moral education etc.
Eikaiwa is pretty much left to its own devices as you are dealing with private companies. Once you have the government interfering in private companies, telling them what they should teach, how they should teach it and who should do the teaching (foreigner? Japanese?) then you have the prospect of BIg Brother.
It would be very nice if all the teachers coming over here had TESOL degrees in Linguistics and MA degrees, but at this time, most people coming over here for one or two years are not going to invest in the time and money to get these.
If schools have to pay more in salaries they will charge students more in fees, students will stop coming or they will go somewhere cheaper. They school wouod then have to lay off teachers to dave money or reduce costs. Less jobs for the new guys and no teacher for the studenst who sign up. Vicious circle. Students at NOVA already complain that they have to spend 500-600,000 yen to buy lessons when they are already the cheapest on the market, at 1500 yen for a group lesson.
You may think of language schools as being money grubbing capitalists interested in the bottom line which they are, but they are not a charity just there to give you a job without regard to the profit motive. No busy can stay in business if it doesnt make money, even universities and high schools. As i mentioned universities are now hiring teachers from Berlitz and Interac becuase they cost a third or a fifth of what they cost to hire someone like me, but what suffers in the end is the quality of the education as you get a cheaply hired teacher, with little or no professional training for his job and pretty much out of his depth.
Its as if you were taught your degree courses by a graduate student or a teaching assistant, than a fully qualified professor, just becaus eits cheaper for the school. Its the students who suffer from underqualified teachers, but at the same time they are not prepared to pay for quality teachers. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
| PAULH wrote: |
Society wants Japanese to learn English but shun those who go and live overseas and come back speaking fluent english. Bilingual children are teased and ostracised by their classmates. Japanese teachers trumpet their ability to teach without making an effort to learn the langauge in case they appear 'less' Japanese. . |
I'd have to agree with Paul with everything except for the above. I don't think individuals who study overseas are shunned. It is often an easier way to enter non-Japanese companies in Japan.
I don't think bilingual children are teased or ostracised any more than other children either. I would like to see a link or an indepth study on that too.
There are without a doubt many Japanese English teachers that make many mistakes, and teach. Most of the English classes are not immersion. I think many feel threatened by foreigners who's native language is English, that can also speak Japanese. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 10:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
[quote="canuck"]
| PAULH wrote: |
I don't think bilingual children are teased or ostracised any more than other children either. I would like to see a link or an indepth study on that too.
. |
Taken from the JALT Language Teacher:
Japanese society recognizes bullying (or ijime) as a grave problem, yet a particular group especially vulnerable to bullying and common targets of it has been overlooked. This paper, after an overview of bullying in Japan, will examine the particular case of bullying and half-Japanese children. Finally, it will introduce some strategies for international couples to prepare their children against bullying. The comments below are generalizations and do not apply to all people or situations. Nonetheless, they are substantially accurate, and JALT members, as teaching professionals and parents, should be well-informed so as to improve the educational environment for all students.
Overview of Bullying in Japan
The Seriousness of Bullying in Japan
Bullying in Japan is a grave problem whose extent is not yet understood. One in three elementary and junior high school students has been bullied, but more than one-third did not report it to anyone (figures cited by the U.S. State Department, 1999). The unreliability of statistics is exacerbated by the schools' desire to stop word of bullying from spreading outside; one parent comments, ". . . . schools are frightened by charges of ijime" (Otake, 1999 p. 33). Bullying takes many forms (Noujuu, 1997, p. 89) and these include: from verbal teasing to threats of physical violence; from hiding belongings to vandalizing them; from cool treatment by a few to complete ostracism. Sometimes the bullying seems pointless, other times something is extorted. The harm is difficult to estimate, but the about 10 bullying-related suicides per year (Sakai, 1996) can be considered the tragic tip of an iceberg of suffering.
The Characteristics of Bullying in Japan
Everywhere bullied students are usually those seen as different or weak (Olweus, 1995); however certain aspects of bullying appear exaggerated by Japan's culture. Some scholars even assert that "the very dark and cruel nature" of the emotional and physical abuse is particularly endemic to Japanese education (see Omori, 1998), thus the Japanese term ijime is often used even in English discussion.
Nonaka (1999; cited in Ryan) cites four "cultural factors" in Japan that worsen bullying: the high pressure put on children; the large student-to-teacher ratio; the belief that seeking help is shameful; and Japan's homogenous and collectivist culture, which stresses uniformity. Bullying in Japan is also distinguished by the fact that it is done by groups against one or few targets (Omori; Ryan, 1999 p. 2), making the victims more helpless than in any other country (Smith, 1995).
Moreover, bullying in Japan involves many passive observers (Bethe, 1999). In fact, 51% of students try not to become involved in bullying when they see it, and 64% find it exciting to watch (Ryan, 1999). Most observers don't defend the victim because "they fear they will be perceived as being 'the same type of person' as the ijime victim" (Omori). Bullying increases through elementary school as the children begin to form cliques, described by one parent as the gang age (Jonnes, 1999), and incidents rise dramatically when children enter middle school, peaking in the first year of junior high school (Takahashi & Vaipae, 1996; Ryan, 1999).
The most common form of bullying in elementary and junior high school is verbal, whereas in high school it is physical (Noujuu, 1997). Indeed incidents of physical abuse increase with the students' age (Kumagai, 1996). Although direct violence is the most visible form of bullying, the most damaging may be indirect -- ostracism. According to Fried & Fried (1996), "the withholding of relationship can be far more punitive than any act of meanness" (p. 2), and particularly in group-oriented Japan, being shunned can be emotionally devastating. (1) Unfortunately, ostracism is the second most common form of bullying in elementary school, becoming less common thereafter, (Noujuu, 1997).
Many children are often ignored by their classmates and sometimes by teachers for extended periods. One parent (of a half-Japanese daughter) writes, ". . . . there was a strong understanding among the girls that they were not to associate with (my daughter) in any way and that any girl who did so would be ostracized" (Otake, 1999, p. 30). The result of bullying is often the victim refusing to go to school from fear and shame (e.g. Smith, C., 1999), a phenomenon common enough to have its own name, toukou kyohi. Over the past few decades, absenteeism from this school phobia has doubled at elementary schools and tripled at junior highs (Kumagai, 1996). A final characteristic of Japanese bullying is that, more than in other countries, victims are expected to defend themselves. There exists a widespread belief that the bullied is at least partially at fault for not defending him or herself (Ryan, 1989).
Bullying and Biracial Children
The number of children who have one parent that is not Japanese is unknown because, for counting purposes, they are not considered foreign. In 1998 there were 29,636 new marriages between Japanese and foreigners (twice as many as ten years previously).
Factors making biracial children vulnerable
Given the nature of bullying, the characteristics that distinguish them from other Japanese make biracial children likely targets. Likewise their dual heritage and search for identity make them more vulnerable emotionally. According to Noguchi (1996), because of the homogeneity of Japanese society, half-Japanese children have a strong desire to eliminate the things that alienate them from their peers (p. 34). Takahashi & Vaipae (1996) reported the case of a half-Japanese girl who asked her foreign father to not come to a school event because he didn't look Japanese (p. 147). The resistance of such children to the language of their non-Japanese parent increases dramatically upon entering schools and does not recede until the teenage or adult years (Kittaka, 1997). Moreover, many half-Japanese children attempt to hide their non-Japanese physical traits; for example children with curly or fair hair often try to alter it to be more accepted by classmates (see Kamada, 1999, p. 5; Jonnes, 1999, p. 15). These children's desire to be like everyone else is frustrated by society. A parent reports that her half-Japanese daughter felt that, ". . . people were constantly questioning the naturalness of her existence" by pointing out, directly and indirectly, her foreignness (Smith,1999, p. 49).
Gender also effects the treatment of such biracial children. McMahill (2000) found more accounts of the bullying of half-Japanese boys than of half-Japanese girls, but wonders whether this is because girls are more often indirectly bullied, and these cases are sometimes not reported. This is substantiated by Ross (1996), who found that, throughout the world, boys use direct bullying four times as much as girls and are victims of direct bullying twice as often, and that girls experience more indirect bullying. One mother of a half-Japanese child believes ostracism to be most common with girls, and she notes the difficulty of fighting back against such indirect attack (Otake, 1999). If half-Japanese children are targeted for bullying because of being multiracial, McMahill asserts that "the bullying could be an instance of racism, or at least a challenge to the child's right of membership in Japanese society."
Preparing Children against Bullying
Some valuable literature does exist concerning bullying and half-Japanese children. For instance, 11 accounts were published in a collection entitled, Bullying in Japanese Schools: International Perspectives (Gillis-Furutaka,1999). Through the experiences of these multiracial families whose children have been bullied, much can be deduced about how such families should interact with other parents, school teachers and administrators. For instance, foreign parents need to understand the Japanese way of resolving problems, and keep good relations with even disagreeable people (see Takahashi & Vaipae,1996, p. 144-145). Furthermore, four strategies for parents to prepare their half-Japanese children for Japanese schools can be deduced from these testimonials when considered together with published research.
Keeping open the lines of communication
"What I think is most important is to be able to keep open lines of communication with our own children so that we know at all times how they feel," a parent of a half-Japanese child writes (Kamada, 1999, p. 7). Through communication, children can also feel their parents' love and support. A half-Japanese adult adds, "If you have love, you can love others . . . . and you can love yourself, too" (Ashimori, 1999, p. 25). Good communication also raises children's awareness of when they are being bullied (Fried & Fried, ). Suffering, which increases over time, is not easily perceived by the victims. Likewise, parents need to warn their children that verbal abuse can sometimes be camouflaged to appear as concern (p. 42). Good communication is not easily accomplished. Children have a tendency to feel that confiding with parents about bullying is shameful {see Nonaka, 1999 (cited in Ryan)} and they therefore endure the abuse in silence. A survey of Japanese parents and students revealed this pattern. In elementary school, regarding students who reported being bullied in the current school year, only 37% of their parents were aware (Noujuu, p. 193). In junior high school, the awareness of parents' fell to 33.9%. In high school, it was an abysmal 17.7%. Unfortunately, this enduring in silence does not necessarily mean the children are standing up for themselves.
Encouraging children to stand up for themselves
A mayor wrote, "Bullied children lack will-power and a sense of self-reliance" ("Saitama Mayor," 1997). In this comment, for which he was criticized by educators, -- there was an important kernel of truth: passive victims are easy targets.
One parent comments, "The best way to address these problems is to get children to try to resolve them by themselves" (Wanner, 1999, p. 41). This family enrolled their son in judo classes, " . . . . where he would develop skills to protect himself from small groups of attackers." Another father advised his son, "to not start fights, but to punch back hard if he ever got hit" because this father believes a child's showing weakness is the " . . . . most dangerous thing because it (sets) a precedent and make(s) the child a target" (Satori, 1999 p. 44).
A mother explains that when parents intervene to deal with bullies, they are confirming the weakness of their own child. "The children's world has a set of rules of its own, quite different from those of the adult world. We grown-ups should try to preserve the 'balance' within it by not interfering" (p. 13). Although many of the 11 parents who wrote in Bullying in Japanese Schools felt that children themselves should be encouraged to "fight back," this was not always the case, with gender playing a role. An aggressive response was encouraged mostly in boys, and avoidance the preferred strategy for girls (McMahill, 2000). Several parents mentioned the belief that "boys will be boys" and that peer abuse was a rite of passage or form of communication. On the other hand, only one girl was encouraged to fight back, in this case verbally (Bethe, 1999), while three girls stopped their being bullied by changing schools (Cooney, 1999; Otake, 1999; Smith, 1999).
A distinction must be made between standing up for oneself and violence. Parents should talk about alternatives to violence; especially young men need to know how to obtain approval without resorting to it (Fried & Fried, 1996). Finally, although retaliation of any kind can escalate the cycle of revenge, children who don't stand up for themselves are the most likely to receive further aggression because they are viewed as easy targets.
Building self-esteem
Helping half-Japanese children esteem their identity is crucial for their thriving in the Japanese school environment. Many children have trouble accepting their unique identity, neither Japanese nor foreign (see Yoshida, 1999). McMahill (2000) writes that parents' positively managing their half-Japanese children's identities as well as their own encourages bilingualism and multiculturalism. Moreover, many parents teach their children to not consider themselves as being half Japanese, but as being both or double (e.g. Tabohashi, 1999, p. 42). One mother says, "Our children are not 'half,' they're 'both,' which means fully Japanese as well" (Inui, 1996, p. 67). Parents should likewise help half-Japanese children to esteem the physical characteristics that distinguish them. One parent pointed out cool people with curly hair to her half-Japanese son, who was ashamed of his (Kamada, 1999, p. 5). These included Albert Einstein and Jesus.
Conclusions
In sum, biracial children and those who care for them must discourage bullying. By doing so, society itself may become kinder, wiser and happier. Bullying is a symptom of our misplaced values; tolerance is an expression of our true sophistication. By understanding also the bullying of any biracial children in Japan, we can take an important step forward.
References |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for the link, however, it's only a snipit. It makes reference to many other publications I have nothing about, and it does not mention any methods on how they collected the data. It also doesn't mention how they define foreigner, for example are American/Japanese, Korean/Japanese, Chinese/Japanese families all lumped together as foreigners, even though some of the Koreans and Chinese have been in Japan for generations?
However, it's an interesting read. I would have to read more before I form an opinion. Again, thank you for the link. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Canuck
seeing as this comes from a JALt article I do know that many of the children referred to are children from international marriages i.e. between a Japanese and a western parent, many who are college teachers and belong to JALT. I am a personal acquaintance of Mr Wanner and know that his children, especially his older son, did experience some problems at school .Many of the references come from individual case studies on bilingual children in Japan.
For more info on this issue I can refer you to back articles of the Language Teacher on http://jalt.org where you can do a search or the Bilingual SIG on the same forum |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Wolf
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 1245
Location: Middle Earth
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 1:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Does someone make teachers leave or quit their jobs? Do they put a gun to your head and kick you out the door, or is that teachers lack 'spine' and cant hack a hectic 40 hour a week schedule and 10 days off a year?
If you worked back home how much more time would you get off working for a company back home? 2 weeks? |
I'm not sure who said this - it whas in PauH's post but the quoting was jumbled.
Guest of Japan already looked at the uni side of things - that you DO get booted out the door after a few years.
Eikaiwas do the same thing very often, they just hide it. It's an open secret that NOVA's unfriendly setup is designed in part to cause a high turnover rate so that they don't have to pay higher salries or deal with teachers trying to make a career out of working for them. Ask the general union or anyone else about how many summary dismissals they know of. Their favorite way of firing you is just to not renew your contract. I've seen it happen.
40 hours a week . . . is that in class time, or does that include peparation time? Teaching 40 hours of classes, with 10 days off a year (increasing by about one a year) for 40 years . . . ow. Teaching is a draining job, especially teaching in Japanese eikaiwas - the teacher is often expected to instill ALL the life into the lesson. If anyone feels that 40 lessons per week, with no national holidays or normal Japanese holiday times off, is not too much to ask a teacher; then I invite you to work at NOVA for five years.
| Quote: |
| If schools have to pay more in salaries they will charge students more in fees, students will stop coming or they will go somewhere cheaper. They school wouod then have to lay off teachers to dave money or reduce costs. Less jobs for the new guys and no teacher for the studenst who sign up. Vicious circle. Students at NOVA already complain that they have to spend 500-600,000 yen to buy lessons when they are already the cheapest on the market, at 1500 yen for a group lesson. |
Okay, here I'm going to make a guess, but this is what my instincts tell me: paying Joe American or Izzy the Aussie 265 000 yen/month probably isn't what's breaking NOVA's finanical back. Rent. Evil, nasty EXPENSIVE rent. Look at where all their schools are. Go try to rent 550 office sized areas in "ekimae" positions. My company went under, in part, becuase the school's rent was so high. Management told us that the monthly rent was more than the combined monthly salires of all the teachers. So that's like more than a year's pay for most teachers, for monthly rent of premium office space.
NOVA's expansion policy, and I'm sure bad management in general, must have cost that company tons. There's nothing wrong with a company being in business to make money. I guess the big issue is that it's hard to be a financial sucess by selling dodgy English lessons unless lies, shifty methods, spying, bullying, etc are resorted to. It's how they do business, not why they do business, that causes axes to grind.
About paying teachers more than what the market can afford. Well, in NOVA's case (and to a lesser extent the other larger companies) they've really painted themselves into a corner. If they try to offer stable, career worthy jobs NOW, the whole thing will fall apart (even faster.) In a nutshell: nowadays they probably can't afford to pay their teachers much more. Market forces plus the ongoing recession plus money wasted on all their brilliant ideas means that there's no choice in the matter now.
PAULH I respect everything you say, and understand why you say it. I'm just offering my thoughts on things. There's only one thing that I'm not quite sure I understand:
| Quote: |
| No busy can stay in business if it doesnt make money, even universities and high schools. |
Do you mean private universities and high schools? They have to keep students and parents happy to keep enrollment up. And tuition cost is a major problem, so keeping costs down is a must. The unconnected, naive foreigner is a good place to begin cutting costs, I suppose... . I can see how a university might earn an income from patents from research innovations or somesuch (set flames to low, as I have no clue here), but how does a public high school generate income? I think that you mean they have to be realistic and economical in their expenses. But I wanted to be sure. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. Ishihara
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 15
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 2:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| PAULH wrote: |
It would be very nice if all the teachers coming over here had TESOL degrees in Linguistics and MA degrees, but at this time, most people coming over here for one or two years are not going to invest in the time and money to get these.
|
At the time I entered Japan, I had a work visa for teaching
English. The only requirement was that I be a college graduate,
specific area of study didn't matter. I got the work visa from
the Japanese government, who set the requirements. The
Japanese government could easily require TESOL degrees,
MA degrees, or no degree at all.
You may get delt a different set of cards from the guy next to
you, you may have more or less skill at playing the game,
( ... "market forces" and so on .... )
but there were conscious decisions made about the rules of the
game. A hand that wins at poker may lose at eucher. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
