Job Discussion Forums

[ESLgeek]

Hi everyone,
Who out there has worked as an ALT? What can I expect? How does it compare to being a regular teacher?

[fluffyhamster]

There are many posts on the nature of being an AET (search for keyword 'AET' with me as author for a start). I'm not sure what you mean by 'regular teacher' though. If you mean compared to teaching in public schools in the UK or America, then one would obviously have a lot less input (note the A in AET), but also less responsibility when it comes to paperwork etc; if on the other hand you mean compared to eikaiwa work, then the daytime, mainly weekday hours can make being an AET seem attractive, but dispatch agencies have slowly been chipping away even at the salary let alone benefits like paid leave, health insurance etc, so one should be wary of eschewing or possibly changing from ostensibly better-paid eiakiwa work. Then there are private high schools which might advertise for AETs, but which expect a lot (sometimes too much) for the increased pay, and who will probably be unimpressed if you have only been a puiblic school AET (especially if it were just on JET, even though being/having been a JET is in some respects quite prestigious, and certainly better respect, pay and conditions-wise than dispatch AET work).

[stevenbhow]

A lot of it depends on the school or schools you are at. You can pretty much expect to get either really bad students or really bad J teachers and sometimes both. I did it for two years and was pretty burned out by the time it was all over.

The dispatch companies all seem to be similiar shades of horrible, but if you can find one that leaves you alone for the most part, then it isn't too bad dealing with them.

Salaries seem to be being reduced either by the dispatch companies or the boards or education every year. And usually there is little or no room for advancement.

On the plus side the long vacations and weekends off are nice. If you want to do side work (privates, corportate classes, ect) you can bump your salary up a little bit. Also, if you are working in an elementary school it is an excellent chance to improve your Japanese since most of the teachers probably won't speak English. And depending on the school, you may have a lot of time to study if the J teachers simply use you as a human tape recorder.

[fluffyhamster]

Good point about elementary schools, Steven. I sort of forgot to mention them, as most potential AETs (especially if they are newbies) are leery of doing elementary as opposed to junior high school work, but if one is prepared to develop original activities and materials, then teaching in elementary schools can be a lot more fun than in JHSs, and like you say, you get a chance (indeed, are generally encouraged) to use a lot more Japanese not only outside but also inside the classroom (beats depending on the "Direct" Method - that should be Indirect Method! - for setting up activities).

I really agree also with the point about finding dispatchers who leave you alone to get on with the job. Some have nothing better to do than force you to attend time-wasting monthly meetings, in order to simply browbeat everyone (Borderlink being by far the worst offender IME).

[flyer]

An ALT assists the main teacher so its pretty laid back compared to being a fully fledged teacher.
Some people find it boring. But its the easiest way to make money.

[daniel of blackmore]

Being and ALT can be a really interesting experience, it can also be mind numbingly tedious if you end up with boring J teachers. Be prepared to stand still for hours and hours out of each day. I've always been interested in public school teaching so for me this is an interesting job, not to mention stupidly easy. You generally get a lot of free time in jhs but you have to prentend to be busy unless you want the board of education up you. The kids are usually nice even in the crappy schools and will often make you laugh your ass off. In my opinion it kicks the crap out of rubbish eikaiwa work.

[gonzarelli]

Play. Stop. Rewind. Repeat.

[cornishmuppet]

I think it depends on how much you put in. I did two and a half years in Junior High Schools and now I'm a privately hired ALT in High Schools and I love it. The kids are pretty demotivated in one school (its a business school so English isn't deemed that important) but I bring in a lot of my own activities and they react well. In the other school the kids are really good and do anything I ask.

The workload can vary enormously. At the business school I have four classes a day, usually which require separate prep for each one (in Junior High I could repeat a lot of lesson plans) while at the other, supposedly internationally-focused High School, I have just one or occasionally two a day.

I always try to leave the books well alone and bring in my own activities, but at the higher level school there are two other JET teachers who just follow the teaching plan in the teacher's books and then retreat to the teacher's room to sit on Facebook for the rest of the day. As a result they look bored out of their minds and I've actually had one teacher bitch about their classes which was a surprise as JTEs usually only bitch to the Board of Education. Her issue was that too many ALTs have no teaching experience, which is pretty relevant really.

I generally feel that I work hard in the High Schools compared to Junior High where I might repeat the same lesson plan for six or seven classes in a week. I've also found that in High School the concept of 'Team-Teaching' seems to go out of the window, as most of my JTEs will just sit down at the back while I teach, planning other lessons or whatever. One or two looked genuinely pi ssed when I tried to get them involved in the class. In a way it gives you total freedom and you can basically do whatever you want in whatever style you want, while Junior High was very much bound by curriculums and tests.

Elementary school, on the few times I did it, just seemed like energy, energy, energy... I enjoyed it for short periods, but wouldn't want to do it full time. I was too damn tired every day! Again, though, it was a case of the JTE stepping back and letting you do whatever you wanted, though.

[natsume]

I have been a JET ALT for 14 months now. Like Daniel above, I find the job is often "stupidly easy." But I am also interested in public school teaching down the road as well, so I do find it interesting. I work at a non-academic high school, and occasionally at a school for the visually impaired.

I felt a bit underutilized my first term, but after asking for and getting more responsibility, from lesson planning, to taking on some of the kinds of menial tasks the regular j-teachers have to do, to (really) joining a club, to making and grading exams, I feel fairly incorporated into my school now. I have been lucky to work with many JTEs that seem to value actually collaborating with ALTs, and the concept of team teaching. I have very rarely been used as a "human tape recorder", and that was with only one of my more old school JTEs. That said, I still have a far easier life than practically every member of the school staff, as well as the students.

I think if one is fairly proactive and is not working with dull and uninspired JTEs, it is possible to make ALT work interesting and enjoyable.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Be careful, though. Some people are called ALTs but in fact are regular teachers responsible for everything that occurs in the classroom, grading the students and giving the grades into the school, etc.

ALT can just be a term that means 'native English speaker' even when that native English teacher does as much as the Japanese teachers or more in the classrooms.

[shuize]

ALT work is fine short term. Anything past a couple of years is a complete waste of time.

There are some who do stay on the shelf past their expired date, but if you have any sense, you'll use it as a stepping stone to better things.

[fluffyhamster]

[flyer]

[flyer]

[cornishmuppet]