Job Discussion Forums

[cheryl]

Glenski,
being chinese has a lot to do with it. Only recently did JET stop discriminating against those who didn't look like a "native speaker". internationalization did not necessarily include those who didn't look "western". I seriously doubt any program who needed an EFL teacher in Asia would take the asian looking teacher over the 'white' teacher if everything else were equal. i.e. experience, qualifications. But then, maybe i'm cynical due to prior racial experiences.

i want you to know i'm not talking out of my butt, i knew my 'look' might be a factor (i'm not saying it was the only factor) and i was warned of this by my CTESL program professors. If you need to know, i'm an Honour Linguistics and Applied Language studies student (fourth year) with experience in teaching ESL only not EFL. i've also lived overseas but have no proficiency in the Japanese language.

Cheryl

[Mosley]

I have to agree w/Glenski. JET, it could be said, USED TO prefer Caucasian candidates. When I was a JET, there was a gal of Chinese-Vietnamese heritage in my prefecture. She spoke little Japanese but seems to have been well-regarded by her school. The fact is, the JET application process is fiercely competitive, and the choice of who is accepted or rejected comes down to a razor-thin margin in many cases. As an alternate, there IS a chance you can still get on the 2003 intake.

[Celeste]

Cheryl-

I wouldn't think that the JET programme discriminates against people of asian descent. When I got in last year, about 25% of Vancouver JETs were asian. There are so many different things they take into consideration. They really want to hire people that they think will fit in to the Japanese work system and be able to stay for the full 3 years possible. There are plenty of people who show up on the JET programme without any language experience. That probably isn't it. The one thing that I remember the interviewers stressed in my interview last year was that they were concerned that I, an efl teacher of 5 years, would have a difficult time being relegated to a position of human tape recorder in someone else's classroom.

I assured them that I was quite happy to give over to the Japanese teachers in the classroom, and stretch my teaching muscles in other ways like after school language clubs and volunteering at local community centres etc. This seemed to satisfy them. The one thing that really doesn't go over well here is an ALT trying to change the school system. Perhaps they suspected that with your experience and educational background that you might have a hard time towing the line in a classroom where sound educational theories are not used, and choral speaking and rote learning are still the favoured methods of instruction.

You may still get in to the JET programme. Don't take this to heart. If you are still interested in being an ALT there are a few private companies that you can apply to as well. They don't pay quite as much as JET, but they are still a way to teach in Japanese public schools.

[cheryl]

Dear Celeste,

thanks for your input, i just couldn't understand "why" i'd be alternate-listed but now i kinda have an idea. One of the women who were interviewing me works in my University where the communicative method is highly emphasized. i wish they could've asked me more about how i would adapt to Japan but hey, i guess they can't cover everything. Anyhow, again, thanks for your reply it helped calm me down a bit.

cheryl