Job Discussion Forums

[J-kun]

Something I've noticed on this forum and a few others on teaching in Japan which bothers me is the tendency to bash eikaiwa teachers, especially the males. The litany of charges goes something like this: They're unqualified, they're just here for girls, they don't care about teaching, they tarnish the reputation of the foreign community in Japan, etc...
But perhaps most annoying, is the assertion that they are here because they have a "useless" degree and can't get a job in their home country. This, my friends and colleagues, is simply not true. Everybody I know from university (and I hung-out mostly with the useless degree crowd) has a job, and they all make substantially more than an eikaiwa sallary. How hard do you think it is to get $14 or $15 an hour in the US?
People come to teach in Japan primarily because after graduating they want to get out of their home country for a while and have a bit of an adventure; If they can save a little money and maybe meet some girls in the process, so much the better. What's so terrible about it? I know, some are lousy teachers, but I believe most are at least trying. Everyone I worked with when I was with one of the "big 4" seemed to be.
So let's drop the puritanism, superior moral pose and academic elitism, and let people enjoy their stay.
See you in Roppongi.

[Glenski]

[Gordon]

Glenski, your science degree isn't exactly useful for teaching EFL is it?

I don't see why work and play always have to be serious. Yes, a job should be taken seriously, but when you're in your early-mid-20's, what's wrong with enjoying life a little (within limits). How many of us started seriously in this business when we were young? I was 24 when I started and to be honest my job wasn't the most important thing in my life. I took work seriously mind you and played by their rules, but this isn't prison.


I don't think we should generalize about eikaiwa teachers either. Good point J-kun.

[PAULH]

[denise]

I agree for the most part with the OP. As long as the teachers are trying and take themselves seriously while they are in the classroom, of course they should be able to have a social life and prioritize other things besides teaching.

In my opinion, problems arise only when the teachers, for whatever reason, don't realize, or (even worse) don't care that their actions affect not only their students, but their fellow teachers as well. If I want to go out and get piss drunk and go home with the first cute boy I see, fine, that's my right. BUT... I had better be able to get myself out of bed and into the classroom the next day in a decent condition--once I step into the classroom, the students are my priority for the rest of the hour. If I am hung over/sick/etc., then the students suffer because of my actions. Very unfair. And other teachers indirectly suffer because I have contributed to a negative reputation of foreigners--they're drunk, lazy, easy, whatever. Makes it harder for other foreigners to be taken seriously. Also unfair, and selfish as well.

As long as teachers can be professional when the need arises (i.e., when they are teaching), yes, of course they should be able to live a little.

I'm with Gordon--at the age of 23, when I took my TEFL course, I was not 100% committed to teaching, having never done it before. A lot of the appeal of the lifestyle was the whole "living in Prague" bit. I always took my job seriously, though.

d

[Wolf]

I began EFLing in Japan at age 22, at NOVA, and with noting more than a degree in English lit.

It was the only way. I had attempted to take a TEFL course back home twice, and both were cancelled. I didn't have enough money to fly across the country in persuit of a qualification,and besides, NOVA offered me a job without one... .

Once here, I quickly developed a desire to improve my teaching. Easer said than done. I was paying off a student loan, studying Japanese on the side, and actively harassed by my company. Not wonderful conditions to stretch myself even thinner in.

I only knew two kinds of teachers: the "totally unqualified" and the ones who had enough money to have studied an MA full time. I looked around at various TEFL certs and MA programs. I had hoped to find a one year, relevant MA program back in Canada that I could pick up and then come back. Sigh. I couldn't find a program I found appealing.

I'm doing an MA part time now. When I finish I'll be overqualified for ekaiwa jobs and underqualified for university jobs. Bliss. Who's regulating this crazy industry anyway?*

Bascially it comes down to this: there aren't a lot of positions available that would tempt someone into a lifetime career. Most teachers don't last very long. And many of the teachers who do last a long time didn't plan on that origionally. And the EFL learning public is okay with all this.

In other words, conditions exist that make for an enviornment where an unqualified, inexperienced teacher can work for a year or two at a bad job for the "experiene" or for a short term boost to his or her savings. In fact, the bad jobs for the unqualifed are, I'd guess, the most common.

Not that this absolves the teacher of anything. Someone who wants to be a teacher ought to become the best teacher that circumstances allow. None of us would want to pay to send our kids to learn from someone who couldn't teach.

[TokyoLiz]

J-kun wrote

[SEndrigo]

[Dr.J]

To turn this on its head, or maybe its side,

It's not as if the eikaiwa schools are really in it to educate the masses.

And it's not as if most of the students actually realise what goes in to learning a foreign language above those TV ads (hate! hate!) with the stupid bunny or some goofball in a beard going "Great English!" to some grinning B-list Japanese models in business suits.

In other words, although a rather high proportion of foreign people claiming to be teachers in Japan are exactly like the inital accusation, if there is to be any blame applied perhaps it goes farther up the management chain.

Or in other other words, if flies gather round it, it's probably sh*t.

[PAULH]

[foster]

J-kun, you are correct in saying that it is unfair to paint all ekiwa teachers with the same brush. I am a qualified teacher and yet I put in 2 years at Nova. Why...well, I did want to get away from the 'normal' classroom teaching I was doing in Canada. But, even in Japan, I was still a teacher.

Many people I worked with at Nova were away from home for the first time and struggled with the freedom and cash-flow. Some saved, some partied 24/7, some dated every J-girl they could find, some worked over time to the tune of 40 lessons per week, some worked 3 extra jobs, some still received an allowance from mum and dad from home and some did all of it.

As teachers, I feel that we NEED to find some sort of stress release as teaching and dealing with people of all sorts all day can be very stressful. I went out in Japan, but not every weekend. Now, in HK, I go out once in awhile with NON-teacher friends. My staff have asked me if I drink and I admit that I do. I would lie to my students tho.

At 23, I was teaching in a HS in Saskatchewan. A HIGH SCHOOL!! I was barely out of high school. Was I ready for it? Maybe not. Maybe I should have gone to Japan first, get some experience and traveling in and then started teaching.

It is not fair to lump everyone together, but it happens all over. Ekiwa teachers are out for fun and after j-girls, all j-girls are vapid and out to trap a husband, red-heads are sex-crazed and have a furious temper, blondes are stupid and naive and on and on and on....We tend to make assumptions on what we see MOST often. There are exceptions to EVERY rule.

[Glenski]

Gordon wrote:

[Gordon]

Glenski,
Where's my beef? I don't have any. You trashed people here with geography or history degrees, yet you have a science degree. I don't see how one is better than the other. I'm glad you can use your degree, but if you'd had a history degree instead, maybe that could have proved just as useful. They certainly need some good history teachers in Japan.

If you thought I was being snobbish than you were wrong.

[guest of Japan]

I'm not anti-eikaiwa. I shouldn't be, since I did it for more than two years. It's hard work. It demands a lot of patience and student care. Knowledge of the English language was heavily called upon. You work highly intense long hours.

Why do people continue with it? Because there aren't that many great opportunities awaiting them. The choices are usually another eikaiwa or a dispatch company like Interac. After two years at a company like AEON you will probably take a pay cut for your next job.

Professional development is pretty hard to do when working in an eikaiwa. The hours do not permit people to attend evening classes. Most distance learning courses want techniques to be used in the classroom, which is an impossibility when following a company method.

In my eikaiwa experience I've worked with more competent people than not. Certainly backgrounds were not usually in TESOL, but a TESOL background is not very necessary for eikaiwa work. The picture that is often painted of eikaiwa teachers has seldom been true in my experience.

[Glenski]

Geez, Gordon,

There's a huge difference between being employable with a geography degree and a science degree back home. Sorry that you can't see the obvious.

As for whether a science or geography degree is "better" here in Japan, I never mentioned that. You did. The simple fact that I am even more employable here than a geography major is just... simple fact, one that I have been happily able to take advantage of. However, I do not throw my weight around by saying I am better than anyone because of my education. Again, you are the one who implied that.

Considering the Japanese Ministry's stranglehold on who publishes what history books and what material is in them, the fact that Japan "needs" good history teachers is moot and condescending, and I think you know it. Talk about comparing apples to oranges.

As for whether you were being snobbish, I only responded to this highly childish remark...