Job Discussion Forums

[auckies]

....or do you just want to finish your contract and get out of there?

[denise]

I really care about my students.

d

[J-Pop]

[shmooj]

Yep. I'm with J-Pop. Auckies, you haven't offered us any insights into your situation or thoughts so far, so how about it...

[Glenski]

Have to admit that auckies seems to ask a lot of questions but divulges little about his/her own situation.

As for answering the original question, I have seen my share of eikaiwa and private lesson teachers who don't give a hoot about their students. Some eikaiwa teachers that I know have actually tried finding "material" that they can throw to their students as a writing lesson so the "teacher" can sit back and read a magazine for the rest of the period. Another guy has admitted to me that he doesn't care about the welfare or education of his students; he is just out to make money.

On the other hand, I have met an equal number of people (mostly in high school) that are devoted to their work and students' education. We may not always like some of the students (high school or otherwise), or the policies of the places where we work, but this group of teachers is here to teach as well as make money, although swimming in moolah is not the prime reason for holding this job.

auckies,
What do you teach, and what is your reply to your own question?

[auckies]

After 4 months of being in korea i stopped caring.. I found the director didnt care and the kids didnt care. So why was i trying so hard.. So now i just wing most my classes.. I dont do much prepping.. My director has asked for my lesson plans and ask what i taught the kids.. I always say the same thing. I taught them conversation, I taught them more english words.. WHAT does she expect me to say. I taught them the theory of relativity? This is english keep it simple stupid !! These are kids not doctors!! Praise the lord!!

Now your responses please.

[Gordon]

If you stopped caring, what are you doing now? Are you teaching in Vancouver? You couldn`t get away with that kind of crap in Canada that you got away with in Korea.

[Wolf]

I've cared about my students since day 1. In every place I ever worked. If I didn't care for my students, I wouldn't have remained in EFL as long as I have; which isn't long in the grand scheme of things, but it's been long enough for me to know if I can "hack it."

[Glenski]

auckies,
At the risk of aggravating the situation here, you sound like a very bitter person. That is pretty scary since you have been at it only 4 months. Why don't you change employers (or countries)? What was it that drew you to your job or location in the first place?

[JimDunlop2]

When I first came to Japan, I felt it was my responsibility to ensure quality English education for my students....

Then some of my students demonstrated to me that they didn't care -- so I stopped caring too.....

But then I realized that as a teacher I couldn't have that kind of attitude and still remain a teacher.

I think I've come to reach a certain balance where I put in as much effort into teaching and preparing as my students are willing to exert in learning, plus a little extra. I try to meet them halfway.... For instance, I will give assignments and bring in interesting materials to class, but I don't lose any sleep over it if the assignment doesn't get done, or if the students give a hoot about the trouble I went to making the class more interesting....

In essence, I was caught between two extremes until the manager of the eikawa made things a lot clearer to me.... Some of my students were complaining about the material I was teaching them, that it was too difficult, and my counter-argument was, that to them anything difficult wasn't worth doing, but they didn't improve their English abilities either.
It was explained to me (from management's perspective -- aka my manager) that we are in the business of "edutainment"..... And that people come to our school to have fun, not really to seriously learn something (less a few exceptions to the rule)....

So I guess I've learned to not stress myself out over what actually gets (or doesn't get) taught, and whether the students will actually come away with something other than a "happy feeling" at the end of the day.... However, having said that, if a student is serious (they actually study at home on a daily basis, do homework assigned to them and do extra-curricular English work) then I am more than happy to help them further by correcting their ex-Eikawa written work (I had one student keep a daily journal in English) or to chat with them after-hours at the local gai-jin bar with other like-minded teachers, or to suggest and lend out books, movies, etc to help them with their overall exposure to the language. Does this mean I care? I dunno.... I think I'm just doing my job. Some might argue that it's a teacher's job to inspire students to be that motivated to learn the language like those few "serious" students.... Well, they are probably better people than me. I struggle with the whole inspiration thing.... I try, but maybe I should watch more motivational speaker-type videos... I'm not usually the genkiest person in a room, but I do what I can.

But, if people now ask me what I do for a living, it's hard to say that I'm a bona-fide teacher. I'm part babysitter, and part entertainer.... and maybe even part teacher.... Maybe I should just start saying that I'm an "edutainer" or... I'm in the "edutainment" industry... Anyway, I ramble on.... But that's been my experience thus far.

On a final note, I used to do something resembling ALT work in Europe a couple years ago (Czech Republic) and I must say that it was a world of difference -- as I actually "taught" my classes and didn't just entertain them for the sake of keeping happy bums in seats in the name of business..... In addition, I taught adults at a Canadian community college (before funding was pulled so we lost our work) So I am biased in my comparissons I suppose.... And that's the most honest answer I can give.

Cheers.

JD

[guest of Japan]

When I taught in an eikaiwa I had a reputation of being the most difficult teacher in the school. Some students opted to take other teacher's lessons because of this. However, most students chose me hands down because they felt that I was committed to helping them learn. When I did have students complain to me about the difficulty I usually replied that they were paying a lot of money to come and study English, so I felt it was my responsibility to give them the best opportunity to improve their English that I could.

I was always sympathetic to their situations, but yet always encouraged them to put in a little more effort. I payed careful attention to their strengths and weaknesses and used this knowledge to help to motivate them.

Oops, it's time to go to work. Bye.

[markosonlines]

I care about my students AND want to get out of here. Bring on March!!!

[bshabu]

I care.

I am teaching at a kindergarten. It's great. I don't do it for the money because I sure could find a higher paying job. But, the flip side is that it's a great job, if you like kids. I get to play with them every day. We have a great time. They are always happy to see me, mob me when I come in the morning and won't let me leave the classroom after the lesson. My job is't just an English teacher. They is no pressure to come up with a lesson plan they will learn vast amounts in a certain time, but it's more to make the lesson fun. After all, in kindergarten isn't a place where they study. So I can come up with a game that they use there English and they can learn more.

[Smooth Operator]

Have to agree with Jim on this. If the students care about your classes then the teacher should, at the very least, reciprocate. However, there can be a difference in the students' situation. It's true some kids don't want to learn English, in which case it can harder to motivate oneself to care. In these situations, caring too much can cause problems and lead to teacher expectations and frustrations. I don't care so much about kids who don't want to learn...

As for my situation now, luckily most of my classes are at a liberal arts university level where the English Speaking Society (ESS) is the biggest club on campus. This makes my classes more rewarding but leads to greater work checking and correcting the students' ESS work. Even though it can take time, and I could give them less time, I am happy to help. I care a lot about most of these young adults' education.

[auckies]

Lets keep the letters short and sweet people get tired of reading the long drawn out stories.

I finish 2 years in korea this March.. I want to go to Japan next..

I think you guys should not make your students work so hard.. Make them laugh and keep it simple..

To anyone teaching past and present and comparitives and whatever else that girl said.. Who are you teaching adults.. I am sorry but 90% of us are teaching kids and that who i am referring to.

Why should i give the director my lesson plans.. So she can copy them and make he own book.. Screw that they are mine!!