Job Discussion Forums

[Quibby84]

When you live in Japan, do you hate your life?

just curious...

[c-way]

While this thread seems about to wrap up, I just want to jump in here bc/ I too am a PT ALT at a high school, and I have the same problems.

And like many posters have advised, I came in with a strict policies and put my foot down from the beginning. But the culture of my school is an utter failure to the students and teachers alike. To give you an idea of how a failing school operates let me illustrate with some examples. So of you will be surprised, some not at all. But I myself was dismayed

* School starts at 8:40. Students are counted as "present" until 20 minutes after the late bell rings, making the unofficial start time of school 9:00. If a student should happen to miss this cutoff, they then have until 10:00 to avoid being marked absent for second period. Conceivably, a student could miss 40% of the school day and not suffer any penalty.

* There is an attendance policy that says that if a student misses more than 1/3 of all the lessons for a particular class, then they fail. Some students have met this requirement by the halfway point. Of course, there is no official policy that says the student must leave school once they have failed, giving them free reign at school. (Most leave though)

* To pass a particular class, students must receive a mark of 35% of the total points given. To move up to the next year, students must successfully complete 3 of 6 classes, one of which is PE. I give homework. About 3% of my students complete it. my class accounts for 5% of their overall grade.

* There is no detention. Students are not generally sent out of class for any reason. Student will be permitted to leave school unsupervised if they tell an assigned teacher that they are sick.

* Because there is no official discipline policy, when asked how they control their classes, many teachers told me that they "scold" their students for the bad behavior. I observe that once this "scolding" is completed, often with smiles from the teacher when being done, the behavior quickly resumes.

* Until a recently policy change, groups of students roamed the hall unchecked during class hours. It was usually the same clique of students and I observed teachers passing them in the hall without saying a word. The policy change was that teachers were sweeping the halls after the bell to make sure students were't waiting outside class until the last possible minute to be marked present. I saw a group of boys walk right through three of these teachers, who did not oppose them at the moment and looked to be intimidated.

* I myself confiscated cell phones, mirrors, and makeup, woke sleeping students, and silenced talking students when I first arrived. One student became so angry when a snoopy keychain broke when I confiscated his cell phone that he slammed his books repeatedly, spit on the floor and made gestures suggesting physical aggression. This and other problems led him to his parents being contacted, but insided school nothing really tangible occurred.

* I tore up another students manga books after he physically rebuked my JTE, who tried to confiscate the books. After I did so, he pushed me three times and when I ushered him out of class, he ripped my shirt. He was given an in school suspension for almost one month and is at risk of failing due to absence. When he doesn't show up on time, they send him home for the day.

* One fellow teacher was offered to a fight off-campus when he tried to assuage the students anger over a soccer game in PE class. That boy was not punished. He was told "not to use foul language".

So, all in all, my "push-through" school is a joke that makes a mockery of education. I've talked to many teachers who seemed dejected, others apathetic, others intimidated, and others still who plug along undeterred.

Authority is tacitly assumed by the students, who in some cases "permit" themselves to be educated. I say this because I still do have some classes that are largely successful. But if students one day decided "to hell with this", I would be largely powerless to do anything about it. Powerless because the administration here has decided to "weather" the students and only punish when it is absolutely necessary.

This may be making excuses, but I have to believe that even the best of teachers would be flustered and boxed-in in this kind of school environment.

[Sweetsee]

Thanks for that C-way, enjoyed reading it. How about some of you others teaching in the schools here, how about sharing some of your stories? I'd like to share one that changed the way I feel about a particular teacher and the school in general. During the school festival I had to man the reception table and greet visitors as well as take the slippers from them when leaving. Teachers and students were on 2-hour shifts. During my shift there were about 6 students manning the table, signing-in visitors and at one point a student was asking the teacher in charge if she could be released to enjoy the festival with her friends. The teacher pointed out to her that everybody would like to do the same but that she must complete her duty, it had only been about 30 minutes into the shift. The student was bummed hearing this and returned to her place at the table, sitting sideways and placing her school bag on the table. The teacher then told her to take the bag off the table and the student continued to pout. Later, during the noon rush, I noticed that of the original students on duty, only two were manning the table, two very quiet students. Suddenly, another teacher shouted at me that I needed to be collecting the slippers from the guests leaving, lines began to form at the table and it was quite obvious that we were seriously under-staffed. Forgot to mention that prior to this, I saw the pouting girl return to the table with some friends thanking the teacher for releasing her. The teacher hushed her and told her to take-off. Seems that this teacher also pulled a runner because I saw her come back in a hurry later as we were swamped and had run out of needed supplies.
Anyway, sorry to bore you with this silly anecdote but now any time I hear this teacher admonishing any student for anything I can't help think of how cynical she is and what a joke the school is. That and most of the teachers allow the students free-reign in the classroom; sleeping, cell phones, print-club, yakking across the room, etc.
I honestly can't think of anything positive about this school and it is also a mockery of education and a complete disservice to the students.
Having said that I hope that all of you have a great teaching day today.
Enjoy,
s

[Glenski]

[canuck]

[Gordon]

Glenski, why bother even replying? He/she is not worth wasting time on.

[Sweetsee]

More harassment, more attack and more vindictive behavior from curly, moe and joe. The three of you together resemble every thing that is wrong with this place.

Each day is a new day, a chance for new beginnings, a chance to begin again.

[c-way]

Now that you guys have one-upped each other, can we get back to the topic at hand.

[Glenski]

c-way,
I think it's pointless to be involved in a serious discussion about discipline when the OP is a 16-year veteran of working in Japan and who cannot keep a consistent line of thought. You go ahead, though. I finished my thoughts on this discussion 8 months ago.

[furiousmilksheikali]

[furiousmilksheikali]

[Sweetsee]

Nice post Ali, now we're getting somewhere.

[c-way]

[furiousmilksheikali]

I agree with you that if you can find the students who you know want to learn then you can make sure your lessons accommodate them. Though peer pressure is an important factor too. Some of your students who want to learn won't want to make that clear.

[bornslippy1981]