Job Discussion Forums

midnightpariah · Joined: 26 May 2007 Posts: 85

I would say something along the lines of: I don't know if there has been a miscommunication, but I was dismissed from my position. Could you please confirm this with Boss as I don't want there to be any confusion regarding my paperwork.

Something like that would sound more professional imo.

seklarwia · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 12:02 pm Post subject:

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

The sooner you respond, the better you will look to any outsider.

Might want to start the letter with a standard "Dear...." instead of a strangely casual "Hello".

You could also begin by a typical polite "Thank you for your email/letter of <date> regarding <whatever issues the HR person wrote about>."

Then, add your message:

"Just to make things clear, you might not have heard that I was fired by principal Watanabe. I did not quit."

stumptowny · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 310

LCA Kokusai Elementary School

all finished. in the end I got my pay.

for anyone interested in the details of this school and job...

the school name is LCA international school in sagamihara, outer tokyo. the pay is 350,000 a month. tons of vacation and torrid working conditions. and word is, when you make this much in this income bracket, there is a huge tax taken from your paycheck (500-600 bucks!) so the net pay is not nearly as great..

the premise of the school is, the zen-founding principal has a rays-of-light teaching philosophy of no discipline and no punishment for students. they can do as they please and teachers must take their time to counsel the students with their innate zen ability.. (and if its not innate you get to watch a dvd of the enlightened principal save japanese teachers role playing as troubled youth for your own zen enrichment while your actual teaching conditions are completely different because you are.... White and working with actual students, some of which are monsters)

the school prides itself on being the only school of its kind in Japan. I did not stay long enough to notice any change or success with my students.

but the business model is clear behind the guise of open arms and learning. they will accept and tolerate any student, no matter how badly they behave, while using "bi-lingual" and "international" tags to build enrollment (revenue). the "zen learning" approach is also used as a selling point to the parents. and observers from around japan come to see how this school works because the image portrayed to the media and visiting observers is a charade. behind school doors, in the classrooms, safely away from the parents, it's a zoo. kids fight, argue, punch each other, throw things, speak bad to teachers in japanese and english. anything goes and it goes all day long.

during observation week, parents came in, sat in on my classes, and observed. the kids were perfectly behaved. no mystery there. they don't want to ruin the fun time they have by letting their parents know how they normally are. no one wants to rock the boat and the teacher is expected to cope.

as you can imagine it is a nightmare. no punishment/discipline = no rules to the students. teachers choosing to stay are gluttons for punishment to the free-for-all the kids' parents pay the high tuition for them to have... it's a circus and many of the kids collectively misbehave for the english based classes. why not. it's fun. when a japanese teacher teaches they are behaved. same for admin. any administrators that came in, boom, they suddenly behave perfectly. My lessons observed by the admin were perfect as well... the students were spot on. the manager thought I was a great teacher.

anyway, english classes taught are merely play time, a waiting time for the japanese classes which are actually accountable via real testing standards. the students take japanese classes seriously as their academic lives depend on it. but its damage control for native teachers. cant blame the students for wanting to misbehave as the school system is torturous in japan but it's not the responsibility of any teacher to accept these conditions and many do not stay at this school. the english that is actually being taught is: sit down, please stop, be quiet, face forward...

I truly realized it was this school only wants money when I called for a parent meeting for my worst student. I had written an honest, detailed email to the parent prompting the meeting. I was excited to address this student thinking it would calm the class to get him in check. there were 3 school reps present to 'translate' between the one parent and I. they sugar coated the meeting so much in japanese that it actually became my fault in the end. none of the details (truths) in the email were addressed and the principal said, we don't like to get caught up in details, to the parent. i.e. don't rock the revenue boat was the take away. luckily, before the meeting had formally started, i had told the mom what was happening in the class and what her son was doing. she knew her child's problems and she knew how much the staff were bs'ing to her.

So I did not have any real support at any level. I had my own classroom all day. no help. and I was teaching art, science, English and home ec and PE for 5th and 6th grade. no training manual, no curriculum, and mostly teaching from pictures from japanese text books. not joking. teaching art and science back home requires a subject specific credential! PE as well. the head teacher was nice but a mute, not capable of training. the prepping did get easier, as I realized quality did not matter, but the kids got worse as they realized I would not kill myself to police them incessantly. I am a teacher, nothing more.

when I met with the principal the last time, I offered my advice to him. I truly felt sorry for the schools failures and wanted to help them. some of the students were well behaved and constantly suffering because the bad students lowering the value of class time. their money was being wasted basically. my advice to the principal would help future new hires, which in turn would help the school validate their hiring choices and save them money. but the principal said, I do not need your advice. actually, you do. I will not offer it now. it was a one time offer. his zen pride will have him falling into the zen holes for a while longer.

thank you for all your advice!! much appreciated...

seklarwia

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

stumptowny · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 310

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

I assume stumptowny is gone, but just in case:

stumptowny · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 310