Job Discussion Forums

[Coolguy123]

Hi,

I taught as an ALT a few years ago, and have recently decided to get back into teaching. I recently took the CELTA, and have been looking into teaching jobs again. Lo and behold - I've found that my experience as an ALT taught me extremely little about actual teaching! Not running a class, focusing primarily on pronunciation, repetition, translation, etc. I'm sure not all schools are the same - but after having taken the CELTA, my eyes have been opened to newer and more effective teaching techniques. Of course, not to knock those who might be teaching as an ALT, as it can be rewarding and fun experience.

My question - I've been thinking about going back to Japan, and my primary interest and goal at this point is teaching adults. At the risk of sounding crazy, how is the professional development at the eikaiwa schools? At least, you're teaching adults, and they provide the curriculum to you, but how is the support and how good is the actual curriculum? Does this provide any good and actual experience in teaching or is it primarily like a tutoring gig rather than teaching a class?

Japan is close to my heart, and I'd love to go back, but I've heard complaints from people (when I was there) about teaching for the eikaiwa places. Any ideas what it's actually like working there? I must mention that I'm looking at teaching as a long-term career, so I need to focus on professional development as well as traveling to a place that I like.

[ssjup81]

Providing the curriculum to you...depends on where you work. My last job didn't have one and when I brought it up to my manager that things would run more smoothly if one was developed, he didn't really grasp the concept or what I was talking about. I was glad to be rid of that job (despite my liking of the actual students).

That aside, with Eikaiwa, you deal with all ages, not just adults. Maybe you'll end up having more adult lessons than kid ones or maybe it'll be vice-versa. You never know. With the Eikaiwa I currently work for, I have more adult lessons than I do kids, getting down to it.

Just like with ALT work, Eikaiwa work can be hit or miss in regards to what you want. Some Eikaiwa (and even ALT places) are very supportive...others, not so much. Some places have a good curriculum set in place, others don't have one at all. Some places may have pre-planned lessons you have to follow to the T whereas others let you have the freedom to be as creative as you'd like. It all depends on where you work.

I would recommend just researching Eikaiwa places and check out the reviews of the place.