Job Discussion Forums

[S. Elliot Perez]

Hello,

I've heard from a few colleagues that teaching at a 中学校　(Junior High School) via a dispatch company (e.g. Ocean) is a nice job. Nice in the sense that, while you're at school for eight hours, you only teach for two or three. One of these teachers told me that that he alternates with seven other ALTs and that he doesn't even need the time to prepare lessons. At first, he prepared powerpoint presentations and the like, but was told to stop, as they only wanted him to read from the book. He says he has so much downtime that he's doing some kind of Master's Degree online.

So while the teaching itself might be less interesting (I'm currently working at an Eikawa), I do find the possibility of free time (for reading or personal projects) quite appealing.

I'd like your input on this. Is this true of all 中学校? Or does it vary from school to school/dispatcher to dispatcher? How can I find out if a given position corresponds to these criteria without simply announcing to my potential employers that I want an easy job?

Another problem is that my current contract expires in August, which is not the normal hiring time. This should limit my options. I am, however, learning Japanese, so that should open up some other opportunities.

Thanks in advance,
Elliot

[steki47]

[RustyShackleford]

I did it for five years.

The downtime becomes mind-numbing in it's own right, and in fact left Japan to do more intensive work in Vietnam that I found way more rewarding. There are little glimmers of excitement - original presentations; getting students to know your country better; the drinking parties; the speech contests...but it is day-to-day something that can frankly be soul-crushing to the point where even in your downtime you find your brain just turning to mush.

[S. Elliot Perez]

Thanks for your replies.

I actually studied music, so I'm not so concerned with having a rewarding English-teaching job. If I have several hours of downtime, I could theoretically use them to work on music on my computer...

Has anyone had any contrary experiences, or is it really like this at all junior-high-teaching jobs? And are elementary school and high-school, in contrast, more demanding?

[rxk22]

Having done both, Alt is nicer. It's the paycut that's rough

[TokyoLiz]

It depends on the kind of employment you get. If you are dispatch, you're at arms' length from the teachers, and likely have only teaching duties. Bear in mind, the working conditions for dispatch ALTs is the worst you will encounter in Japan.

If you're direct hire through a school board, or directly to a high school, you may find that the conditions vary, and you may be merely a pet, or be called on to participate more.

Best of luck.

[S. Elliot Perez]

[mitsui]

You must be patient.
You must play a role.
You must team-teach but the Japanese teacher can be useless.
You must always go along with the JTEs way of doing things. Bear in my mind, they all are different.
By that I mean a teacher who just sits there grading papers, or just comes and goes.
You have to speak slowly.
Some kids don't pay attention and are treated like a VIP.
The amount of chatter can get unbearable.

I have had to stop fights and heard horror stories of bullying.
There are kids with ADHD who have a hard time sitting in a chair.
No special education here.

In the US kids would have been kicked out but in Japan, no.

[RM1983]

[Lamarr]

I did ALT for a bit. I think you've generally got too much time on your hands in these sorts of jobs. You can't keep up Japanese study or whatever for 7-8 hours a day, stuck in a teachers' room, and the pay is rubbish. Having said that, in many ways it's better than eikaiwa: far easier, better holidays, weekends off, and you might still have energy left in the evenings to do private lessons or other work to top up your measly income.

Have a look through this site for some horror stories about the terrible pay and conditions in these places. There was a thread on here very recently about Interac.

[TokyoLiz]

You could me be a talking money or you could find yourself in a challenging position.

Choose wisely.

[S. Elliot Perez]

[rxk22]

As was said, being an ALT can be very lonely and boring. Being dispatch can be awful, I know that Heart only pays you possibly 6-7 months total, if you add up all the no pay, or reduced pay months. Even Interac, which is one of the less evil ones, reduces your pay 4 months a year. I haven't been an ALT for years, but I hear the pay cuts are getting bigger each year.

My wife works, and we have thought about me becoming an ALT again, so I can study for the JLPT2. As an ALT my Japanese got really good. I work at a private school now, and have kids, so I have little study tnme. le sigh

[TokyoLiz]

Autocorrect was too enthusiastic. I meant monkey.

Direct hire ALT jobs can vary a great deal. When I was a school board officer, I saw that some ALTs were involved in school activities, had three to five lessons a day, and had become part of the staff. Others were desk ornaments.

Dispatch vultures are the worst to work with. The contract conditions are horrible, and the school doesn't have much to do with you. Some other subject teachers work under these conditions, and they survive if they can stand the isolation.

[steki47]