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[GambateBingBangBOOM]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090828a6.html

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/print/nn20090828a6.html

[fluffyhamster]

There are some good JTEs, but I get the impression they are only good (communicative, resourceful, adaptable etc) because they actually liked and earnestly studied the language (rather than just practising its bare essentials teaching). Until the actual subject knowledge is properly assessed and if need be developed and/or the subject syllabus changed accordingly, I fear that any retraining will just be so much jumping through rather slow easy hoops. Have they really yet bothered asking the nails that stick out how they came to do so? If not, they probably should.

[cornishmuppet]

Sounds like they're making it compulsory for all new teachers to do a year or more of near-slavery on 180,000 yen, rather than just those who fail the ridiculously hard final exam yet are still considered perfectly able to teach (I've taught with many, including one who was the Head of English and a veteran of two schools).

Interesting news on the Principals. While the Vice-Principals I've known have all seemed pretty down to earth ex-teachers, the Principals all have had the air of being part of some old-boys club airlifted in to run a school with no actually classroom experience, but lots and lots of experience of sitting around shooting the &&&& with other old high-up types.

[womblingfree]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

It sounds like it's part of the course, but also the first year of teaching, though it could be a year of teaching, then going back to taking classes for a year, or it could be half a day of teaching half a day of classes for two years.

In any case, it's 'part of the course' in that you won't be a qualified teacher without it.

And you don't get paid in all countries to do this kind of thing. Though I've never done a full time year long practicum, the practicum for my university TESL certificate was through the entire program (an academic year), but it wasn't paid (same as people in the one-year k-12 teacher preparation courses). The internship I did while in a college program for advertising was two months full-time after having finished all the coursework, also totally unpaid (Some companies in Ontario, Canada actually get by with a full-time unpaid intern instead of entry level employees because by playing off different colleges and their internship periods, they can have someone to do entry level tasks for most of the year, and so, of course, they tend to never actually hire entry level people, they can just use students at varying levels of industry-specific training after having already finished their degree, and for the short periods when there isn't one available, they just up the amount of work that each intermediate/ senior person has to do).

[cornishmuppet]

I don't quite know how it works but three teachers I know of in my high school just took the exam again. They announced it in the teacher's meeting a few weeks ago and there was lots of 'ganbarre-ing' from all the other teachers. I don't know how the two guy teachers got on but the female teacher (science) told me she failed again. She's been working as a teacher for something like eight years over Junior and Senior. The other two are fully working teachers doing (as far as I can tell) no more no less than any of the other teachers.

It seems to me (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that you can complete the course and do the work but if you want a teacher's salary you have to pass a rock hard final exam that a lot of people opt out of. A drunk teacher once told me it was a government way of saving a buck. I couldn't really say as I don't know the ins and outs of the system, but it certainly looks that way.

[womblingfree]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Yeah, I know.

Not sure about the States. I'm Canadian. You don't get any sort of bursary in Ontario, at least. Nearly every single person who graduates with a degree in English applies to teacher's college in Ontario. The areas they are hurting are in French and math. Still no bursary bribes, though. You don't get paid during your practicum for teaching (or almost nobody does, I guess SOMEBODY may have got money). For other work areas, you ***MAY*** but usually you get nothing these days, though sometimes you may get a lump sum at the end (which is usually not even enough to cover what you spent on transportation getting to and fro work).

[guest of Japan]

No money in the states either.

[womblingfree]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[womblingfree]