Job Discussion Forums

waygofett · Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 12

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had any experience being an emergency teacher. I looked through the forums and around the internet but can't seem to find anyone that has written about it, or at least in the past six years.
Thanks

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

What is an emergency teacher?

monkeyhero · Joined: 07 Aug 2009 Posts: 14

Well, for the Eikawas, ETs are the guys who get sent to schools to cover for long term absences, contract breakers and all the various other reasons why a school may find themselves a teacher short.

waygofett · Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 12

Do you know of anyone who has been one? It seems like it would be a fun job but I cannot find anywhere that anyone has written a out their experiences doing it.

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

You're not going to get hired to be just an ET. In itself, I can't imagine it being a FT job. Filling in for someone else is just that--filling in--which means you get told one day that you'll have to cover, and when the missing teacher is replaced or has returned, you're back doing your regular FT job.

The description given sounds like a substitute teacher in public schools. That alone is PT work, and you can't get a work visa on PT work alone as a newcomer.

rxk22 · Joined: 19 May 2010 Posts: 1629

My old eikaiwa, it was the 'trainers' who filled in for any and all absences. They were usually the ones who had been with the co for a good while. I doubt you get get into thatfrom the ground floor.

waygofett · Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 12

Maybe, maybe not. I am still looking for info from anyone that has been an E.T. though. Does anyone know of anyone that has been or has anyone heard any stories from one about what it's like?

seklarwia · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:45 pm Post subject:

I knew one with my dispatcher. He came to my BOE to fill in for an ALT who (for a good reason) needed to take an extended leave of absence to return to his home country. For him it was a FT position.

As rxK22 suggested, the guy wasn't hired for the position as a newbie because it is not an easy job.

He was paid a higher than standard salary to be on permanent stand by. And although that sounds like a great position (effectively being paid to sit at home) it isn't all roses. He seemed suited to and enjoyed the position but from what he said they couldn't pay me enough to do the job.
He had to be on call 24/7, pretty much lived out of a suitcase and could get a call at silly hour in the evening saying, "Get on the next train to xx location half way across the country. You have to be there and ready to meet the school tomorrow morning." It meant going away for the weekend was impractical, he had non-existant vacation time since he had to even be on call for most of the summer and it could be difficult for anyone in a relationship since you could be called away in such a way that you didn't even get to say goodbye to your partner/spouse and may not get to see them in-person again for months.

And lets not forget the schools which may be full of nightmare teachers and students. You have no idea what you could be called in to do. It may be a single JH/SH one time and number of ES and kindergartens the next. So you have to be really flexible, on the ball and ready to just go in and teach 100% of any class with zero prep time.

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

The fact that you're not getting many replies suggests that this is not a widespread sort of job.

You've already been told (twice?) that you are unlikely to land this as a newbie. I wouldn't put all my eggs in such a small basket.

waygofett · Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 12

Glenski-- No worries, my basket is fine. I'm not putting all my eggs in that one. =)
I realize that its not a widespread job otherwise I would have been able to find more information on it elsewhere instead of starting a new thread asking for information. I was hoping that someone here would have done it or at least been able to point me in a direction where I find more information about it, that's all.
Looking through my posts you'll notice that I didn't ask what the chances of getting a job were or anything like that.

seklarwia-- Thanks for the information.

jcook77 · Joined: 08 Oct 2010 Posts: 32 Location: Tokyo

I'm actually surprised there haven't been more replies. But then I remembered that full-time ETs are typically watched like a hawk on forums and whatnot by their eikaiwa superiors.

I've never done the job, but FT positions do exist at two companies I worked for -- one an ALT dispatch company, and the other a major eikaiwa. As others have stated, you won't get hired right off the bat as an ET. You need to put in at least a year at a school/school district before being considered. Basically, an ET needs to be able to slide into any situation and have a strong understanding of how things operate at schools in Japan (both conversation schools and Japanese public schools). Suffice to say, a newbie wouldn't be well-suited.

From what I know, being a substitute ALT is pretty tough. Someone mentioned above that it's like living out of a suitcase, and that's exactly what I heard. For an adventurous, single, well-adjusted type it may be cool to do for a while, but even the most professional teachers would get sick of running around all the time with no stability.

As for eikaiwa ETs, it seems like a slightly better lot. When you're not working, you're in the head office doing paperwork, making lessons, etc. When you're working, the company can (and will) send you anywhere at a moment's notice. As you can imagine, good, fun schools don't usually need ETs. It's the poorly managed, not-so-great location schools that usually require some spiffing up by an old hand. No doubt ETs are expected to improve the school's standing, which means being a silent sponge when it comes to criticism/unfair workload/8 lessons a day/12-minute lunch breaks.

Personally, I've thought about it myself (at an eikaiwa), but would only do it if I feel like it's time for a big change. The best part of the job would be seeing a lot more of Japan -- big and small.

waygofett · Joined: 11 Jun 2011 Posts: 12

Thanks JCook. I don't know what the future will hold but I am one of those obsessive types who likes to know everything I can before I even begin to think about going overseas. In all my research about teaching in Japan there seemed to be a big hole in that area and I got very curious but now I know why at least.

rtm · Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: US

I had a friend who was an 'emergency teacher' for Nova (this was about 7 years ago). I don't think you can get hired directly into being an emergency teacher - I think she had worked for them for a year or so before becoming an emergency teacher. She would get sent to lots of different places, I think usually for about a month or so (until they were able to get a new 'permanent' teacher). She said it was nice at first, getting to see different places all around Japan, but that after being a couple places, it got depressing always having to basically live out of your suitcase and not being able to make any long-term friendships. After being an emergency teacher for less than a year, she quit it.