May 5

By Kirsten Phillips (Niigata-ken, 2005-08)

Every Situation is Different.

That is the last time I’m gonna quote that fucking phrase. It holds, it certainly does, because despite any nation’s best attempts at uniformity in any manner of regulation, formality or creed, humans are made of wet clay and can be very unpredictable/slimy.

esid-altsasseenby010201

Cartoon by Earth Bennett (Aomori-ken, 2000-03). To see more ESID cartoons go to http://www.angelfire.com/comics/esid/archive.htm

Myth#1: An ALT is an ASSISTANT language teacher.

Come on dudes. The fact of the matter is we are a grassroots cultural exchange thingummy. In order to successfully carry out their expected duties (such as they are), most ALTs must first learn to reconcile their own cultural differences and run with the pack. In Japan, this tends to mean do what is expected of you.

But what is that?

So your contract says you are to assist an English teacher in planning, producing and executing English lessons. How many of you realize that this endeavor, more often than not, is solo?

Team. Sure, we’re a team! I copy the worksheets you spent all night planning, we go together to the classroom where you greet the students then retreat to the back.

Nantoka, it evens out.

Sometimes an English teacher WANTS you to keep your mouth shut. Assist. Wave pom-poms. Habitually bore your students into the excessive rigamarole of exam cramming. Don’t make faces at them, it makes them itchy!!!

I don’t mind an English teacher who wishes to assert control over their class and their style of teaching. But in my experience that breed of teacher often did not work well in tandem. This is their sandbox and your place in it is often contrived and seen as superfluous. As long as the kids aren’t missing out, a greenhorn may gain much insight from this person. Just don’t try to offer any imput ok, dumbass? After all, you’re only a Native Speaker. ^^

Alas, this case is rare.

At first it may seem off-putting to a fresh and uninformed ALT to find themselves pitted alone against 40 glazed eyes who do not recognize them. What some teachers fail to realize is that learning how to act in and manage a classroom takes practice and time. We don’t have the memo!!! I wish someone had actually told me what to expect from a Japanese classroom. Go-aistatus, o-souji, unsettling quiet, the infuriating head tilt!! It’s vastly different from what most Americans experience. I mean, hell, I brought a knife to class once. Why did someone not tell me that was illegal? (BTW, it was for hacking a gourd friends, not to make a statement)

Teachers aren’t going to hold your hand (are they? ESID) and they aren’t always going to save your ass when your lesson flops. This is where improv skills truly benefit an educator. Did I say educator? Sorry. As ALTs, we are 20% educator and 80% entertainer.

Fine by me.

They aren’t going to hold your hand because they don’t have time. Sooner or later you realize that the more you accomplish on your own, the more helpful your JTE will become. The concept of “team teaching” has been talked to death. The best scenarios occur when the ALT and JTE speak the same languages (this is a double-sided mirror, kids. LEARN Nihongo!) and respect eachother. This goes for almost any relationship, frankly. But a majority of your success you will have to cultivate on your own. Trial and error. If you are going to pussy out and wimper and say: “I just don’t know how to do that.”, you may quickly find yourself designated to human tape recorder. Read. Repeat. Next.

Every school is different. Sure, they all look the same, cook the same, smell the same but the people who run it make it heaven or hell (except Kocho sensei who is actually a prototype of everlasting borg that comes in male or the harder-to-market female model).

Myth#2 It is against Japanese law for an ALT to be in a classroom with students without the presence of a certified English teacher.

Where did I hear this fantastical tale? Is it true? Cuz if it is, this law has been broken under and over the table more times than I can count. Technically, I suppose, we are not allowed to teach solo. To be honest, I am not equipped to do so. My Japanese is definitely not good enough to go that mile and get into the nuances of past, present and future. Japanese students have a JTE who can speak Japanese at them all day. MY job is to speak English.

Tell that to a room of first graders. ^^ The sooner you train them to comprehend the gentler meaning of “sit down”, “shut up”, and “look here (not there)” the better.

So many of the Japanese teachers of English I encountered seemed to consider the ALT class to be their free period. Their time to retire to the back, let you take the limelight for a change and get some overdue work done. This used to irk me until I realized, Hey! I can do this! Kodama sensei isn’t an asshat, he’s just super mega BUSY! I can totally do this by myself…maybe.

Bless Kodama for he always had one ear open. The second I started to lose multiple attention spans, Kodama would rescue my ass with a carefully timed and grammatically correct insertion from the wings. Kodama sensei was happiest when I did most of the talking. So were the students. His kids, by the way, always scored higher averages on tests than any other teacher in the school.

I’ve taught lessons completely solo when necessary simply because I liked the JTE. Kashiro sensei was not only an English teacher for a special needs academic high school, he was also a guidance counselor and respected homeroom teacher. He almost never had time to be with me the entire class. Teaching his students wasn’t very hard though. Some days, we’d just rock out to GREEN DAY and translate the lyrics.

Myth#3 Your job is confined to the classroom.

I have comrades who even as I type this are slaving away translating websites in the prime evening hours to appease their Boards of Education. ALTs who show affinity for translation, event-planning, writing or any other skill WILL be used to the fullest extent of every ignored clause in their contracts.

Note to the martyrs: Stop being useful and you will not be used. ^^

As ALTs, we were often asked to collaborate on lesson plans and English curriculums that would be made standards for the entire academic year. We made revisions, exchanged ideas with other ALTs, taught phonics (unheard of in most standard classrooms) and translated/edited documents for our superiors. Anything that involved English, we could be called on for. We were like 1-800-EIGO-SARU for our communities. RAWK! The more willingness you show towards not being confined to whatever your job title is, the better you will be respected. Think Japanese teachers just teach? They show up in court, they deal with parents, they teach club activities, act as mentors, grade papers, build special projects, enforce rule and regulation and deal with whiny ALTs ALL DAY! ^^ I jest. I kid. However, regardless of their outlook on life and their job and regardless of who they may be on the inside, teachers in Japan are very important people.

But I can’t speak for every ALT out there. The position itself is so loosely defined that how you walk away from it depends mainly on you. It’s true, some of us get shafted. It’s not us, it’s them. Some of us get mistreated and underappreciated so much that we wash our hands of Japan and leave. All good. Some just can’t take the pressure of being alone in a foreign country, dateless, aimless and frustrated by the culture shock. All good. Some of us just can’t stand making so many mistakes and not understanding why they are mistakes. We don’t get a yearly review, never get direct feedback, sometimes don’t feel that we are doing the job right or know which guidelines to follow.

My third year was truly my best year. My 2nd year sucked and I was very close to not renewing my contract. But if I had left then, my image of Japan would have been quite different. Once, I met a 2nd year ALT from Shibata who proclaimed he was definitely through with the JET Program. Not getting anything done. No competition or room for improvement. That’s it. I’m leaving and not coming back.

“Good for you dude. You leave unconflicted.” Said I.

“I just don’t understand anything! Why do they do things the way they do? It just goes against every one of my principles!”

“I often go against my prinicpals. Those guys can be douches.” I pointed out.

“How could you stay for so long? Is there something I’m not getting?” He wanted to know.

“Dude, I’ve been pulled into the back room more times than you have. You do your job well, follow the rules best you can and don’t piss anyone off at least on the outside. That’s fine. It angers you to follow rules you don’t get but you do it. That’s all good, you don’t have to like it. The Japanese don’t have to like it either, by the way. But I know I am ignorant. I break the rules so I can understand why they are there. I need to break walls, step on feet, get reprimanded and shown. Then I can come to terms with someone else’s reasons. Saves me a lot of anger.”


2 comments so far...

  • Aslan Dukayev Said on May 5th, 2009 at 11:24 pm:

    What is a ‘ken’?

  • Joel Said on May 7th, 2009 at 2:31 am:

    Aslan

    “Ken” are called Prefectures in English. It’s a administrative unit like a province or state.

    Joel

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