Watch this module introduction by one of the module writers
This module is a collaboration of current and former ALTs : -
Amon Bradshaw:
Amon is a 3rd year ALT living and working in the small rural town of Otoyo in Kochi Prefecture. Before coming on JET Amon worked as an outdoor education instructor and primary (elementary) school teacher in Australia. Amon loves the mountains and outdoor areas of Japan. Amon believes that having more ongoing training and development opportunities for ALTs and JTEs is an important step in improving English education in Japan.
Armando Duarte:
Armando Duarte has been an ALT since the fall of 2011. His first entry in the classroom was at a public high school in Takatsuki, Osaka through a dispatch company known as Intersquare. He held that position until the spring of 2012 when he found an ALT position at a public junior high school in Kakogawa, Hyogo through a dispatch company known as Minerva. He held this position from the spring of 2012 until the end of the 2017 academic year.
Armando completed his MAT TESOL through the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2016. His next teaching assignment will be at the University of Shiga Prefecture starting in the spring of 2017. His research interests are broad and include speaking assessments, integration of literature in the classroom, and CALL. His publications have appeared in The Language Teacher, Shiken: JALT Testing and Evaluation SIG Journal, and The School House: JALT Teaching Younger Learners SIG Journal.
Armando completed his MAT TESOL through the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2016. His next teaching assignment will be at the University of Shiga Prefecture starting in the spring of 2017. His research interests are broad and include speaking assessments, integration of literature in the classroom, and CALL. His publications have appeared in The Language Teacher, Shiken: JALT Testing and Evaluation SIG Journal, and The School House: JALT Teaching Younger Learners SIG Journal.
David Hayter
David Hayter works as a Lead Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan. Although he primarily teaches junior high school, he has taught all the grades from kindergarten through ninth grade.
Aside from teaching classes in junior high school, his other duties include training and managing new ALTs, designing and delivering teacher training workshops, and performing other duties for his local Board of Education (BOE).
When he’s not teaching, he actively volunteers in his community, enjoys playing video games, loves to cook, trains hard, practices martial arts, podcasts, helps run the ALT Training Online blog and writes for his blog, Yokkaichi Connections.
Aside from teaching classes in junior high school, his other duties include training and managing new ALTs, designing and delivering teacher training workshops, and performing other duties for his local Board of Education (BOE).
When he’s not teaching, he actively volunteers in his community, enjoys playing video games, loves to cook, trains hard, practices martial arts, podcasts, helps run the ALT Training Online blog and writes for his blog, Yokkaichi Connections.
Elliot Carson:
Elliot Carson has been living in Japan and teaching English there since 2009. He has worked as an ALT at the elementary and secondary level since 2014. Prior to that, he worked with a variety of age groups while teaching English primarily at Japanese eikaiwa schools. He has a Bachelor's degree in English and secondary education from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.
Emmaline Conover:
Emmaline is a 3rd year JET ALT living an hour north of Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture. She regularly teaches at two senior high schools and occasionally teaches at special needs schools. Before coming on JET, she got her undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies and French. During her time in Japan, she has completed an online TEFL course. Among her other jobs as an ALT she has coached students through speech contests, helped run an ALT Skills Development Conference, and interviewed prospective English teachers for her prefecture.
Jocelyn Russell:
Jocelyn Russell hails from Chicago, IL, USA and is approaching the end of her second year as an ALT in Gunma Prefecture (2017). Prior to becoming an ALT, she graduated from St. Norbert College in Wisconsin with a degree in International Studies and experienced working with students and staff in the on-campus ESL institute. During her time as an undergraduate, she spent 6 months in Yamanashi Prefecture studying Japanese and worked alongside a local ALT on a weekly basis in order to learn more about the profession. Jocelyn just recently completed an online TEFL course and is certified to teach business English.
Martin Sedaghat
Martin Sedaghat has worked as an English teacher in Niigata, Japan, for the past 14 years. A native of San Diego, California, he received TEFL certification from the American Language Institute at San Diego State University and worked as both a JET and private ALT for the Niigata City BOE (board of education). Following that he was a homeroom teacher and English instructor at an international high school for 2 years. Since 2018 he has been working at an English language preschool, teaching children from the ages of 0 to 3 and developing an original curriculum based on the theory of multiple intelligences. Beyond teaching, his interests include video games, tabletop games, and illustration.
Nathaniel Reed
Nathaniel Reed has been teaching English in Japan since 2009. In 2015 he completed his MA in Applied Linguistics, writing his dissertation on the roles of ALTs. During this research he started to understand how deep the unclear objectives of ALTs are. Also, how much potential ALTs have. He embarked on a journey to bring ALTs together and collaborate constructively. This graduate course and people he met with similar interests gave birth to the ALT Training Online idea. Along the way of putting the free ALT online training course together, he has met more of the finest educators in Japan specialising in language education in Japan. Together with these people, the course, website, guest blogs, resources, Facebook group etc. have just been growing and growing. Hundreds of ALTs have been involved in various ways to date, I hope you get involved too.
Steve Mac Whinnie
Steven MacWhinnie is a lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin University and a doctoral candidate at the University of Leicester. He holds a Master of TESOL from Shenandoah University. He has been living and working in Aomori Prefecture since 2007, first on the JET Programme, then as an Eikaiwa school owner and part-time university lecturer. His research interests include motivation, engagement, and language awareness. He has published articles on motivation and is now engaged in research on the intersection of motivation and engagement.
Affiliations
Contents
1.0 Objectives
2.0 Recommended reading
3.0 Introduction
4.0 A Day Working in a Japanese Public School
4.1 Anna
4.2 Connor
4.3 Craig
4.4 David
4.5 Samia
4.6 Steve
5.0 The Context
6.0 The Schools
6.1 Attire
6.2 School Buildings
6.3 Homerooms
6.4 Classes
6.5 Clubs
6.6 Lunch
6.7 Resources
7.0 School Staff
7.1 Daily Briefing
7.2 Academic Year
7.3 Rotating Staff
8.0 Students
9.0 ALTs and Schools
9.1 Number of Schools
9.2 Urban Vs Rural
9.3 Schools for deaf and Blind
9.4 Discipline
9.5 ALTs in Schools: Summary
10.0 In the Classroom
10.1 ALTs as Team-Teachers
10.2 ALTs as Tape Recorders
10.3 ALTs as Skit Partners
10.4 ALTs as Solo Teachers
11.0 Levels of Schooling
11.1 Kindergarten
11.1.1 English in Kindergarten
11.2 ES
11.2.1 English in ES
11.3 JHS
11.3.1 English in JHS
11.4 HS
11.4.1 English in HS
11.5 Preparing for Classes
12.0 Non-Classroom Duties
12.1 About Doing Non-Classroom Work
12.2 Talking with Students
12.3 Translating
12.4 JTE Teaching Materials
12.5 Marking and Proofreading
12.6 Speech Contests
12.7 General Support
12.8 Outside School
12.9 Weekends
12.10 Sleepover Camps
13.0 Types of ALTs
13.1 Direct Hire
13.2 Dispatch
13.3 JET
13.4 Different Conditions
14.0 One-shot System
14.1 One-shot as good
14.2 One-shot as problematic
14.3 One-shot Evaluation
15.0 Final Thoughts
16.0 References
1.0 Objectives
2.0 Recommended reading
3.0 Introduction
4.0 A Day Working in a Japanese Public School
4.1 Anna
4.2 Connor
4.3 Craig
4.4 David
4.5 Samia
4.6 Steve
5.0 The Context
6.0 The Schools
6.1 Attire
6.2 School Buildings
6.3 Homerooms
6.4 Classes
6.5 Clubs
6.6 Lunch
6.7 Resources
7.0 School Staff
7.1 Daily Briefing
7.2 Academic Year
7.3 Rotating Staff
8.0 Students
9.0 ALTs and Schools
9.1 Number of Schools
9.2 Urban Vs Rural
9.3 Schools for deaf and Blind
9.4 Discipline
9.5 ALTs in Schools: Summary
10.0 In the Classroom
10.1 ALTs as Team-Teachers
10.2 ALTs as Tape Recorders
10.3 ALTs as Skit Partners
10.4 ALTs as Solo Teachers
11.0 Levels of Schooling
11.1 Kindergarten
11.1.1 English in Kindergarten
11.2 ES
11.2.1 English in ES
11.3 JHS
11.3.1 English in JHS
11.4 HS
11.4.1 English in HS
11.5 Preparing for Classes
12.0 Non-Classroom Duties
12.1 About Doing Non-Classroom Work
12.2 Talking with Students
12.3 Translating
12.4 JTE Teaching Materials
12.5 Marking and Proofreading
12.6 Speech Contests
12.7 General Support
12.8 Outside School
12.9 Weekends
12.10 Sleepover Camps
13.0 Types of ALTs
13.1 Direct Hire
13.2 Dispatch
13.3 JET
13.4 Different Conditions
14.0 One-shot System
14.1 One-shot as good
14.2 One-shot as problematic
14.3 One-shot Evaluation
15.0 Final Thoughts
16.0 References
1.0 Objectives
- This module aims to give experienced ALTs more insight into their position in order to improve working conditions for themselves, raise the quality of language education, and improve working relationships with school staff.
- This module aims to support all ALTs, particularly in their first year or two, to navigate their places of work. It is also for people considering the ALT position, or who have secured a job, to understand in detail what their work encompasses.
- This module is for experienced ALTs to stay in touch with changes in working conditions, and what is happening around Japan. A key aim is to create a platform for dialogue between teachers with different levels of experience in order to share teaching tips, suggest coping strategies and show support.
- This module aims to create a platform for ALTs to support each other on how to manage daily working routines and to improve Intercultural Communication (ICC) skills
- Emphasis on this module is for all ALTs to write about their experiences working in Japanese schools in the reflection questions and the Facebook group.
2.0 Recommended Reading
Aoki, M. (2014, Januar 2). Schools fret about assistant teachers ahead of proposed 2020 reforms. The Japan Times. Retrieved from
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/02/national/schools-fret-about-assistant-teachers-ahead-of-proposed-2020-reforms/#.W02GhdUzbcs
Burgess, C. (2012). Foreigners reluctant to come, Japanese reluctant to leave: The uchimuki discourse as a cover for Japan’s failure to secure and cultivate “global human resources.” Kokusai kankei gaku kenkyu kiyo ronbun [International Relation Studies Departmental Bulletin Paper], 39, 79-97. Retrieved from: file:///Users/nathanielreed/Downloads/Tsuda_Study_039_20130308_079-097_burgess%20(1).pdf
Glasgow, P. G. (2013). The Impact of the New National Senior High School Curriculum on Collaboration Between Japanese Teachers and Native Speakers. JALT Journal http://www.jalt-publications.org/jj/articles/3437-perspectives-impact-new-national-senior-high-school-english-curriculum-collaboratio
Fifield, A. (2015, May 11). Japan's rural schools run out of students. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/11/japan-rural-schools-dwindling-students
Kano, A., Sonoda, A., Schultz, D., Usukura, A., Suga, K., & Yasu, Y., (2016). Barriers to effective team teaching with ALTs. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), Focus on the learner. Tokyo: JALT. Retrieved from
http://jalt-publications.org/node/4/articles/5367-barriers-effective-team-teaching-alts
McConnell, D. L. (2000). Importing Diversity. California, CA: University of California Press.
Mike. (2014, March 14). 5 reasons foreigners find it hard to become friends with Japanese people. Japan Today. Retrieved from https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/5-reasons-foreigners-find-it-hard-to-become-friends-with-japanese-people
Moon, C. (2018, September 20). Teaching Solo in Japanese Public Schools. [Web log content]. Retrieved from http://alttrainingonline.blogspot.com/2017/09/teaching-solo-in-japanese-public-schools.html
Thea. (2016). My Time in Japan. Retrieved from https://travelsideoflife.wordpress.com/tag/municipal-alt/
McCrostie, J. (2017, January 25). Education in Japan in 2016: New solutions and age-old problems from teaching English to bullying. The Japan Times. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/01/25/issues/education-japan-2016-new-solutions-age-old-problems-teaching-english-bullying/#.WzR5wtX7Tc
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/02/national/schools-fret-about-assistant-teachers-ahead-of-proposed-2020-reforms/#.W02GhdUzbcs
Burgess, C. (2012). Foreigners reluctant to come, Japanese reluctant to leave: The uchimuki discourse as a cover for Japan’s failure to secure and cultivate “global human resources.” Kokusai kankei gaku kenkyu kiyo ronbun [International Relation Studies Departmental Bulletin Paper], 39, 79-97. Retrieved from: file:///Users/nathanielreed/Downloads/Tsuda_Study_039_20130308_079-097_burgess%20(1).pdf
Glasgow, P. G. (2013). The Impact of the New National Senior High School Curriculum on Collaboration Between Japanese Teachers and Native Speakers. JALT Journal http://www.jalt-publications.org/jj/articles/3437-perspectives-impact-new-national-senior-high-school-english-curriculum-collaboratio
Fifield, A. (2015, May 11). Japan's rural schools run out of students. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/11/japan-rural-schools-dwindling-students
Kano, A., Sonoda, A., Schultz, D., Usukura, A., Suga, K., & Yasu, Y., (2016). Barriers to effective team teaching with ALTs. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), Focus on the learner. Tokyo: JALT. Retrieved from
http://jalt-publications.org/node/4/articles/5367-barriers-effective-team-teaching-alts
McConnell, D. L. (2000). Importing Diversity. California, CA: University of California Press.
Mike. (2014, March 14). 5 reasons foreigners find it hard to become friends with Japanese people. Japan Today. Retrieved from https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/5-reasons-foreigners-find-it-hard-to-become-friends-with-japanese-people
Moon, C. (2018, September 20). Teaching Solo in Japanese Public Schools. [Web log content]. Retrieved from http://alttrainingonline.blogspot.com/2017/09/teaching-solo-in-japanese-public-schools.html
Thea. (2016). My Time in Japan. Retrieved from https://travelsideoflife.wordpress.com/tag/municipal-alt/
McCrostie, J. (2017, January 25). Education in Japan in 2016: New solutions and age-old problems from teaching English to bullying. The Japan Times. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/01/25/issues/education-japan-2016-new-solutions-age-old-problems-teaching-english-bullying/#.WzR5wtX7Tc
We will be using these acronyms:
- ALTTO: ALT Training Online
- ES: elementary school
- JHS: junior high school
- HS: high school
- BoE: Board of Education
- ICC: Intercultural Communication
- MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- OECD: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
‘The ‘A’ in ALT stands for assistant, but we are seldom assistants. The ‘J’ in JTE stands for Japanese, but we don’t have to be Japanese’….
3.0 Introduction
The term Every Situation Is Different (ESID) was coined sometime in the 1980s to describe the tremendous variation that ALTs experience when working in Japanese public schools. In the years and decades that have since passed, the variation associated with ALTs and our job has grown exponentially. ESID refers to; the number of companies ALTs work for and each of their policies, the expectations and abilities of the teachers ALTs work with, how companies and staff treat their ALTs, the students’ abilities and behaviours, changing governmental policies and how they are interpreted, labour laws, the number of schools ALTs work at, the amount of training different ALT employers provide and a whole lot more.
Most professionals experience variety in their day-to-day work life (think of the experiences of a police officer or doctor), and variety may be very much welcomed – especially if pre-service and in-service training are provided. As you work in Japan or are planning to, you are probably expecting some differences to previous work experience in different countries. The ALT position certainly provides this. If you are looking for rules, standardised work settings, something organised, job security or the opportunity for advancement (promotions and bonuses), then perhaps you should reconsider your options. Read through this module and ask other ALTs on the Facebook group to clarify any points here, or any other queries you have. You will get an informed response from people working in schools to make an informed decision on your employment choices and what to expect by working as an ALT.
In addition to the differences between schools, employer expectations, and interpretations of what and how to teach, most of us have to deal with an unfamiliar language and East Asian behaviours such as bowing. Working in Japanese public schools does have certain things that are relatively fixed, but, as anything ever written about ALTs tells us, ESID best describes where we work. We use knowledge of ESID throughout this module to help explore our working environment and discuss how to navigate it.
Writing a module on teaching in Japanese Public Schools has been hard because of the ESID factor. So we ALTs have come together from varying levels of experience and locations around Japan to discuss what our professional working lives include. Our motivation to complete this module has been propelled by the level of honesty we’ve been able to write with. ALT Training Online (ALTTO) is an independent initiative, so the content has not been controlled by any company or organisation wanting to guide your thinking to suit their needs. Below is a sincere account of teaching in Japanese public (state) schools by ALTs working in them. The only preface is that, as this ALT training course is professional, we have been careful not to include personal bias or emotive comments. This has been hard because, as with most jobs, there is stress and frustration with certain things. After writing sections, each of us has thoroughly checked each other’s additions, and finally, proofreaders (who are or were ALTs themselves) with objective eyes have checked contents for subjective, negative and narrow views.
We have tried to write in general terms to apply to as many ALTs as possible and specific terms when we feel that circumstances are fairly widespread. ALTs and ALTs-to-be who are completing this module are advised to comment with their own experiences of working in Japanese public schools in as much detail as possible in the reflection questions and Facebook group. Through your comments, questions and clarifications, other ALTs, and those considering the position, will get a clearer, more realistic impression of what teaching in Japanese public schools is like. The whole course is a platform for positive, proactive and assertive ALTs, so please be as clear as possible in your responses to reflection questions and comments on social media so we can learn from each other.
So what is it like working in Japanese public schools? Let’s take a look at a (fairly) typical day of six ALTs.
Most professionals experience variety in their day-to-day work life (think of the experiences of a police officer or doctor), and variety may be very much welcomed – especially if pre-service and in-service training are provided. As you work in Japan or are planning to, you are probably expecting some differences to previous work experience in different countries. The ALT position certainly provides this. If you are looking for rules, standardised work settings, something organised, job security or the opportunity for advancement (promotions and bonuses), then perhaps you should reconsider your options. Read through this module and ask other ALTs on the Facebook group to clarify any points here, or any other queries you have. You will get an informed response from people working in schools to make an informed decision on your employment choices and what to expect by working as an ALT.
In addition to the differences between schools, employer expectations, and interpretations of what and how to teach, most of us have to deal with an unfamiliar language and East Asian behaviours such as bowing. Working in Japanese public schools does have certain things that are relatively fixed, but, as anything ever written about ALTs tells us, ESID best describes where we work. We use knowledge of ESID throughout this module to help explore our working environment and discuss how to navigate it.
Writing a module on teaching in Japanese Public Schools has been hard because of the ESID factor. So we ALTs have come together from varying levels of experience and locations around Japan to discuss what our professional working lives include. Our motivation to complete this module has been propelled by the level of honesty we’ve been able to write with. ALT Training Online (ALTTO) is an independent initiative, so the content has not been controlled by any company or organisation wanting to guide your thinking to suit their needs. Below is a sincere account of teaching in Japanese public (state) schools by ALTs working in them. The only preface is that, as this ALT training course is professional, we have been careful not to include personal bias or emotive comments. This has been hard because, as with most jobs, there is stress and frustration with certain things. After writing sections, each of us has thoroughly checked each other’s additions, and finally, proofreaders (who are or were ALTs themselves) with objective eyes have checked contents for subjective, negative and narrow views.
We have tried to write in general terms to apply to as many ALTs as possible and specific terms when we feel that circumstances are fairly widespread. ALTs and ALTs-to-be who are completing this module are advised to comment with their own experiences of working in Japanese public schools in as much detail as possible in the reflection questions and Facebook group. Through your comments, questions and clarifications, other ALTs, and those considering the position, will get a clearer, more realistic impression of what teaching in Japanese public schools is like. The whole course is a platform for positive, proactive and assertive ALTs, so please be as clear as possible in your responses to reflection questions and comments on social media so we can learn from each other.
So what is it like working in Japanese public schools? Let’s take a look at a (fairly) typical day of six ALTs.
4.0 A Day Working in a Japanese Public School
ALTs can work at between one and 30 schools over the course of a month. As we work at so many schools with so many teachers, students and classes, it is difficult to say what a ‘typical’ day is. The accounts here are written as a very general guide. After reading these accounts, write in the Reflection Question that follows how these are similar or different from your own experiences.
4.1 Anna: Taught in Ehime for 2 years in HS
I worked at six different high schools. One school (my base school) I went to a few days each week, and the other five (visit schools) I went to one or two days each month.
Here’s a sample of what my day might look like:
8 a.m.: Arrive at school. Get situated at my desk and check my schedule. If at a visiting school, talk with head JTE.
8:15 a.m.: Morning teachers’ meeting in Japanese
8:30 a.m.-8:50 a.m.: Prep for the days’ lessons, especially if teaching the first period. Try to meet with the JTEs I have a class with that day. I taught a maximum of four classes each day.
9 a.m.-9:50 a.m.: First period: If teaching accompany the JTE to the classroom and get set-up, conduct lesson. If not teaching, work on lesson plans, study Japanese, or visit classes.
10 a.m.-10:50 a.m.: Second period
11 a.m.-11:50 a.m.: Third period
12 p.m.-12:50 p.m.: Fourth period
1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Lunch. At high schools there is no kyushoku, so I eat in the staff room. Sometimes I eat with students in their classrooms. At a few visit schools, there was a cafeteria where I could purchase lunch and eat with students, but not all had this.
1:40 p.m.-1:55 p.m.: Cleaning. I always cleaned with the students.
2:05 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: Fifth period
3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Sixth period
4:05 p.m.-4:15 p.m.: Homeroom (I didn’t teach during students’ homeroom time)
4:15 p.m.: Working hours end. Sometimes I might stay to go to a tea ceremony or flower-arranging clubs. Sometimes I stay after to help students with assignments or test prep. Sometimes I walk around after school and observe club activities for a while.
Here’s a sample of what my day might look like:
8 a.m.: Arrive at school. Get situated at my desk and check my schedule. If at a visiting school, talk with head JTE.
8:15 a.m.: Morning teachers’ meeting in Japanese
8:30 a.m.-8:50 a.m.: Prep for the days’ lessons, especially if teaching the first period. Try to meet with the JTEs I have a class with that day. I taught a maximum of four classes each day.
9 a.m.-9:50 a.m.: First period: If teaching accompany the JTE to the classroom and get set-up, conduct lesson. If not teaching, work on lesson plans, study Japanese, or visit classes.
10 a.m.-10:50 a.m.: Second period
11 a.m.-11:50 a.m.: Third period
12 p.m.-12:50 p.m.: Fourth period
1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Lunch. At high schools there is no kyushoku, so I eat in the staff room. Sometimes I eat with students in their classrooms. At a few visit schools, there was a cafeteria where I could purchase lunch and eat with students, but not all had this.
1:40 p.m.-1:55 p.m.: Cleaning. I always cleaned with the students.
2:05 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: Fifth period
3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Sixth period
4:05 p.m.-4:15 p.m.: Homeroom (I didn’t teach during students’ homeroom time)
4:15 p.m.: Working hours end. Sometimes I might stay to go to a tea ceremony or flower-arranging clubs. Sometimes I stay after to help students with assignments or test prep. Sometimes I walk around after school and observe club activities for a while.
4.2 Connor: Teaches in Mie in HS
8:20 Arrive at school, check my schedule and discuss anything important with my supervisor
8:30 Morning meeting
8:35 Make a to-do list for the day
8:45 Set-up class
8:50 Start teaching (or prepare if I have no classes)
12:40 Lunchtime - I eat at my desk and use the time to deliver lesson plans and coordinate with my JTLs.
13:20 Start teaching (or prepare if I have no classes)
15:20 Short homeroom - I usually make a start on my next week’s classes
15:30 Cleaning time
15:40 Prepare for my classes, finish my to-do list, organise my desk, and copy materials for the next day
16:15 Usually I go home, I only stay longer if I’m busy and need to prepare
8:30 Morning meeting
8:35 Make a to-do list for the day
8:45 Set-up class
8:50 Start teaching (or prepare if I have no classes)
12:40 Lunchtime - I eat at my desk and use the time to deliver lesson plans and coordinate with my JTLs.
13:20 Start teaching (or prepare if I have no classes)
15:20 Short homeroom - I usually make a start on my next week’s classes
15:30 Cleaning time
15:40 Prepare for my classes, finish my to-do list, organise my desk, and copy materials for the next day
16:15 Usually I go home, I only stay longer if I’m busy and need to prepare
4.3 Craig: Teaches in Hyogo in JHS
6:35- Arrive at school.
6:35-7:00 Make copies for lessons, prepare materials.
7:00-7:45- Supervise morning practices in the gym.
7:45-8:10- Stand at the gate to greet students.
8:15-8:20- Staff meeting.
8:20-8:40 English teacher meetings.
Teaching three morning classes.
Lunch and cleaning time supervision.
Afternoon 2-3 more classes.
3:30-5:30 or 6 language club five days a week.
6- Check email for any messages and work to take home.
6:35-7:00 Make copies for lessons, prepare materials.
7:00-7:45- Supervise morning practices in the gym.
7:45-8:10- Stand at the gate to greet students.
8:15-8:20- Staff meeting.
8:20-8:40 English teacher meetings.
Teaching three morning classes.
Lunch and cleaning time supervision.
Afternoon 2-3 more classes.
3:30-5:30 or 6 language club five days a week.
6- Check email for any messages and work to take home.
4.4 David: Taught in Mie for 5 years in JHS
In my program, our ALTs change schools every year. Some have two main schools and others only have one big school. Currently, I only have one school. However, this could change in April. Each school may have a slightly different schedule, but this is the current schedule at my school.
08:00 Arrive at school.
08:05 Greet students until the morning meeting.
08:20 Morning meeting.
08:25 Check and respond to emails.
08:30 Double check my schedule, gather materials for the day and make copies if necessary.
8:45 Leave class to go teach.
08:50 Start teaching.
12:40 Lunchtime - I usually eat in the staff room but I have eaten with students before.
13:00 Break time – During this time I walk around the school and talk with the students.
13:25 If I don’t teach classes, I check students’ work, prepare lessons, or work on other things.
15:20 Cleaning time – I’m big so I help the students move their desks.
15:30 Check and respond to emails.
15:55 School is over so I say goodbye to the students and walk around the clubs.
16:15 If I don’t have anything that needs to be done urgently, I leave school.
08:00 Arrive at school.
08:05 Greet students until the morning meeting.
08:20 Morning meeting.
08:25 Check and respond to emails.
08:30 Double check my schedule, gather materials for the day and make copies if necessary.
8:45 Leave class to go teach.
08:50 Start teaching.
12:40 Lunchtime - I usually eat in the staff room but I have eaten with students before.
13:00 Break time – During this time I walk around the school and talk with the students.
13:25 If I don’t teach classes, I check students’ work, prepare lessons, or work on other things.
15:20 Cleaning time – I’m big so I help the students move their desks.
15:30 Check and respond to emails.
15:55 School is over so I say goodbye to the students and walk around the clubs.
16:15 If I don’t have anything that needs to be done urgently, I leave school.
4.5 Samia: Teaches in Osaka and Nara in HS
High School Schedule:
1 : 8:50 ~ 9:40
2. 9:50 ~ 10:40
3. 10:50 ~ 11:40
4. 11:50 ~ 12:40
Lunch 12:40 ~ 13:25
5. 13:25 ~ 14:15
6. 14:25 ~ 15:15
Reporting time 8:40 am and Leaving time 15:25
Currently, I work as an ALT twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
I have worked for this company previously and went to another high school three times a week with a similar time schedule. We are also expected to arrive 10-15 minutes earlier and stay later than the time schedule given by the dispatch company, school staff etc.
A typical day is:
Leave home by 7:15 or 7:30 am at the latest
8:05 or 8:20 reach the station.
Walk & arrive by 8:15 or 8:30 inside the staff room
Greet the Staff
8:30 ~ 8:40 Talk to my Manager/teacher in charge of my schedule & get my daily class schedule
(8:35 if there is time - eat a cookie & sip some tea.)
8:40 ~ 8:50 Listen to daily staff meeting announcements
8:50 Onwards talk to students or teachers if they need help with Eiken prep or corrections.
Take a class when they are scheduled.
It depends on the day but usually, I am expected to sit on my desk and read and/or study Eiken books.
Sometimes a particular teacher is interested to talk a bit to me; so that’s when I get some conversation. Other times I am called to take a listening test – It can be any time even during my lunch break. I am involved in the day-to-day process. Some days I have free conversation with the students, and some days I have 0 class and 0 conversations with anyone.
In my previous high school, I took classes every Friday, had more corrections to do, made handouts and was generally involved actively every day. I had worked for the same company previously too. I do help the teachers with any English corrections, worksheet prep lesson plans etc.
Elementary School schedule:
Work Days - 5 days a week scheduled to teach at 2 schools Mon-Wed School 1
Thursday- Friday School 2. I teach all classes, every day. That’s 6 classes badminton club (plus any other activities on that day).
A typical day is:
Leave home at 6:30 am
Reach Nara school 1 by 8:20 Report time 8:30 am
There is no issue if I was slightly late since I was travelling from Osaka.
Take the bus from another station if needed
8:30 Enter School and go to the staff room
Greet Staff and sit at my place
Staff Meeting and announcements
Talk to my Manager for my Class Schedule work with homeroom teacher of each class and go for Lesson Plan as planned by BOE
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
I usually eat a school lunch usually with other staff members. Since I have dietary restrictions I would share the food I cannot eat with other staff. Sometimes if there is no school lunch - all the staff order lunch or I walk to the station to eat something. Sometimes there’s not enough time to walk to the station and back if there’s a busy class schedule - I always check with my manager if I go out to eat lunch and inform them if I might be a bit late for the next class. Usually, there is no problem.
I usually get to leave by 4:30 pm.
The Board of education is quite strict that I follow the time schedule for coming and going as defined by my given contract.
When school ends I go out at the gate and talk to the students; high 5 or say bye or listen to their chat.
1 : 8:50 ~ 9:40
2. 9:50 ~ 10:40
3. 10:50 ~ 11:40
4. 11:50 ~ 12:40
Lunch 12:40 ~ 13:25
5. 13:25 ~ 14:15
6. 14:25 ~ 15:15
Reporting time 8:40 am and Leaving time 15:25
Currently, I work as an ALT twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
I have worked for this company previously and went to another high school three times a week with a similar time schedule. We are also expected to arrive 10-15 minutes earlier and stay later than the time schedule given by the dispatch company, school staff etc.
A typical day is:
Leave home by 7:15 or 7:30 am at the latest
8:05 or 8:20 reach the station.
Walk & arrive by 8:15 or 8:30 inside the staff room
Greet the Staff
8:30 ~ 8:40 Talk to my Manager/teacher in charge of my schedule & get my daily class schedule
(8:35 if there is time - eat a cookie & sip some tea.)
8:40 ~ 8:50 Listen to daily staff meeting announcements
8:50 Onwards talk to students or teachers if they need help with Eiken prep or corrections.
Take a class when they are scheduled.
It depends on the day but usually, I am expected to sit on my desk and read and/or study Eiken books.
Sometimes a particular teacher is interested to talk a bit to me; so that’s when I get some conversation. Other times I am called to take a listening test – It can be any time even during my lunch break. I am involved in the day-to-day process. Some days I have free conversation with the students, and some days I have 0 class and 0 conversations with anyone.
In my previous high school, I took classes every Friday, had more corrections to do, made handouts and was generally involved actively every day. I had worked for the same company previously too. I do help the teachers with any English corrections, worksheet prep lesson plans etc.
Elementary School schedule:
Work Days - 5 days a week scheduled to teach at 2 schools Mon-Wed School 1
Thursday- Friday School 2. I teach all classes, every day. That’s 6 classes badminton club (plus any other activities on that day).
A typical day is:
Leave home at 6:30 am
Reach Nara school 1 by 8:20 Report time 8:30 am
There is no issue if I was slightly late since I was travelling from Osaka.
Take the bus from another station if needed
8:30 Enter School and go to the staff room
Greet Staff and sit at my place
Staff Meeting and announcements
Talk to my Manager for my Class Schedule work with homeroom teacher of each class and go for Lesson Plan as planned by BOE
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
I usually eat a school lunch usually with other staff members. Since I have dietary restrictions I would share the food I cannot eat with other staff. Sometimes if there is no school lunch - all the staff order lunch or I walk to the station to eat something. Sometimes there’s not enough time to walk to the station and back if there’s a busy class schedule - I always check with my manager if I go out to eat lunch and inform them if I might be a bit late for the next class. Usually, there is no problem.
I usually get to leave by 4:30 pm.
The Board of education is quite strict that I follow the time schedule for coming and going as defined by my given contract.
When school ends I go out at the gate and talk to the students; high 5 or say bye or listen to their chat.
4.6 Steve: Taught in Aomori for 5 years in ES and JHS
I worked at many different schools in my 5 years on the JET Programme. I went to 9 JHS and 28 ES, with a few kindergartens mixed in. I was based primarily at a JHS in a rural area. Below I will talk about what a typical day at that JHS would be, followed by a typical day when I visited an ES.
At the JHS where I was based, I had a desk and an old computer. Although most ALTs working for my city were expected to arrive at work by 8am, I had arrangements to arrive when the other teachers did around 7:30. This allowed me to participate in the morning staff meeting. In the meeting, the daily events and upcoming events were discussed. After the morning meeting with all of the staff, we separated into morning meetings for our year. (In my years as an ALT I rotated between different grades, but I spent a solid three years with the third-grade teachers.) Here, any problems with students were brought up and discussed.
Most of the other ALTs in my BoE did not attend the morning meetings. I often suggested to new ALTs, that even if they were not required to be at school for those meetings, they were invaluable. I cannot stress the importance of fitting in with your coworkers if you want to be respected and considered a ‘real’ teacher.
After the morning meeting, the HRTs would leave to take care of their classes. As the buses arrived slightly before 8am we always rushed to finish our meetings quickly. Next, I would usually have some coffee and prepare for any lessons I might have. If I had lessons, students would usually come to the teachers’ room to get me. I generally taught the first and second grade, as third graders were busy preparing for their high school entrance exams.
During lunch I would eat school lunch with the students. School lunch was generally healthy and tasted good, so I didn’t mind having to pay for it. After lunch I would return to my desk while the students cleaned. If students had been actively talking to me during lunch, I might stay while they cleaned and help or chat with the students.
In the afternoon, I would teach classes if there were any. As I went to my base school by 7:30, I had arranged to finish work at 3:30. As my BoE specifically forbid participation in extra-curricular activities (a liability issue I was told), I had little to do after classes finished.
At ES my day was much different. As most of the ESs I visited were some distance from my base JHS, I generally wasn’t required to go to my JHS before my school visits to ES. Because of this, my schedule would change depending on when my ES visit began. Generally, there were either first period starts, or second period starts.
I would go directly to the ES from my house. In the summer this was often by bike. In the winter, sometimes the vice-principle would pick me up, or I might take a bus.
After arriving at the ES, I would briefly greet the principle and then go to the teachers’ room. I would usually be served tea or coffee and have a chance to meet with the HRT of the class(es) I was teaching. As I was an ALT for 5 years, after the first few years no one bothered to have meetings with me. They knew how I taught, and I knew their style.
If I had a first-period class, I would generally play with the students during their morning recess. I usually had lunch with the students I had been teaching. The ES students were nearly always happy to chat with me. After lunch, they had cleaning time followed by recess. I would always play with the students during this time.
As the ES were some distance from my base school, generally I simply went home after classes finished. Some days this would mean after I had taught all 6 periods, while other days might finish after lunch.
At the JHS where I was based, I had a desk and an old computer. Although most ALTs working for my city were expected to arrive at work by 8am, I had arrangements to arrive when the other teachers did around 7:30. This allowed me to participate in the morning staff meeting. In the meeting, the daily events and upcoming events were discussed. After the morning meeting with all of the staff, we separated into morning meetings for our year. (In my years as an ALT I rotated between different grades, but I spent a solid three years with the third-grade teachers.) Here, any problems with students were brought up and discussed.
Most of the other ALTs in my BoE did not attend the morning meetings. I often suggested to new ALTs, that even if they were not required to be at school for those meetings, they were invaluable. I cannot stress the importance of fitting in with your coworkers if you want to be respected and considered a ‘real’ teacher.
After the morning meeting, the HRTs would leave to take care of their classes. As the buses arrived slightly before 8am we always rushed to finish our meetings quickly. Next, I would usually have some coffee and prepare for any lessons I might have. If I had lessons, students would usually come to the teachers’ room to get me. I generally taught the first and second grade, as third graders were busy preparing for their high school entrance exams.
During lunch I would eat school lunch with the students. School lunch was generally healthy and tasted good, so I didn’t mind having to pay for it. After lunch I would return to my desk while the students cleaned. If students had been actively talking to me during lunch, I might stay while they cleaned and help or chat with the students.
In the afternoon, I would teach classes if there were any. As I went to my base school by 7:30, I had arranged to finish work at 3:30. As my BoE specifically forbid participation in extra-curricular activities (a liability issue I was told), I had little to do after classes finished.
At ES my day was much different. As most of the ESs I visited were some distance from my base JHS, I generally wasn’t required to go to my JHS before my school visits to ES. Because of this, my schedule would change depending on when my ES visit began. Generally, there were either first period starts, or second period starts.
I would go directly to the ES from my house. In the summer this was often by bike. In the winter, sometimes the vice-principle would pick me up, or I might take a bus.
After arriving at the ES, I would briefly greet the principle and then go to the teachers’ room. I would usually be served tea or coffee and have a chance to meet with the HRT of the class(es) I was teaching. As I was an ALT for 5 years, after the first few years no one bothered to have meetings with me. They knew how I taught, and I knew their style.
If I had a first-period class, I would generally play with the students during their morning recess. I usually had lunch with the students I had been teaching. The ES students were nearly always happy to chat with me. After lunch, they had cleaning time followed by recess. I would always play with the students during this time.
As the ES were some distance from my base school, generally I simply went home after classes finished. Some days this would mean after I had taught all 6 periods, while other days might finish after lunch.
- To people considering the ALT position, or who have secured their job, use the Facebook group to ask questions about working in schools.
5.0 The Context
We started this module by introducing ESID, then by outlining some typical days of current and former ALTs. As this module progresses we will discuss the different working conditions ALTs might face. Before we get on to variability let us start by looking at things that are standard in schools.
The initial section is designed to both support newer ALTs and refresh experienced teachers knowledge of current practices. All readers are encouraged to share their experiences below and in the Facebook group.
* All students ‘graduate’ regardless of academic achievement or how much school they have missed (an entire year in some cases). The ceremony marks a stage in life, an opportunity for parents/guardians to watch, but serves no purpose of achievement.
The initial section is designed to both support newer ALTs and refresh experienced teachers knowledge of current practices. All readers are encouraged to share their experiences below and in the Facebook group.
- Boards of Education (BoEs) choose the number and type of ALTs their municipality, city or prefecture needs, and distributes ALTs to schools they oversee. ALTs may be directly hired by a BoE, or from one of many private companies, or the government-affiliated Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET). The different types of ALTs are discussed in section 13.0 of this module.• At each school, there is an ALT supervisor (a teacher) who writes your schedule (see sections 7.0 and 7.1 especially).
- There are three types of schools: elementary schools (ES), junior high schools (JHS) and high schools (HS). ES and JHS are compulsory for children with Japanese nationality, HS is optional. No schools are compulsory for children without Japanese nationality.
- ES is six years. JHS is three years. HS is three years.
- As of 2017, over 90% of students go to HS, a high but declining number as different sociocultural and socioeconomic factors affect this. Teachers should not assume all students are going to HS.
- The academic year starts in April and ends in March. There are 3 terms.
- There are six periods throughout the day with a 10-minute gap between them.
- Classes typically start at 8:45 and class length is either 45 minutes or 50 minutes (this schedule is based on many factors, like school events and meetings – the curriculum coordinator who sits next to the vice principal in the staff room writes this).
- Information about the coming week’s school schedule will be given to you (in Japanese and/or English). We recommend that ALTs request this from the ALT supervisor in advance to keep you in tune with what’s happening in schools.
- Days with short periods (45 minutes) typically finish at 14:55, (because of Sports Day practice or other events).
- Days with long periods (50 minutes) typically finish at 15:25.
- The time ALTs start and finish will depend on the school and your employer, but generally, a seven-hour day is expected, with either one hour or 45 minutes for lunch. The time you start and end work each day is arranged in agreement with the ALT supervisor at each school if your employer and/or contract does not state this. (most ALTs currently work from 8:15 – 16:00).
- Almost all JHS and HS students wear uniforms, which are called seifuku. Students in ES wear street clothes.
- All students clean the schools; some like it, and others can’t stand it. Some schools have adopted a policy of cleaning being done in silence to try and curb disruptive behaviour.
- Throughout the year, there are a number of events and festivals, including a sports day and possibly a chorus festival. In the weeks leading up to these, students will spend a lot of school time preparing.
- There are entrance and ‘graduation’* ceremonies at all levels of schooling, from kindergarten.
- Some schools have milk that ALTs can buy. Milk that students do not drink is free for ALTs to drink in some schools. Ask and check. This goes for Drinks in the staffroom (coffee, tea etc.) too; sometimes these are free for teachers, sometimes school staff need to pay for them.
- There are no school buses. Students and teachers make their own way to school. ALTs are often compensated for travel expenses to and from schools.
* All students ‘graduate’ regardless of academic achievement or how much school they have missed (an entire year in some cases). The ceremony marks a stage in life, an opportunity for parents/guardians to watch, but serves no purpose of achievement.
6.0 The Schools
In this section, we’ll start by looking at some more general aspects of Japanese public schools before looking at the schools (6.0), the people who work there (7.0), and the students we teach (8.0). This section aims to continue from the information above and give you a more complete picture of where ALTs work, whom they work with, and who they teach. Information here builds on the JTE and Learners’ modules.
6.1 Attire
In some schools, people remove their shoes in the entrance (genkan), so, in these schools, ALTs will need to carry inside shoes from school to school or buy as many pairs as schools they go to and leave them at the schools. Inside shoes are stored in the shoe locker school staff are provided with. Teachers share a cloakroom (locker room), male and female, also to leave things in. Some schools do not do this but may require you to remove shoes before entering certain classrooms. You could either use only socks, bring your shoes or borrow a pair of communal slippers (depending on your preferences and hygiene considerations),
As for what to wear, each organization sets different rules so we are not in the position to tell you, only to relate from our experiences and those of the hundreds of ALTs we’ve spoken to over the years. You are a professional teacher, so balance following what your employer advises with your image of what a professional teacher should look like and what others are wearing. Some examples; one guy used to wear a full suit and tie to ES (only the principal does this, and then she only put one on, on official business). A lot of ALTs think that is too much. Some employers require men to wear pants and a collared shirt. Others have a dress code for women that requires them to not wear sleeveless shirts or short skirts.
In the summer months, 'cool biz' rules are followed, which means you can dress down during these warmer months. Instead of a smart blouse/shirt (in JHS and HS), staff may be able to wear T-shirts and shorts etc. There is no set date for when the switch occurs (or goes back to a more formal attire), so ask somebody to tell you and/or look around.
As for what to wear, each organization sets different rules so we are not in the position to tell you, only to relate from our experiences and those of the hundreds of ALTs we’ve spoken to over the years. You are a professional teacher, so balance following what your employer advises with your image of what a professional teacher should look like and what others are wearing. Some examples; one guy used to wear a full suit and tie to ES (only the principal does this, and then she only put one on, on official business). A lot of ALTs think that is too much. Some employers require men to wear pants and a collared shirt. Others have a dress code for women that requires them to not wear sleeveless shirts or short skirts.
In the summer months, 'cool biz' rules are followed, which means you can dress down during these warmer months. Instead of a smart blouse/shirt (in JHS and HS), staff may be able to wear T-shirts and shorts etc. There is no set date for when the switch occurs (or goes back to a more formal attire), so ask somebody to tell you and/or look around.
6.2 School Buildings
All ES and JHS school buildings in Japan are standardised. Often, the classrooms are contained in one or two buildings, which can look like mirror images of each other. These buildings are connected by walkways at every floor except the very top and usually referred to as the “main building” (honkan, 本館). This “main building” holds the school office, principal’s office, and teacher’s room (kyomushitsu 教務室 or shokuinshitsu 職員室). The library, nurse’s office, and other auxiliary rooms are located within either of the two main buildings. Many schools have two gyms: one for sports like basketball and volleyball and one dedicated to practicing martial arts like kendo and judo.
Outside, schools have what is called a “ground” which is a large, open expanse of sandy dirt, (not a grass field – though some schools have these in addition to the ground). This ground contains the practice area for baseball, track and field, and soccer, while the outdoor basketball courts and tennis courts are sometimes located on a separate patch of ground. Adjacent to these outdoor areas many schools have a pool.
Outside, schools have what is called a “ground” which is a large, open expanse of sandy dirt, (not a grass field – though some schools have these in addition to the ground). This ground contains the practice area for baseball, track and field, and soccer, while the outdoor basketball courts and tennis courts are sometimes located on a separate patch of ground. Adjacent to these outdoor areas many schools have a pool.
6.3 Homerooms
Students generally do not move from class to class. Instead, teachers bring all of their materials with them from class to class. Exceptions to this are for subjects that require the use of materials that cannot be easily brought into their homerooms, such as art, music, sometimes science and PE.
6.4 Classes
Classes without an ALT start and end with students standing up and greeting the teacher by bowing (this greeting is called aisatsu 挨拶). ALTs may choose to do this too – we, the writers, generally don’t ask the students to stand up and bow at us. This is primarily for reasons of teaching philosophies (i.e. student centrered – looked at next) and to help develop an intercultural mindset (through some level of immersion).
The mode of instruction in Japan is teacher-centred. Under this approach student’s focus on the teacher, while the teacher talks the students are expected to listen (though anyone who has taught in Japan knows that this is generally not the case). The opposite of teacher-centred teaching is student-centered. In student-centred classes, the students and teachers share the focus, and group work is encouraged. In these classes, students have more opportunity to collaborate with each other. An ALT’s class may use either teaching style. As you work through this module and course, factors guiding which style you choose to teach with will become clearer and the tools for you to shape your own teaching style, in view of factors influencing the classroom, are given.
Public schools are almost exclusively taught in Japanese, though there is a growing trend of teaching content subjects (math, science etc.) in English – especially at the higher levels of education. MEXT has asked JHS teachers to teach in English by 2020, a practice which was introduced in HS in 2011 (MEXT, 2015). However, research in throughout first seven years of this MEXT request shows that teachers are not, in fact, teaching in English.
Teaching content classes through English is called ‘English as a Medium of Instruction’ (EMI) and is discussed (by a former ALT) in Dr Galloway’s guest blog. By 2014, over one-third of universities in Japan offered undergraduate course taught in English (Brown, 2016), a 50% increase from 2005. In addition to EMI, immersion programs are happening at an increasing rate. This brief university inclusion is included as a main goal of schooling is to prepare students for higher education. More English in university (and the workplace) equates to more English in schools needed at the lower levels to prepare students. This module will elaborate on this topic in reference to the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) educational guidelines.
Classes in Japan are some of the biggest in OECD countries (see this chart to compare). One reason for the large classes is that they are preferred by the finance ministry (classes of 40 could save ¥8.6 billion per year). The large classes are a major concern for teachers, since coping with students’ mixed abilities, ethnic backgrounds, ADHD and learning styles is more challenging. We found that classroom management isn’t something usually covered in university teacher training in Japan so it is common to find our co-teachers struggling with student behaviour too.
Overall, students differ incredibly in terms of maturity, intellectual capacity, ability, and cultural background. The trend of English being used in Japanese schools is prioritized by MEXT. The more skills and teaching approaches you can bring to the classroom, the more learning opportunities and skill development you’ll be able to instil in your students; see the CLIL and materials development modules especially.
The mode of instruction in Japan is teacher-centred. Under this approach student’s focus on the teacher, while the teacher talks the students are expected to listen (though anyone who has taught in Japan knows that this is generally not the case). The opposite of teacher-centred teaching is student-centered. In student-centred classes, the students and teachers share the focus, and group work is encouraged. In these classes, students have more opportunity to collaborate with each other. An ALT’s class may use either teaching style. As you work through this module and course, factors guiding which style you choose to teach with will become clearer and the tools for you to shape your own teaching style, in view of factors influencing the classroom, are given.
Public schools are almost exclusively taught in Japanese, though there is a growing trend of teaching content subjects (math, science etc.) in English – especially at the higher levels of education. MEXT has asked JHS teachers to teach in English by 2020, a practice which was introduced in HS in 2011 (MEXT, 2015). However, research in throughout first seven years of this MEXT request shows that teachers are not, in fact, teaching in English.
Teaching content classes through English is called ‘English as a Medium of Instruction’ (EMI) and is discussed (by a former ALT) in Dr Galloway’s guest blog. By 2014, over one-third of universities in Japan offered undergraduate course taught in English (Brown, 2016), a 50% increase from 2005. In addition to EMI, immersion programs are happening at an increasing rate. This brief university inclusion is included as a main goal of schooling is to prepare students for higher education. More English in university (and the workplace) equates to more English in schools needed at the lower levels to prepare students. This module will elaborate on this topic in reference to the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) educational guidelines.
Classes in Japan are some of the biggest in OECD countries (see this chart to compare). One reason for the large classes is that they are preferred by the finance ministry (classes of 40 could save ¥8.6 billion per year). The large classes are a major concern for teachers, since coping with students’ mixed abilities, ethnic backgrounds, ADHD and learning styles is more challenging. We found that classroom management isn’t something usually covered in university teacher training in Japan so it is common to find our co-teachers struggling with student behaviour too.
Overall, students differ incredibly in terms of maturity, intellectual capacity, ability, and cultural background. The trend of English being used in Japanese schools is prioritized by MEXT. The more skills and teaching approaches you can bring to the classroom, the more learning opportunities and skill development you’ll be able to instil in your students; see the CLIL and materials development modules especially.
6.5 Clubs
Clubs are after-school activities and can be divided into culture and sports. Culture clubs include activities like tea ceremony and art, and sports clubs may include badminton, tennis, baseball and table tennis. Clubs start in ES and are usually held once a week. In JHS, club activities are more regular. Clubs are voluntary, but some JHS schools have a policy that all first-graders have to join a club -- regardless of if they want to or their parents can afford it.
There is a trend of students not going to clubs unless school policy forces them to. This trend is related to the socioeconomics of Japan, evolving cultural features, and personal preferences. Teachers should not assume that everyone attends a club. The elementary English textbooks have a dedicated section for students to discuss in English which club they are going to when they get to JHS. As we saw in Module 2, the textbooks in Japan have to be government approved, on criteria they set, which indicates that the education ministry still wants students to go to clubs.
We’ve included this subsection on clubs as they play a central role in socialization in Japan. One of the main writers on the ‘role of clubs in Japan’ is Dr Peter Cave. We advise you to read any of his publications to better understand school clubs, and the role clubs play on the wider Japanese society and mindset. Here is an example paper. Clubs, and issues related to them appear in the Japanese media almost every week; here are some articles to get you started on understanding the parent views and teacher views of club activities. Here is a lesson plan to teach discussion skills using blogs from one of our monthly guest blogs.
There is a trend of students not going to clubs unless school policy forces them to. This trend is related to the socioeconomics of Japan, evolving cultural features, and personal preferences. Teachers should not assume that everyone attends a club. The elementary English textbooks have a dedicated section for students to discuss in English which club they are going to when they get to JHS. As we saw in Module 2, the textbooks in Japan have to be government approved, on criteria they set, which indicates that the education ministry still wants students to go to clubs.
We’ve included this subsection on clubs as they play a central role in socialization in Japan. One of the main writers on the ‘role of clubs in Japan’ is Dr Peter Cave. We advise you to read any of his publications to better understand school clubs, and the role clubs play on the wider Japanese society and mindset. Here is an example paper. Clubs, and issues related to them appear in the Japanese media almost every week; here are some articles to get you started on understanding the parent views and teacher views of club activities. Here is a lesson plan to teach discussion skills using blogs from one of our monthly guest blogs.
6.6 Lunch
Students in ES eat lunch in their classrooms, in JHS students eat both in their classrooms and a dining room which classes rotate into. All students bring something from home or eat the same school-provided lunch. Sometimes there are two options, and there is no cafeteria. HS have cafeterias to eat in. They do not have the two lunch choice options or eat in the classrooms
ALTs can eat anywhere: some ALTs choose to stay in the staff room, some eat out, and some eat with the students (some teachers request ALTs to join classes, which they may or not do depending on personal preferences).
Teachers have more choice of what to eat and where to eat it. Some schools have a lunch delivery system for teachers from a local shop, (you can speak to the ALT supervisor about whom to speak to, to place an order). Some schools also have a representative from local shops or companies that come to the staff room carrying big bags of merchandise and sell products. This person will come in at lunchtime and lay out food and drink, or have it in their bag for you to purchase. You may also choose to eat with the students, either pay to have the same lunch as them or eat your own. ALTs don’t always eat lunch with students as it is unpaid and their downtime, some do though for purposes such as rapport building and more exposure to English for students – it’s your call. You may also be able to go out to a local eatery, have a picnic in a nearby park or beach, or grab some food from a shop and bring it back (if you leave the school, for any reason, you must tell the vice principal).
ALTs can eat anywhere: some ALTs choose to stay in the staff room, some eat out, and some eat with the students (some teachers request ALTs to join classes, which they may or not do depending on personal preferences).
Teachers have more choice of what to eat and where to eat it. Some schools have a lunch delivery system for teachers from a local shop, (you can speak to the ALT supervisor about whom to speak to, to place an order). Some schools also have a representative from local shops or companies that come to the staff room carrying big bags of merchandise and sell products. This person will come in at lunchtime and lay out food and drink, or have it in their bag for you to purchase. You may also choose to eat with the students, either pay to have the same lunch as them or eat your own. ALTs don’t always eat lunch with students as it is unpaid and their downtime, some do though for purposes such as rapport building and more exposure to English for students – it’s your call. You may also be able to go out to a local eatery, have a picnic in a nearby park or beach, or grab some food from a shop and bring it back (if you leave the school, for any reason, you must tell the vice principal).
6.7 Resources
Resources typically available to teachers to prepare for lessons include copy machines, printers, stationary (glue, coloured paper etc.) and laminators. Technologically, schools in Japan can accurately be referred to as “analogue” – and yes, they actively use fax machines, as you will too. Teaching methods do not regularly include the use of technology past the extent of using a laptop to display a PowerPoint presentation or a video clip. While most schools do house a computer lab and students are taught basic computer skills (such as how to type or use the Internet on a desktop computer), technology is not integrated into subject-area lessons. For example, current practice is not for students to type an assignment and submit it by email to a teacher, or even to type an assignment and print it out for submission. Handwritten assignments are the order of the day. Teachers commonly use scissors and glue to put together originals to be copied off in mass numbers. This BBC article paints a wider picture of the use of technology in Japan. BBC Why is hi-tech Japan using tapes and faxes.
On the topic of tech skills, computer programming is being taught at all ES from 2020, which is seen by many as a leap forward and, amongst other things, shifts the class to be student-centered. For more on using technology in your classroom see the ‘Technology in the Classroom’ module.
On the topic of tech skills, computer programming is being taught at all ES from 2020, which is seen by many as a leap forward and, amongst other things, shifts the class to be student-centered. For more on using technology in your classroom see the ‘Technology in the Classroom’ module.
The MEXT states in their curriculum guidelines, the Course of Studies (CoS) that teachers must be able to use technology in their classrooms. This is stated more and more every time they release the CoS. The obvious issue here is that the Ministry policy conflicts with local government policies: BoEs that don’s supply computers to teachers makes preparing for a class with a computer more challenging. Please use the ALTTO Facebook group to openly, and proactively, discuss ways to meet national governmental goals in view of restrictive local governmental policies.
7.0 School Staff
This section looks at the people you work with at schools. This module builds on the content of module 4 on JTEs and adds discussion of other school staff in direct relation to you.
As we saw in module 4, all teachers are incredibly busy. Our co-teachers work very long hours. The 2016 Ministry of Education survey on weekly working hours found teachers in ES work on average 57 hours and 25 minutes, and JHS teachers 63 hours and 18 minutes (even though The Labor Standards Act in Japan states a maximum of 40 hours per week), Kyodo, 2017. Few of these hours are in the classroom or preparing for class (see this chart from the OECD). Teachers nationwide are signing this petition to give teachers the option if they runs clubs or not.
Sleeping at desks is not frowned on in Japan because doing this is considered a sign that people are working hard. To put the level of work other teachers have in perspective, a 2016 poll showed 60% of JHS teachers are borderline karoshi (death from overwork) (France-Presse, 2016). This unfortunate fact did not happen overnight but came about as a result of unchanging school culture that unfortunately shows no signs of changing. The most prominent reason why teachers work such long hours and do not spend most of their working time on preparing for lessons and teaching is time spent at extracurricular activities (see section 6.5 above). The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey found JHS teachers to be spending an average of 7.7 hours per week on unpaid club activities (triple the OECD average). This worrying statistic about teachers is a smaller part of the larger working cultural norms where 1 in 5 are at risk of karoshi, according to a 2016 government white paper endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2016, November 3).
To be effective teachers, understanding who we work with and the circumstances that we all work in is essential. Knowing these factors can help us to be more sympathetic to the emotional states and well being of our co-workers. Awareness of work/stress levels can help all staff to judge when and how to approach other people when to take the lead in class, the importance of being assertive in preparing materials, understand lapses in concentration and forgetfulness, among other things.
For newer ALTs who are plunged into this working culture, often with little preparation, knowing when to talk to the ALT supervisor or other teachers can be tricky. Finding a good time to discuss lesson plans, mixed ability classrooms, class atmospheres student behaviour, general school events, where something is, or any other matters, takes practice. As with any workplace environment, experience, keeping your eyes open to the surroundings and educating yourself on the work culture will go a long way (refer to your notes from the Contextual modules here). The basic message here is understanding the cultural act of working long hours will lead to empathy toward co-workers -- a foundation that this course was built on.
As we saw in module 4, all teachers are incredibly busy. Our co-teachers work very long hours. The 2016 Ministry of Education survey on weekly working hours found teachers in ES work on average 57 hours and 25 minutes, and JHS teachers 63 hours and 18 minutes (even though The Labor Standards Act in Japan states a maximum of 40 hours per week), Kyodo, 2017. Few of these hours are in the classroom or preparing for class (see this chart from the OECD). Teachers nationwide are signing this petition to give teachers the option if they runs clubs or not.
Sleeping at desks is not frowned on in Japan because doing this is considered a sign that people are working hard. To put the level of work other teachers have in perspective, a 2016 poll showed 60% of JHS teachers are borderline karoshi (death from overwork) (France-Presse, 2016). This unfortunate fact did not happen overnight but came about as a result of unchanging school culture that unfortunately shows no signs of changing. The most prominent reason why teachers work such long hours and do not spend most of their working time on preparing for lessons and teaching is time spent at extracurricular activities (see section 6.5 above). The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey found JHS teachers to be spending an average of 7.7 hours per week on unpaid club activities (triple the OECD average). This worrying statistic about teachers is a smaller part of the larger working cultural norms where 1 in 5 are at risk of karoshi, according to a 2016 government white paper endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2016, November 3).
To be effective teachers, understanding who we work with and the circumstances that we all work in is essential. Knowing these factors can help us to be more sympathetic to the emotional states and well being of our co-workers. Awareness of work/stress levels can help all staff to judge when and how to approach other people when to take the lead in class, the importance of being assertive in preparing materials, understand lapses in concentration and forgetfulness, among other things.
For newer ALTs who are plunged into this working culture, often with little preparation, knowing when to talk to the ALT supervisor or other teachers can be tricky. Finding a good time to discuss lesson plans, mixed ability classrooms, class atmospheres student behaviour, general school events, where something is, or any other matters, takes practice. As with any workplace environment, experience, keeping your eyes open to the surroundings and educating yourself on the work culture will go a long way (refer to your notes from the Contextual modules here). The basic message here is understanding the cultural act of working long hours will lead to empathy toward co-workers -- a foundation that this course was built on.
7.1 Daily Briefing
Most ALTs we asked always caught the ALT supervisor for a short daily briefing (usually in the morning). Establishing this pattern early on helps to build rapport among all school faculty and keeps you in tune with the rest of the school. Without these briefings, you may not know about important schedule changes, problem students, staff meetings and other school events. New ALTs often report that things ‘happen’ in the school and no one has previously explained what is going on, for example:
Just a little friendly chat at a convenient time will go a long way.
The ALT supervisor position has no training. It’s another responsibility on top of an exhaustive workload. As a result, the supervisor often has no idea what to do. You are training them as much as they are supporting you. The clearer in you are in communicating what you expect of them at the beginning of the academic year, the better your relations and professional experience will be.
- being in the staff room and everybody suddenly leaving with no explanation why.
- walking into a class to find, students misbehaving (climbing the walls or throwing paper planes at the teacher), without being forewarned about the behaviour of students in this class
- class schedules changing because a teacher forgot to pass on a message.
- getting to a class and quickly discovering that students have already learnt what you are teaching them. Although, usually the older teachers, may actively do this out of habit (not spite), and see you more of an ‘ALR’: an Assistant Language Reviewer, rather that Teacher.
Just a little friendly chat at a convenient time will go a long way.
The ALT supervisor position has no training. It’s another responsibility on top of an exhaustive workload. As a result, the supervisor often has no idea what to do. You are training them as much as they are supporting you. The clearer in you are in communicating what you expect of them at the beginning of the academic year, the better your relations and professional experience will be.
7.2 Academic year
We need to know about the school year to help us plan professionally and personally. To help us do this, a common practice (among the writers of this module) is to approach the ALT supervisor at each school early on, right at the beginning of the term in April. Topics we ask about before work piles up include: the academic year schedule, term dates and school events (such as sports days and festivals). Other topics that could be discussed here include class times, problems at the school (like bullying and the ratio of students who need extra support), and if it is a high-level school or not. This overview of the school and year will really prepare you for work, in addition to giving you an understanding of the teachers and the students.
7.3 Rotating Staff
There is a lot of rotation of teachers in schools each year (teachers in Japan can’t work at one school for 20-30 years). Principals and vice principals can work for up to three years in one school before going to the next school. Teachers, depending on prefecture and city, can work for a maximum of seven or eight years in one school. There is no time limit for janitors, secretaries and school volunteers.
Much has been said about this system of the yearly turn-around of teachers (which happens in companies around Japan too). Relevant to us, it is important to recognize the fact that the teachers you are working with may know little about the school and the students; the teachers can be new to the school, overwhelmed and nervous. Generally, younger teachers don’t mind the constant rotation, and older teachers are not so keen on it.
When teachers change schools in April, at the beginning of the school year, they enter the staff room and line up in a row introducing themselves one by one. We have to do this too, but because our timetables are different (depending on the organisation of our employers) we sometimes do this on a different day. When you go to a school for the first time and introduce yourself to other teachers in the staff room here is an example script:
Much has been said about this system of the yearly turn-around of teachers (which happens in companies around Japan too). Relevant to us, it is important to recognize the fact that the teachers you are working with may know little about the school and the students; the teachers can be new to the school, overwhelmed and nervous. Generally, younger teachers don’t mind the constant rotation, and older teachers are not so keen on it.
When teachers change schools in April, at the beginning of the school year, they enter the staff room and line up in a row introducing themselves one by one. We have to do this too, but because our timetables are different (depending on the organisation of our employers) we sometimes do this on a different day. When you go to a school for the first time and introduce yourself to other teachers in the staff room here is an example script:
- Konnichiwa, watashi wa FAMILY NAME, GIVEN NAME. Hello, my name is ……………
- Kyoka eigo desu. I am an English teacher.
- Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. I look forward to working together with you.
- (That’s it. Teacher’s usually keep it short (as everyone is busy)).
We sometimes introduce ourselves to the students too, either in the gym or over the school speakers from the mic in the staffroom. This can be a little longer (depending on time). You can speak in English or Japanese or use words from other languages, depending on context and nationalities of students (diverse areas of Japan may employ Chinese or Spanish speaking ALTs and ask them to use other languages here, and in the classes). An example Japanese introduction speech:
- Konnichiwa, watashi wa NAME. - Hello, my name is ………………(some ALTs use their given name, some their family name – there has never been a standard practice)
- Kyoka eigo desu. - I am an English teacher.
- Watashi wa kenya kara kimashita – I’m from Kenya.
- Tenisu ga suki – I like tennis.
8.0 The students
This section is a short extension to the Learners module, in relation to working in schools. Just to recap, student numbers reflect the declining population as the following useful figures from the MEXT website show, the number of students in 2013 was lower than in 1950 (19,127,474 and 19,427,182 respectively), with a peak in 1980 (27,451,909).
Students in Japan are assigned a homeroom class of students who spend the year studying each subject together. As we saw in section 6.3, students wait in their homerooms (classroom) for teachers to come to them. For other subjects (art, music, and PE), students move to another room. By having all students studying all subjects with the same class members in assigned seats, a focus on conformity is satisfied, at the loss of, for example, encouraging independence and decision-making skills (by students choosing where to sit by themselves, remembering to take their own things and communicating with other people).
Over the course of a year, this can work in your favour or against you. In some classes, there are students that have great relationships with each other, and these classes noticeably improve over the course of a year. The reverse can also be true, as can the various nuances in between. Clubs are a powerful determiner of friend groups (as we saw above), which can be either good or bad for working cooperatively. When working with people from different clubs who students are not familiar with, the class atmosphere can be unstable. Other universal teenage factors affect the atmosphere in students too like girl/boyfriends, cliques, and hormones in JHS and HS.
As we saw in the Contextual modules, the discussion of what influences class dynamics goes deep. A very general summary of a Japanese classroom is supplied by Tsuboya-Newell (Sep 26, 2017): … ''out of 40 students, on average six students are from families of relative poverty, 2.5 students have a developmental disorder, six think that classes are too difficult and five think they are too easy.'' In reality, the individual differences and socio-economic status, like in most countries, will be wider than this. The mixed levels in language classes in Japan especially are increasingly polarized: some students will be fluent in a second or third language, and some will barely know the English alphabet, even by the final year of JHS. This goes for Japanese language skills too; as of 2016, there were 43,947 students in need of additional Japanese classes as they couldn’t understand their teachers (a quarter of which were Japanese nationals). The top 5 languages spoken by students in Japan (other than Japanese) are Portuguese, Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish and Vietnamese. There will likely be students in your class who don’t share a first language (e.g. Japanese or English), but this is a typical language classroom situation in institutions in most countries. Just don't assume everyone speaks Japanese because you could be making the class more difficult, and hurting feelings. Ask the ALT supervisor and homeroom teachers to let you know.
Being ALTs, we can multiply these differences of abilities in our students by the number of schools we go to. This primarily means that all your lesson plans will have to be modified for each class. For illustrative purposes this could be; 20 classes in three different ES, 25 classes in four different JHS, and 22 classes in one HS - 182 different classes in total. These school and classrooms you rotate around each week.
Being ALTs, we can multiply these differences of abilities in our students by the number of schools we go to. This primarily means that all your lesson plans will have to be modified for each class. For illustrative purposes this could be; 20 classes in three different ES, 25 classes in four different JHS, and 22 classes in one HS - 182 different classes in total. These school and classrooms you rotate around each week.
No student at any level of schooling repeats the grade, as is practised in most other OECD countries (the Korean and Norwegian education systems don’t do this either). Also, no student can skip to the next grade, no matter how much it would benefit her or him. Although ESID applies to us, many remnants from Japan’s militarism past remain in place both in controlling behaviour and educational conformity. The school system in Japan is referred to as a cookie-cutter education style whereby one size fits all and students are not encouraged to show individualism, progress quickly through the education system, or repeat grades. These social practices create a challenge for us in terms of meeting MEXT goals. MEXT consistently requests us to teach and encourage 21st-century skills that oppose most of the realities of school life. Each time a Course of Study is released, there is more emphasis on developing skills like individuality, self-expression, leadership skills etc. in all our students. And as ALTs mostly haven’t been educated in Japan or cultured here, we are the ones in the most ideal situation to do this
Students in Japan are assigned a homeroom class of students who spend the year studying each subject together. As we saw in section 6.3, students wait in their homerooms (classroom) for teachers to come to them. For other subjects (art, music, and PE), students move to another room. By having all students studying all subjects with the same class members in assigned seats, a focus on conformity is satisfied, at the loss of, for example, encouraging independence and decision-making skills (by students choosing where to sit by themselves, remembering to take their own things and communicating with other people).
Over the course of a year, this can work in your favour or against you. In some classes, there are students that have great relationships with each other, and these classes noticeably improve over the course of a year. The reverse can also be true, as can the various nuances in between. Clubs are a powerful determiner of friend groups (as we saw above), which can be either good or bad for working cooperatively. When working with people from different clubs who students are not familiar with, the class atmosphere can be unstable. Other universal teenage factors affect the atmosphere in students too like girl/boyfriends, cliques, and hormones in JHS and HS.
As we saw in the Contextual modules, the discussion of what influences class dynamics goes deep. A very general summary of a Japanese classroom is supplied by Tsuboya-Newell (Sep 26, 2017): … ''out of 40 students, on average six students are from families of relative poverty, 2.5 students have a developmental disorder, six think that classes are too difficult and five think they are too easy.'' In reality, the individual differences and socio-economic status, like in most countries, will be wider than this. The mixed levels in language classes in Japan especially are increasingly polarized: some students will be fluent in a second or third language, and some will barely know the English alphabet, even by the final year of JHS. This goes for Japanese language skills too; as of 2016, there were 43,947 students in need of additional Japanese classes as they couldn’t understand their teachers (a quarter of which were Japanese nationals). The top 5 languages spoken by students in Japan (other than Japanese) are Portuguese, Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish and Vietnamese. There will likely be students in your class who don’t share a first language (e.g. Japanese or English), but this is a typical language classroom situation in institutions in most countries. Just don't assume everyone speaks Japanese because you could be making the class more difficult, and hurting feelings. Ask the ALT supervisor and homeroom teachers to let you know.
Being ALTs, we can multiply these differences of abilities in our students by the number of schools we go to. This primarily means that all your lesson plans will have to be modified for each class. For illustrative purposes this could be; 20 classes in three different ES, 25 classes in four different JHS, and 22 classes in one HS - 182 different classes in total. These school and classrooms you rotate around each week.
Being ALTs, we can multiply these differences of abilities in our students by the number of schools we go to. This primarily means that all your lesson plans will have to be modified for each class. For illustrative purposes this could be; 20 classes in three different ES, 25 classes in four different JHS, and 22 classes in one HS - 182 different classes in total. These school and classrooms you rotate around each week.
No student at any level of schooling repeats the grade, as is practised in most other OECD countries (the Korean and Norwegian education systems don’t do this either). Also, no student can skip to the next grade, no matter how much it would benefit her or him. Although ESID applies to us, many remnants from Japan’s militarism past remain in place both in controlling behaviour and educational conformity. The school system in Japan is referred to as a cookie-cutter education style whereby one size fits all and students are not encouraged to show individualism, progress quickly through the education system, or repeat grades. These social practices create a challenge for us in terms of meeting MEXT goals. MEXT consistently requests us to teach and encourage 21st-century skills that oppose most of the realities of school life. Each time a Course of Study is released, there is more emphasis on developing skills like individuality, self-expression, leadership skills etc. in all our students. And as ALTs mostly haven’t been educated in Japan or cultured here, we are the ones in the most ideal situation to do this
9.0 ALTs and schools
Now that we’ve taken a short look at the schools (6.0), the staff (7.0) and the students (8.0) we now turn to you – the ALT.
ALTs almost always work in more than one school over the course of a week (the ‘one-shot’ system, see section 14.0 below). Working at so many different schools can increase our workload, and not just by us having to continually adapt our teaching and materials as mentioned above, but in numerous other ways. This section looks at some of the primary factors influencing our workload and provides suggestions to work effectively that we have all used. After this discussion of ALTs in schools, we will elaborate more on factors that directly influence our day-to-day lives in the classrooms (from 10.0).
ALTs almost always work in more than one school over the course of a week (the ‘one-shot’ system, see section 14.0 below). Working at so many different schools can increase our workload, and not just by us having to continually adapt our teaching and materials as mentioned above, but in numerous other ways. This section looks at some of the primary factors influencing our workload and provides suggestions to work effectively that we have all used. After this discussion of ALTs in schools, we will elaborate more on factors that directly influence our day-to-day lives in the classrooms (from 10.0).
9.1 Number of schools
We work in all levels of schooling from kindergarten to high school. We could work in a different school every day of the week, and even two different schools in one day (one in the morning, and one in the afternoon).
- Here is an example of a weekly timetable:
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- Here is an example daily schedule in a JHS:
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In this example schedule, there are four periods for the ALT to teach. In the 'class' column there are two numbers: the first number is the grade, and the second number is the classroom: 2 – 1 = the second grade, classroom one. There are two periods without a class.
Every ALT supervisor in Japan writes the schedule differently. Talk with the ALT supervisor and get them to write it in a way that is clear to both of you. If there are changes to the schedule, ask the ALT supervisor to tell you as soon as possible (re-read that sentence). ALT supervisors will write a schedule for you day-by-day, weekly, or monthly. Some email you, and some do none of the above. If there are any issues, or the schedule is not clear, speak to the supervisor again if legally permitted (see 13.2), then to your employer if nothing changes.
A common issue we found related to working in many schools was transporting our teaching materials from school to school. For example, you may make some excellent flashcards and print them out and laminate them so they last (MES English is a popular site for this). But then you have to carry them to each school you go to, remembering that schools/classes work through the textbooks at different rates, and/or your schedule may not be written before you go to that school (or, more likely, you find it changed when you get to the school). A solution would be to use a tablet to download images/video clips and make PowerPoint presentations (environmentally friendly too). This also provides more creative space too for audio and video etc. (See the Materials Development module). The only drawback with using a tablet is that you have to cover all costs (e.g. tablet, HDMI lead and wi-fi). One writer has gone through three tablets in only five years from damage incurred by carrying them from school to school. If your co-teacher forgets or needs something for the class, they can quickly go to the staff room and get it. However, unless you carry your teaching materials/tablet with you (or leave it at the school), you don’t have this option.
Every ALT supervisor in Japan writes the schedule differently. Talk with the ALT supervisor and get them to write it in a way that is clear to both of you. If there are changes to the schedule, ask the ALT supervisor to tell you as soon as possible (re-read that sentence). ALT supervisors will write a schedule for you day-by-day, weekly, or monthly. Some email you, and some do none of the above. If there are any issues, or the schedule is not clear, speak to the supervisor again if legally permitted (see 13.2), then to your employer if nothing changes.
A common issue we found related to working in many schools was transporting our teaching materials from school to school. For example, you may make some excellent flashcards and print them out and laminate them so they last (MES English is a popular site for this). But then you have to carry them to each school you go to, remembering that schools/classes work through the textbooks at different rates, and/or your schedule may not be written before you go to that school (or, more likely, you find it changed when you get to the school). A solution would be to use a tablet to download images/video clips and make PowerPoint presentations (environmentally friendly too). This also provides more creative space too for audio and video etc. (See the Materials Development module). The only drawback with using a tablet is that you have to cover all costs (e.g. tablet, HDMI lead and wi-fi). One writer has gone through three tablets in only five years from damage incurred by carrying them from school to school. If your co-teacher forgets or needs something for the class, they can quickly go to the staff room and get it. However, unless you carry your teaching materials/tablet with you (or leave it at the school), you don’t have this option.
9.2 Urban vs Rural
The number of students in each class/school can be very different depending on a school’s location. Many urban schools have between thirty and forty students per class whereas some rural schools, especially at the elementary school level, may have less than ten students per class.
Urban junior high schools have eight or more classes of first, second, and third grade (24 classes). As an ALT, you will work in all of these classes. Some rural schools only have three classes total - one for first, second, and third grades. In these schools, you will see students more regularly. Read this for more on class sizes in rural areas (Fifield, May 11, 2015)
Urban junior high schools have eight or more classes of first, second, and third grade (24 classes). As an ALT, you will work in all of these classes. Some rural schools only have three classes total - one for first, second, and third grades. In these schools, you will see students more regularly. Read this for more on class sizes in rural areas (Fifield, May 11, 2015)
9.3 Schools for the Blind and Deaf
In some rare cases, ALTs may be posted to work at schools for the blind (mogakko) and/or schools for the deaf (rogakko). Typically, there is only one school of each of these types in each prefecture, although there is a trend toward them being re-labeled as Special Support Schools (tokubetsu shien gakko). This is being done so that children with disabilities do not have to travel as far to attend a specific school, and may instead go to a school that accepts students with varied types of disabilities.
Due to the low number of these schools, many of them are open to students of all ages, from kindergarten up to high school age (and even beyond, as mentioned later). Additionally, many of these schools also contain dormitories, for students whose homes are far away.
Individual class sizes are very small, with the largest classes set at a maximum of six students, but most classes are made up one, two, or three students. Staff at these schools are often experienced with teaching children with disabilities, and in many cases may share the same disability with their students.
For ALTs working at schools for the blind and schools for the deaf, they may find a wonderful opportunity to not only teach and enrich their students, but to also learn a great deal about education in the process. The small class sizes often lead to a warm and informal atmosphere, especially as the traditional distance (physically and psychologically speaking) between student and teacher is lessened. Furthermore, there is less emphasis on pure testing and grades and more attention given to social and practical life skills. All of this fosters as much of a feeling of “family” as it does “school”.
Of course, in each type of school the approaches toward English education can be vastly different. In a school for the blind, most students will use the Japanese braille system to read their textbooks, and ALTs will not be able to easily utilize the worksheets that they are used to in their other schools. As is the case with many people with disabilities, though, the students will often have other very finely developed senses. Students with visual impairment may respond very well to speaking and listening activities, and be able to pick up subtleties of pronunciation and accents far more quickly than children with no disabilities.
Students at a school for the deaf will often learn to read lips in both Japanese and English, and ALTs will have to be careful to speak very clearly and slowly, while always facing their students, so that they might be understood. In the same manner as students at a school for the blind, hearing impaired children will often have excellent visual acuity, and may excel at activities that focus on pictures or reading.
Whichever type of school the ALT finds themselves in, it is vital to communicate with the JTE and/or homeroom teacher to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and character of each student, so that the lesson can be tailored to suit them best. The degree of disability of each student will also vary, and in a single class there may be one student who cannot see at all, and another who has partial vision. Students in these situations will often work together and support one another, and this can be a useful point in planning games and activities.
These schools can also be a very unique opportunity for the ALT to teach students of many different ages and levels. The ALT may start their day with kindergarten-age lessons, full of singing and moving activities, and follow it with a lesson for high school students, discussing current events or the lyrics of a popular song. Massage therapy, particularly emphasizing pressure points on the body, is a common career path for people with visual impairment in Japan, so there may also be times when the ALT will be asked to teach adult students who are learning these skills.
Ultimately, regardless of the disability of the students, the key to working at these schools lies in the ALT’s patience and friendliness, particularly in their interaction with students outside of the lessons. For many students with disabilities, the school is their whole world, so eating lunch together, playing sports in the gym after school, stopping by their classrooms during the lunch break to say hello, and any of these kinds of social exchanges play an enormous part in helping them feel comfortable and safe with a new visitor (the ALT).
Here are stats and information of these schools from MEXT.
Due to the low number of these schools, many of them are open to students of all ages, from kindergarten up to high school age (and even beyond, as mentioned later). Additionally, many of these schools also contain dormitories, for students whose homes are far away.
Individual class sizes are very small, with the largest classes set at a maximum of six students, but most classes are made up one, two, or three students. Staff at these schools are often experienced with teaching children with disabilities, and in many cases may share the same disability with their students.
For ALTs working at schools for the blind and schools for the deaf, they may find a wonderful opportunity to not only teach and enrich their students, but to also learn a great deal about education in the process. The small class sizes often lead to a warm and informal atmosphere, especially as the traditional distance (physically and psychologically speaking) between student and teacher is lessened. Furthermore, there is less emphasis on pure testing and grades and more attention given to social and practical life skills. All of this fosters as much of a feeling of “family” as it does “school”.
Of course, in each type of school the approaches toward English education can be vastly different. In a school for the blind, most students will use the Japanese braille system to read their textbooks, and ALTs will not be able to easily utilize the worksheets that they are used to in their other schools. As is the case with many people with disabilities, though, the students will often have other very finely developed senses. Students with visual impairment may respond very well to speaking and listening activities, and be able to pick up subtleties of pronunciation and accents far more quickly than children with no disabilities.
Students at a school for the deaf will often learn to read lips in both Japanese and English, and ALTs will have to be careful to speak very clearly and slowly, while always facing their students, so that they might be understood. In the same manner as students at a school for the blind, hearing impaired children will often have excellent visual acuity, and may excel at activities that focus on pictures or reading.
Whichever type of school the ALT finds themselves in, it is vital to communicate with the JTE and/or homeroom teacher to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and character of each student, so that the lesson can be tailored to suit them best. The degree of disability of each student will also vary, and in a single class there may be one student who cannot see at all, and another who has partial vision. Students in these situations will often work together and support one another, and this can be a useful point in planning games and activities.
These schools can also be a very unique opportunity for the ALT to teach students of many different ages and levels. The ALT may start their day with kindergarten-age lessons, full of singing and moving activities, and follow it with a lesson for high school students, discussing current events or the lyrics of a popular song. Massage therapy, particularly emphasizing pressure points on the body, is a common career path for people with visual impairment in Japan, so there may also be times when the ALT will be asked to teach adult students who are learning these skills.
Ultimately, regardless of the disability of the students, the key to working at these schools lies in the ALT’s patience and friendliness, particularly in their interaction with students outside of the lessons. For many students with disabilities, the school is their whole world, so eating lunch together, playing sports in the gym after school, stopping by their classrooms during the lunch break to say hello, and any of these kinds of social exchanges play an enormous part in helping them feel comfortable and safe with a new visitor (the ALT).
Here are stats and information of these schools from MEXT.
Martin's vignette
I was lucky enough to work for two years at both a school for the blind and a school for the deaf. I can honestly say that these were some of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I had in my more than ten years as an ALT. I’d like to share here a few of my favorite memories from this time.
Teaching a fairly large group of students from the age of three to six was my first time working with kindergarten children. This was at the school for the blind, and, as in all the other classes at the school, the degree of impairment ranged quite a bit. Some of the children were completely blind, whereas others were able to slightly see with the aid of special glasses. On my first day with this class, one of the teachers handed me a small round bell (think Jingle Bells) on a long red ribbon. She explained that I should put it around my neck. I didn’t understand at first, but quickly realized that the sound of the bell would let the students know where I was in their classroom. As we played some games and sang a few simple songs, the students would hear my bell ringing and reach out their hands. I would give them my hands or let them touch my face to understand who I was. None of the students seemed surprised or scared about me being a foreigner. They were just happy to share their time and have fun with me.
I also remember eating lunch with a group of the high school students at the school for the deaf. Among themselves, they communicated in rapid sign language, but with me, a few of the students who could hear a little helped to translate for me. They taught me a game in which they used sign language and gestures to give hints about a person’s name. For example, they might make the shape of a mountain with their hands, and then fold and open them like a book. Can you guess it? Yamamoto (the kanji can be mountain and book)! Unfortunately I’ve forgotten a lot of the sign language that they taught me, but I’ll never forget the sign for “spicy”, as we had some spicy tofu for lunch one day and they laughed at how red my face became (I really don’t like spicy food). I’d say that I learned a lot from these students at the same time as I was teaching them.
The last memory I will share here is an activity that I did with a junior high school class of visually impaired students. I wanted to do something that would let them talk about and describe their school and world, and try to engage another sense beyond that of hearing. We let them use the school’s digital camera to take pictures in and around the school, of anything they wanted. After printing the pictures out, I used puffy glue to outline as much of the details in each picture as I could. By feeling the shapes and outlines of the objects in each photograph, the students were able to visualize their pictures, and then use English to describe them. Even though the students were visually impaired, there were plenty of ways that they could interact with pictures (an inherently visual medium) in the English classroom.
I suppose that the reason I chose these memories to share here is that they really represent the experience of teaching blind and deaf students for me. Basically, these students are just like those at any other school an ALT might work at. They’re happy when a teacher tries hard to engage with them, and especially so when that teacher shows a willingness and interest to learn from them. Like any other child, there are things that they are good at, and things that they aren’t good at. It just takes a little time, consideration, and creativity to find the best ways to let them express themselves.
9.4 Discipline
The number of students in each class/school can be very different depending on the school’s location. Many urban schools have between thirty and forty students per class whereas some rural schools, especially at the elementary school level, may have less than ten students per class.
ALTs usually have very little (official) authority at the school, and repeated attempts to discipline students being disruptive during a lesson could either be ill received or, in contrast, welcomed by JTEs. Remember that your co-teachers also face those same issues when the ALT is not present (think about the mixed abilities and ADHD comments above). As a result, they may think you’re wasting your time, or they may, in fact, appreciate a different person’s approach. Be aware that sending a child out of the room or to the principal’s office is not usually practised in Japan. JHSs have a single teacher (usually in each grade) who carries out all discipline and they are the go-to person.
ALTs may be surprised at the way Japanese teachers shout at students or physically restrain them. ALTs, in general, may come from a society where educational philosophies encourage students thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for their own actions. Physically touching/restraining children to control behaviour/enforce conformity is illegal in other OECD countries too. In addition to teachers actions that may seem severe from a Western point of view, other universal factors should be considered too, like looking for signs of abuse either at the hands of their peers or parents (bullying, as you can see on the posters all over schools in Japan, is rife). A topic high on the MEXT agenda since, at least, 1960.
Instead of directly taking any concerns to people with the highest authority in the school (principal, vice principal), ALTs could voice those concerns with a JTE, who may then pass along those concerns to the student’s homeroom teacher and/or the teacher in charge of discipline if they feel it necessary. The main reasons for reporting to a JTE is for language, as the other teachers may not speak English (this only matters if you cannot express what you need to in their first language). The JTE will also know who to talk to (e.g. the homeroom teacher). In sum though, it's a school full of kids/young adults, so anything could happen at any point. Sometimes you have to make a judgement about who to tell (if anyone) and what to do. To try and make sense of this situation here are some example readings to start off your understanding of this context, as your education will show in your quality of teaching: (we suggest that you use Google scholar to seek more educated, research-based findings, but these mass media stories can help guide your enquiry).
To illustrate, here are some example incidents that happened to some of the writers, the first being more common:
Walking around at cleaning time you see a teacher physically restraining a student (for a reason you don't know) it's a good idea to go to the teacher's room and tell the HRT and if they are not around, the vice principal, and later your employer who will explain the situation.
Here’s another example. You're walking home and come across two students caught by the police for shoplifting. In this case, you can just call the school and tell whoever answers: we used this example as most reading this come from countries where it is none of the teachers business what mischief students get into outside of school, but in Japan it is (and another addition to workloads).
ALTs usually have very little (official) authority at the school, and repeated attempts to discipline students being disruptive during a lesson could either be ill received or, in contrast, welcomed by JTEs. Remember that your co-teachers also face those same issues when the ALT is not present (think about the mixed abilities and ADHD comments above). As a result, they may think you’re wasting your time, or they may, in fact, appreciate a different person’s approach. Be aware that sending a child out of the room or to the principal’s office is not usually practised in Japan. JHSs have a single teacher (usually in each grade) who carries out all discipline and they are the go-to person.
ALTs may be surprised at the way Japanese teachers shout at students or physically restrain them. ALTs, in general, may come from a society where educational philosophies encourage students thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for their own actions. Physically touching/restraining children to control behaviour/enforce conformity is illegal in other OECD countries too. In addition to teachers actions that may seem severe from a Western point of view, other universal factors should be considered too, like looking for signs of abuse either at the hands of their peers or parents (bullying, as you can see on the posters all over schools in Japan, is rife). A topic high on the MEXT agenda since, at least, 1960.
Instead of directly taking any concerns to people with the highest authority in the school (principal, vice principal), ALTs could voice those concerns with a JTE, who may then pass along those concerns to the student’s homeroom teacher and/or the teacher in charge of discipline if they feel it necessary. The main reasons for reporting to a JTE is for language, as the other teachers may not speak English (this only matters if you cannot express what you need to in their first language). The JTE will also know who to talk to (e.g. the homeroom teacher). In sum though, it's a school full of kids/young adults, so anything could happen at any point. Sometimes you have to make a judgement about who to tell (if anyone) and what to do. To try and make sense of this situation here are some example readings to start off your understanding of this context, as your education will show in your quality of teaching: (we suggest that you use Google scholar to seek more educated, research-based findings, but these mass media stories can help guide your enquiry).
To illustrate, here are some example incidents that happened to some of the writers, the first being more common:
Walking around at cleaning time you see a teacher physically restraining a student (for a reason you don't know) it's a good idea to go to the teacher's room and tell the HRT and if they are not around, the vice principal, and later your employer who will explain the situation.
Here’s another example. You're walking home and come across two students caught by the police for shoplifting. In this case, you can just call the school and tell whoever answers: we used this example as most reading this come from countries where it is none of the teachers business what mischief students get into outside of school, but in Japan it is (and another addition to workloads).
Tess' Vignette
There is one boy who, when he arrives at school, sometimes runs away. Teachers usually see him though. One day his mother dropped him off at the school, right at the entrance, but he still disappeared. Half of the teachers ran around the neighbourhood looking for him, the police too. The vice principal just asks me to go and teach classes when teachers are not available (like in the situation I just mentioned). The examples of situations like this I could just reel off as there have been so many, but my motivation for adding this more extreme example is to exemplify the importance of understanding the context, how important you are, and although the word ‘assistant’ is in the English version of our title, my experience has taught me that this is probably more to do with legalities than a true description of my job. I can really make a difference at the grassroots level of students’ lives and build relationships with my peers in the school. I see the government and ALTs' employers as one group, and the school staff I work with as another. One group blindly directs what they ideally want to happen in the day-to-day running of a school, while the other group works together and deals with school realities.
As ALTs, we must balance complacency with respecting individual needs and cultural differences. If students are just talking or playing with their pens all lesson it’s difficult for us to completely understand their motivations for not listening. With students like these who are being disruptive and not reaching their learning potential, do you continue like nothing is happening? Or, stop and address the situation? It really is a judgement call, and these improve with experience. The fact that we don’t go to the same schools Monday to Friday (the ‘one-shot’ system) makes it that much more challenging to get to know children individually in a short space of time.
Nate's Vignette
I work in two elementary schools this academic year. One school is in a rough neighbourhood and the students are noticeably more unruly than in any other school I’ve worked in (19 so far). There is a third-grade class that has five children with ADHD, one child with Down's Syndrome and two with a learning disorder. The homeroom teacher in that school is noticeably at a loss and I try extra hard to support her when I teach that class (for me it’s only a 45-minute class of mayhem, but she has to teach them all day, everyday – it shows on her face and energy levels). While I am teaching and have the students’ attention, there is usually two or three running around the classroom, throwing things at the teacher, or fighting. To be proactive I have researched ADHD and how to support children’s learning potential (though I am definitely not an expert). Some tips I’ve read about and used are:
- Sit the ADHD student in front of you (in Japan students sit in rows facing the front, so this is easy to arrange with a little conversation with the co-teacher).
- Give clear instructions (I try to balance giving instructions to the whole class with making a lot of eye contact with the student. After I’ve given instructions, I go down to the eye level of the students and repeating to them in a short and simplified way).
- If I prepare worksheets, I use a lot of pictures. And any tests I give, I make sure there are few questions, and that they are very short (e.g. match the correct word to the picture type of questions).
- I try to make the more difficult material suit the day time (not in the morning or in the last two periods). This takes just a little planning. In Japan, the only important thing to the BoE is that the number of classes an ALT teaches is equal over the course of an academic year. As a result, you can be a little flexible with the ALT supervisor about when your classes are. Discuss with the person about your schedule, and if you identify a potential problem, reschedule the class together to be at a more appropriate time.
- If you happen to see their parents (or can arrange to see them), recommend more high protein and low-fat dairy products in their diet.
- Remember not to let the quality of education you deliver detrimentally affect the rest of the students. This one of the many balancing acts we perform working in Japanese public schools.
- The (global) rise in ADHD diagnosis is a phenomenon in urgent need of addressing, here is an example website for tips on what teachers can do.
9.5 ALTs and schools summary
Working at a larger school changes the communication dynamic between the ALT and JTEs. When ALTs work with a higher number of JTEs we have an increased responsibility to communicate with each teacher and confirm that both parties agree about tour lesson plans. After all, just because Ken Sensei wants to teach a lesson on numbers using a certain method does not mean that every other teacher is teaching the same material or wants to use the same methods or materials. Nor does it mean that every other teacher is on that page in the book or wants to teach that topic. Effectively communicating with several teachers throughout everyone’s busy days can prove challenging. Factors influencing this will be your personality, your co-teachers’ personalities, your organizational and planning skills and those of your co-teachers, and, in some cases, your second language ability and your co-teachers’ English ability. Due to everyone’s busy schedules, communicating about what to teach and how to teach it is often done through written notes on each other's desk or within the few minutes it takes to walk from the teacher’s room to the classroom.
On the topic of walking to and from classes, here are two common practices and reasons for them. Some teachers walk to and from the classrooms with you, others send students to come and collect you. Sending students to collect you, as research and our experiences tell us, has two motivations. Some teachers simply don’t want to talk to you (personality conflicts are a part of life in any institution in any country), whereas other teachers just want to give students roles. Make sure you are clear with teachers which you’d prefer and why. In general, giving students roles is practised around the world as responsibility training and seen as a good thing in many institutions. As your time to communicate with staff is generally restricted, you should very carefully consider which practice you are most comfortable with. Remember that in ES, teachers may just stay in their homeroom, unless it is lunch time or the first period.
Finally, here, keep in mind that the role you have is determined by the amount of effort you put into it. Some ALTs build solid and personal relationships with many staff members, work actively in the schools, start English clubs, meet parents, talk with other subject teachers, and play with students outside of school etc. Some teachers do none of the above, simply prep for classes, teach them, and go home. The ALT position is one without pay rises or promotion, so there is none of the traditional motivation for you to put in extra work - the amount of effort put in is on an individual basis. On this note, ALT Training Online was born from acknowledging the untapped potential we have. We (both ALT Training Online and ALTopedia) were initiated to harness our incredible potential to improve the quality of education in Japan, to develop your professional transferable skills and broaden you networking scope, whatever type of teacher you are.
On the topic of walking to and from classes, here are two common practices and reasons for them. Some teachers walk to and from the classrooms with you, others send students to come and collect you. Sending students to collect you, as research and our experiences tell us, has two motivations. Some teachers simply don’t want to talk to you (personality conflicts are a part of life in any institution in any country), whereas other teachers just want to give students roles. Make sure you are clear with teachers which you’d prefer and why. In general, giving students roles is practised around the world as responsibility training and seen as a good thing in many institutions. As your time to communicate with staff is generally restricted, you should very carefully consider which practice you are most comfortable with. Remember that in ES, teachers may just stay in their homeroom, unless it is lunch time or the first period.
Finally, here, keep in mind that the role you have is determined by the amount of effort you put into it. Some ALTs build solid and personal relationships with many staff members, work actively in the schools, start English clubs, meet parents, talk with other subject teachers, and play with students outside of school etc. Some teachers do none of the above, simply prep for classes, teach them, and go home. The ALT position is one without pay rises or promotion, so there is none of the traditional motivation for you to put in extra work - the amount of effort put in is on an individual basis. On this note, ALT Training Online was born from acknowledging the untapped potential we have. We (both ALT Training Online and ALTopedia) were initiated to harness our incredible potential to improve the quality of education in Japan, to develop your professional transferable skills and broaden you networking scope, whatever type of teacher you are.
Link for Reflection Question 9.2.
*‘Gaijin Private parts: Maintaining privacy at work in Japan’ by Dr Nathaniel Simmons.
10.0 In the Classroom: Classroom Roles
This section builds on the above sections of us ALTs and looks at our roles in the wider school landscape at each level of schooling: ES, JHS and HS. We will explain different types of ALTs in reference to our roles; this is an extension of the content in module 3.
The four key roles that have been written about in the ALT literature over the decades are: team-teachers, tape recorders, skit partners and solo teachers. The ALT job is quintessentially vague, ultimately because the government has never provided detailed job roles and duties. As a result, so many more roles have been identified and written about by teachers, researchers and observers over the decades. But by focusing on these four most widely written about roles you will be in more of an educated position to choose your role, and how you prepare and teach your classes.
Before we look at these roles, we’ll take a look at why the ALT job description is so unclear. To understand where something is we need to know where it came from.
The social system of hierarchy in Japan means that decisions are made from the top down, and little consultation ever takes place with educators on how to move forward. Educational guidelines are written by MEXT and are called the Course of Study (CoS). For an understanding of the CoS read Tahira, 2012. The 2020 CoS (released in 2014) states that: …'the government aims to secure ALTs for all elementary schools by 2019, while also promoting the use of ALTs in junior and high schools' (MEXT, 2014). Our official job description from the Japanese Ministry of Education is, as can be seen, quite undetailed, a single sentence – the root of ESID.
ALTs who know their history might have read that the ALT position was never actually intended to be a ‘real’ job. It was originally a political gift to Ronald Regan to improve diplomatic relations. As McConnell (2000) clarifies: “with 'no' educational rationale the ALT position was created because of foreign pressure” (211). Unfortunately, the idea that ALTs are not actually here to teach or work professionally has never faded, and begun even before the current ALT initiative started in 1987. There have been numerous movements since the 1950s to bring nationals from other countries to Japan to improve the quality of education and introduce alternative learning models (as many other countries have too, but typically, they have structured training and clear educational foci). One key result of importing short-stay educational professionals to learn from is ideological clashes, a key reason why ALT training that does exist focuses on behaviour rather than teaching skills (see the 2014 JET training). The National Institute for Educational Research in Japan offers this useful historical overview.
Related to the political origins just discussed, the ALT system can be seen as a soft power move (Yasushi et al, 2008). The concept of soft power is a broad concept, but essentially it is any non-military means used by a country to create a positive image and get what it wants. Hard power uses (threats of) force and economic sanctions, but the currency of soft power is culture, music and fashion etc. For example, America has exported sports and Hollywood movies for a long time, and as a result, people travel to America, watch the movies, and buy merchandise, all the while bringing capital and positive impressions to the country. In Japan, ALTs have traditionally had short contracts with their return airfare paid for. The soft power idea behind this model is that these teachers come to Japan, experience school life, travel around, and then go back to their country of origin and say good things about Japan (McConnell, 2000). People who they talk to start to develop a positive image toward Japan and might come to Japan or seek out Japanese products, spreading the word further.
The third example of attitudes towards the ALT position comes from a PhD researcher on ALTs. In 2018 Takahiro Yokoyama called the ALT job an ‘artificial position’ (McCrostie July 4, 2018). He gives reasons for this view by discussing Japan’s reluctance to employ foreigners permanently, and the different *laws applying to Non-Japanese people.
*On this note, and for your information, a quick note about the 5-year rule. This new law stated that anyone who had been in employment at one place for 5 years, from April 2013, could request permanent employment, and the employer legally has to grant it. Many ALTs, for example, have yearly contracts, so this was aimed at providing job security to such employees (irrespective of gender, race, religion, and ethnicity). However, as soon as the law was passed many employees around Japan looked for legal loopholes to avoid it (there are many stories on line if you google it). Because of the legal nature and questionable ethics of this we really can’t state more. Has your employer mentioned their stance on this? Have you asked them? To find out more you can start with these links: GU, GU Part one, GU Part two, Japan Times, Gaijinass.
The ALT position is built on political foundations and the purpose of the job itself is quite unclear: to teach language, improve educational quality, spread the word about Japan, improve diplomatic relations? Something else? The unclear reason(s) why we are here, coupled with the lack of educational standards for our position can take us one of two general ways: we could be assertive, train our co-teachers, grow professionally and network (through ALTTO and other platforms), research what we do and publish it (see modules 21 and 22 hone your skills here and tell you how to publish), or we could just turn up, teach something, focus more on outside of school then go back to a home country and spread the word about Japan.
We know that the schools we work at, what is expected of us, and the English levels of the students that we will be working with all vary from region to region, school to school, teacher to teacher, age group to age group, and class to class. In addition, some schools may be high-level schools that focus more on high-stakes entrance tests for HS and university. Teachers at these schools tend to make more use of the grammar-translation (yakudoku) method of teaching in English classes than communicative English and 21st-century skills development that ALTs teach. Differences between yakudoku and the methodology we primarily use, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), are covered in module 8. While schools (high-level or not) vary widely in how much of a role they want the ALT to play in the education of their students, motivated and assertive ALTs will naturally find ways to raise educational quality.
To learn about grammar translation read Hino. For more on preparing students for exams, read the ALTTO blog on backwash.
Now we’ve looked at the background of why roles are what they are, let’s look at the four most discussed ones.
The four key roles that have been written about in the ALT literature over the decades are: team-teachers, tape recorders, skit partners and solo teachers. The ALT job is quintessentially vague, ultimately because the government has never provided detailed job roles and duties. As a result, so many more roles have been identified and written about by teachers, researchers and observers over the decades. But by focusing on these four most widely written about roles you will be in more of an educated position to choose your role, and how you prepare and teach your classes.
Before we look at these roles, we’ll take a look at why the ALT job description is so unclear. To understand where something is we need to know where it came from.
The social system of hierarchy in Japan means that decisions are made from the top down, and little consultation ever takes place with educators on how to move forward. Educational guidelines are written by MEXT and are called the Course of Study (CoS). For an understanding of the CoS read Tahira, 2012. The 2020 CoS (released in 2014) states that: …'the government aims to secure ALTs for all elementary schools by 2019, while also promoting the use of ALTs in junior and high schools' (MEXT, 2014). Our official job description from the Japanese Ministry of Education is, as can be seen, quite undetailed, a single sentence – the root of ESID.
ALTs who know their history might have read that the ALT position was never actually intended to be a ‘real’ job. It was originally a political gift to Ronald Regan to improve diplomatic relations. As McConnell (2000) clarifies: “with 'no' educational rationale the ALT position was created because of foreign pressure” (211). Unfortunately, the idea that ALTs are not actually here to teach or work professionally has never faded, and begun even before the current ALT initiative started in 1987. There have been numerous movements since the 1950s to bring nationals from other countries to Japan to improve the quality of education and introduce alternative learning models (as many other countries have too, but typically, they have structured training and clear educational foci). One key result of importing short-stay educational professionals to learn from is ideological clashes, a key reason why ALT training that does exist focuses on behaviour rather than teaching skills (see the 2014 JET training). The National Institute for Educational Research in Japan offers this useful historical overview.
Related to the political origins just discussed, the ALT system can be seen as a soft power move (Yasushi et al, 2008). The concept of soft power is a broad concept, but essentially it is any non-military means used by a country to create a positive image and get what it wants. Hard power uses (threats of) force and economic sanctions, but the currency of soft power is culture, music and fashion etc. For example, America has exported sports and Hollywood movies for a long time, and as a result, people travel to America, watch the movies, and buy merchandise, all the while bringing capital and positive impressions to the country. In Japan, ALTs have traditionally had short contracts with their return airfare paid for. The soft power idea behind this model is that these teachers come to Japan, experience school life, travel around, and then go back to their country of origin and say good things about Japan (McConnell, 2000). People who they talk to start to develop a positive image toward Japan and might come to Japan or seek out Japanese products, spreading the word further.
- There is a chapter in the book ‘Soft Power Superpowers: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the United States’ that discusses how successful the JET programme has been as a soft power tool: ‘Japan’s Image Problem and the Soft Power Solution: the JET Program and Cultural Diplomacy’. The writer of this chapter, David McConnell, wrote the only detailed book from behind the scenes as the current ALT system was initiated, ‘Importing Diversity’.
The third example of attitudes towards the ALT position comes from a PhD researcher on ALTs. In 2018 Takahiro Yokoyama called the ALT job an ‘artificial position’ (McCrostie July 4, 2018). He gives reasons for this view by discussing Japan’s reluctance to employ foreigners permanently, and the different *laws applying to Non-Japanese people.
*On this note, and for your information, a quick note about the 5-year rule. This new law stated that anyone who had been in employment at one place for 5 years, from April 2013, could request permanent employment, and the employer legally has to grant it. Many ALTs, for example, have yearly contracts, so this was aimed at providing job security to such employees (irrespective of gender, race, religion, and ethnicity). However, as soon as the law was passed many employees around Japan looked for legal loopholes to avoid it (there are many stories on line if you google it). Because of the legal nature and questionable ethics of this we really can’t state more. Has your employer mentioned their stance on this? Have you asked them? To find out more you can start with these links: GU, GU Part one, GU Part two, Japan Times, Gaijinass.
The ALT position is built on political foundations and the purpose of the job itself is quite unclear: to teach language, improve educational quality, spread the word about Japan, improve diplomatic relations? Something else? The unclear reason(s) why we are here, coupled with the lack of educational standards for our position can take us one of two general ways: we could be assertive, train our co-teachers, grow professionally and network (through ALTTO and other platforms), research what we do and publish it (see modules 21 and 22 hone your skills here and tell you how to publish), or we could just turn up, teach something, focus more on outside of school then go back to a home country and spread the word about Japan.
We know that the schools we work at, what is expected of us, and the English levels of the students that we will be working with all vary from region to region, school to school, teacher to teacher, age group to age group, and class to class. In addition, some schools may be high-level schools that focus more on high-stakes entrance tests for HS and university. Teachers at these schools tend to make more use of the grammar-translation (yakudoku) method of teaching in English classes than communicative English and 21st-century skills development that ALTs teach. Differences between yakudoku and the methodology we primarily use, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), are covered in module 8. While schools (high-level or not) vary widely in how much of a role they want the ALT to play in the education of their students, motivated and assertive ALTs will naturally find ways to raise educational quality.
To learn about grammar translation read Hino. For more on preparing students for exams, read the ALTTO blog on backwash.
Now we’ve looked at the background of why roles are what they are, let’s look at the four most discussed ones.
10.1 ALTs as Team-Teachers
This mini summary extends from module 5 content, written by James from ALT Insider. ALTs were officially employed to team- teach with a JTE. However, as we saw from the 2014 CoS above there is no mention of team-teaching. Among those living in Japan, the phrase ‘team-teaching’ is becoming a little dated. This all contributes to ESID. In fact, the very term ‘team-teach’ has no single definition, and there are as many interpretations of team-teaching as there are ALTs, JTEs and ALT employers. As a result, there is an enormous amount of literature on team-teaching that discusses what it is and how it may be done.
10.2 ALTs as tape recorders
The following teaching patterns have not been previously covered in the course, though they have been widely written about and discussed by ALTs, the media and academia for decades. As soon as ALTs came to Japan in 1987 the term 'human tape recorder' was born. This classroom situation describes the ALT reading a prepared text out loud once or twice during an entire lesson while the JTE does all of the teaching. Students either repeat or answer questions about the content of the text. The educational merit of this pattern is questionable and outcomes of this that have been reported include power struggles, issues with job satisfaction and the ALT being a wasted resource, amongst others.
See this vignette for an actual account of the tape recorder role from 2016
See this vignette for an actual account of the tape recorder role from 2016
Nate's Vignette
I’ve worked in 8 schools in my 3 years being an ALT. I get a lot out of my job even though it’s difficult at times. Watching the students improve their language ability, confidence and social skills because of my lessons is such a reward. Last year however I was subjected to being used as a tape recorder by a teacher. In her classes, she just asked me to read from a text for a few minutes of the whole class – that was it. The other 45 minutes was excruciating. I never knew what to do, so I just paced back and forth at the back of the class.
I did TEFL and CELTA courses before coming to Japan and had teaching experience from working in three different countries. I really wanted to practice what I’d learned, and in other teachers’ classes I did. Students in those classes were progressing academically and in confidence. But in this teacher’s class little progress was made, students were bored and had a bad impression of English. It was frustrating. She had no reservations about her teaching methods, and I don’t think she did it out of spite. She retired the year after this, and that was when other teachers told me that she was stuck in her ways of using old teaching methods (grammar translation, or yakudoku in Japanese). They also told me that the only reason she became a teacher was because it was the only profession that gave her an equal standing with men. Her ability to teach or even interest in being a teacher was always questioned. In her classes students seldom actually spoke any English. Now that we don't teach together students in all my classes speak a lot more, they are intrinsically motivated to learn and their grades are improving. That teacher was not a bad person, just a product of a different time.
10.3 ALTs as Skit Partners
Another common teaching pattern is the “skit partner” pattern. This role describes an ALT and JTE performing a role play at the start of the class to illustrate a certain grammatical point or vocabulary. After acting out the skit several times, students’ attention is drawn to the linguistic features used in the skit. Afterwards, JTEs usually explain the grammar in-depth using yakudoku, followed by an activity in which students use the newly-acquired grammar/vocabulary in a speaking activity.
Variations of this include ALTs modelling with a confident student too. Considerations on how you choose to perform a skit depend on how much time you have to plan (looked at in this section), the English ability of the JTE, and the language ability of the students.
Variations of this include ALTs modelling with a confident student too. Considerations on how you choose to perform a skit depend on how much time you have to plan (looked at in this section), the English ability of the JTE, and the language ability of the students.
10.4 ALTs as Solo Teachers
The term for ALTs that teach by themselves is sometimes called ‘solo’ teaching. How this role is perceived really depends on the individual – newer teachers may desire more support if their hiring company has provided little training, while experienced teachers may prefer teaching as the JTE marks papers at the back of the room (or something similar).
ALTs have been teaching in ‘solo’ positions since the current ALT initiative was introduced in the late 1980s. Research from the Institute for Research in Language Teaching at that time found the ALT to be in charge of 30% of the lesson (McConnell 2000, 211). In the modern era, some ALTs can only legally teach by themselves because of Japanese labour laws. ALTs hired by dispatch companies can only legally talk about school matters with their employer. They cannot team-teach as they cannot legally talk to teachers about the lesson at any point; before, during or after class. For these ALTs, which account for around a third of the 20,000 or so ALTs (in 2020), if the JTE asks the ALT to speak more slowly (for the students to understand) for example, they are breaking the law.
The “solo” teaching pattern in which the ALT leads all, or the majority of the class, is common. In this pattern, the JTE supplements the ALT’s role by fleshing out anything that is unclear. For example, an ALT might illustrate a certain grammar point using a PowerPoint presentation with one slide in Japanese that the JTE would be responsible for. The ALT could also ask the JTE to translate a word or give out handouts.
The level to which you team or solo teach depends on a host of factors. JTEs are extremely busy, so you taking the lead may be a blessing (they often use this time to catch up on marking at the back of the class or in the staff room). JTEs may also may have limited English language ability and need you to take the lead. JTEs may also have little interest in teaching (English) and just want you to teach (these teachers usually don’t come to the classroom). Other factors directing this teaching style include the policies of the companies you work for, and the level of school you work at (in ES, few teachers have had any language teacher training, whereas in HS the teaching ability and language competency is generally very high).
The future of ALTs working in a team-teaching situation is uncertain. The Japanese government has announced over the years that solo teaching is on the horizon (e.g. Tope, 2003 – this article also gives some insight into why Yokohama and other BoEs have phased out JET ALTs, and focused on teachers living in Japan with teaching experience, language and cultural knowledge). For a first-hand account of solo teaching, see Caleb Moon’s guest blog on solo teaching, and here for AJET's views on it.
ALTs have been teaching in ‘solo’ positions since the current ALT initiative was introduced in the late 1980s. Research from the Institute for Research in Language Teaching at that time found the ALT to be in charge of 30% of the lesson (McConnell 2000, 211). In the modern era, some ALTs can only legally teach by themselves because of Japanese labour laws. ALTs hired by dispatch companies can only legally talk about school matters with their employer. They cannot team-teach as they cannot legally talk to teachers about the lesson at any point; before, during or after class. For these ALTs, which account for around a third of the 20,000 or so ALTs (in 2020), if the JTE asks the ALT to speak more slowly (for the students to understand) for example, they are breaking the law.
The “solo” teaching pattern in which the ALT leads all, or the majority of the class, is common. In this pattern, the JTE supplements the ALT’s role by fleshing out anything that is unclear. For example, an ALT might illustrate a certain grammar point using a PowerPoint presentation with one slide in Japanese that the JTE would be responsible for. The ALT could also ask the JTE to translate a word or give out handouts.
The level to which you team or solo teach depends on a host of factors. JTEs are extremely busy, so you taking the lead may be a blessing (they often use this time to catch up on marking at the back of the class or in the staff room). JTEs may also may have limited English language ability and need you to take the lead. JTEs may also have little interest in teaching (English) and just want you to teach (these teachers usually don’t come to the classroom). Other factors directing this teaching style include the policies of the companies you work for, and the level of school you work at (in ES, few teachers have had any language teacher training, whereas in HS the teaching ability and language competency is generally very high).
The future of ALTs working in a team-teaching situation is uncertain. The Japanese government has announced over the years that solo teaching is on the horizon (e.g. Tope, 2003 – this article also gives some insight into why Yokohama and other BoEs have phased out JET ALTs, and focused on teachers living in Japan with teaching experience, language and cultural knowledge). For a first-hand account of solo teaching, see Caleb Moon’s guest blog on solo teaching, and here for AJET's views on it.
.... 50 or pages in, 20 or so to go, are you enjoying the module so far? Remember to give us feedback about this module or anything else on the site, and ALTopedia. Email us, and please complete the module evaluation at the end of each module so we can keep content relevant to you.
11.0 Levels of Schooling
We move now to a succinct look at the different levels of schooling and teaching English in them; ESID is, of course, the order of the day. The Japanese Ministry of Education raises the language learning goals in its policies each time it releases it’s curriculum guidelines the Course of Studies (CoS) – you read about the CoS in section 10.0 above, Tahira’s article and most of the previous modules on this course (particularly Module 2). The CoS, which covers all subjects and levels of schooling, is released about every 10 years. The 2014 CoS states: “Amid ongoing globalization, the development of students’ proficiency in English, a common international language, is crucial for Japan's future. Under the reform of English education, not only the cultivation of fundamental knowledge and skills, but also such abilities as to reason, make decisions or express oneself in order to solve problems by oneself will be inevitable.”
11.1 Kindergarten
Kindergarten is 幼稚園 (youchien) in Japanese. It’s a half-day program that gets students ready for entering elementary school, and in that regard, it is quite similar to kindergartens in many other countries. It is worth noting that kindergartens are not mandatory, but most children are enrolled in them as a matter of course.
There is another facet to pre-elementary education -- the nursery school, or 保育園 (hoikuen). Nursery schools are geared more towards working parents and are open later than kindergartens and on weekends. Another difference is that kindergartens are often more academically oriented while nursery schools often fill the roles of both daycare and school. Both kindergartens and nursery schools exist as public and private entities.
For the purposes of this guide, kindergarten will be referred to as KD, and nursery school will be referred to as NS.
There is another facet to pre-elementary education -- the nursery school, or 保育園 (hoikuen). Nursery schools are geared more towards working parents and are open later than kindergartens and on weekends. Another difference is that kindergartens are often more academically oriented while nursery schools often fill the roles of both daycare and school. Both kindergartens and nursery schools exist as public and private entities.
For the purposes of this guide, kindergarten will be referred to as KD, and nursery school will be referred to as NS.
11.1.1 English in Kindergarten
International preschools and kindergartens have been sprouting up all over the country at an accelerated rate since around 2010. In these teaching contexts, English teachers may be hired on a full-time or part-time basis. In that sense, English teachers in these teaching environments are not assisting anybody and work alone. This guide will focus more on how ALTs are placed in KDs and NSs via the dispatch system.
ALTs working in junior high school via dispatch companies are sometimes dispatched to KDs or NSs when their JHS has a test week or there are otherwise no classes, such as during summer and winter vacation periods. ALTs will receive their assignments a few weeks prior to the KD/NS dispatch date, as well as maps or other transportation guides to get them to the correct location. ALTs will also receive KD/NS materials in advance, usually delivered to their JHS through the postal system. On the day of their KD/NS lesson, teachers will report directly to the KD/NS site, carry out their lesson(s), and then report back to their JHS and finish their day there. Because KD/NS is such a different teaching environment compared to JHS, there are some important things to keep in mind:
ALTs working in junior high school via dispatch companies are sometimes dispatched to KDs or NSs when their JHS has a test week or there are otherwise no classes, such as during summer and winter vacation periods. ALTs will receive their assignments a few weeks prior to the KD/NS dispatch date, as well as maps or other transportation guides to get them to the correct location. ALTs will also receive KD/NS materials in advance, usually delivered to their JHS through the postal system. On the day of their KD/NS lesson, teachers will report directly to the KD/NS site, carry out their lesson(s), and then report back to their JHS and finish their day there. Because KD/NS is such a different teaching environment compared to JHS, there are some important things to keep in mind:
- Teachers in JHS and HS may wear a smart blouse, ties, slacks, and dress shoes. These articles of clothing are out of place in the KD/NS classroom. You would do well to wear some type of athletic clothing to lessons, like a jogging suit that elementary school teachers often wear. An athletic polo shirt would be ideal for this situation, as would bright/primary colours, and pictures of animals, cartoon characters etc. to raise interest and enjoyment.
- The content of the lesson is very different compared to JHS/HS. The Dispatch Company (DC) and KD/NS will often work out the teaching schedule and content well in advance. Stick to it. The most common topics include colours, numbers, and animals, along with themed lessons like holidays. The materials sent out by the DC should include flashcards, CDs, and picture books, although materials will vary depending on what the KD/NS has requested. Genki English songs work well here too.
- When first arriving at the KD/NS, ring the bell at the main gate. A member of staff will come to meet you, you’ll be shown in, and most likely taken to the principal’s office (園長室, enchoushitsu), where you’ll be served tea and have a chat with the principal. You’ll discuss the contents of the lesson, and they’ll inform you of what time and what age groups you’ll be teaching.
- KD/NS lesson times can vary. They are typically 30-40 minutes in length, due to this age group’s short attention spans, but some lessons are 45 or even 50 minutes long.
- A typical lesson will open with singing and dancing. Refer to whatever materials your DC has sent you. After that, you should introduce the topic of that lesson and then lead the children through some activities. The phrase “show, don’t tell” is often used in language teaching. This is triply important in the KD/NS environment as at this age; children learn by doing. These children are not even fluent in their first language yet, so giving verbal instructions in English is entirely out of the question most of the time (there could be non-Japanese children and children that have been going to an English school sometime after their birth who’ll be fine with English of course). Instead, act out what you want them to do, repeatedly. They will soon catch on and the lesson will move forward (at this age, whatever the nationality or language level of the children, they will enjoy playing). It’s important to note that you will not be alone, and if you absolutely need to “give” directions, do so in Japanese, or ask one of the Japanese staff to do that.
- After your lessons for the day have finished, you’ll often be invited to eat lunch with the students. Whether or not you do so or not may not be entirely up to you, but doing so would make the teachers and students pleased.
- Once your lessons for the day have finished, make your way back to your school or home.
11.2 ES
Students in Japan enter elementary school during the year that they turn seven years old. This policy is called “gakkunen” and means someone that is the same age/grade as you. Students in Japan enter elementary school as first graders and graduate after their sixth year when they are eleven or twelve years old: first-year junior high school students are referred to as first graders.
11.2.1 English in ES
Since 2002, ALTs have been teaching English to fifth graders, with Home Room Teachers (HRT) in the class. 2002 was the first year for English to be taught in ES, though at that time it was an optional subject. By 2011, English became a compulsory subject in ES, but there were not any tests or grading of any kind. Between 2002 and 2019, English was considered an activity, unlike other subjects that have guides on how to teach, a curriculum and tests to measure achievement. The 2019-2020 CoS promoted English to a formal subject with a new textbook, ‘We Can’, a curriculum, and tests measuring achievement. The age of learning English was also lowered to the third grade, to compete with other Asian countries, where students start learning second languages from a younger age. Here is some reading about English in Japanese ES.
We saw that the importance of language learning, mainly English, is continually raised through the CoS. The 2019-2020 CoS stipulates that one ALT is to be in every ES. ES teachers are not trained English teachers though (4.9% had English teaching certificates in 2015), and ALTs at this level of schooling are more likely to find themselves teaching on their own: as we writers all do. There is a lot of research on this, and a dedicated section on the ALT training site here. Some more general aspects about teaching in ES from ‘The Japan Times’ are here. If you have written something or know of something to add to the website that will improve educational standards, email it in, and we’ll put it up – remember the Facebook group too for any teaching tips you can share.
MEXT has been widely criticized for failing to provide sufficient training for teachers in ES. These teachers already work full time and have full-time responsibilities (as we looked at above). Putting yourself in their shoes will help to understand the pressure they are under and will go a long way in building a professional relationship. To illustrate, imagine if you were cornered into teaching a foreign language that you don’t speak and provided with little to no training. This reality has attracted a lot of research. Here are some example papers/topics to start you off on becoming more familiar with language teaching at this level: research on teacher anxiety is here (Machida) (2015) (the abstract outlines the findings provide useful information), and research on teaching in fourth to sixth-grade ES classes here (Suwa et al 1994), and need for training here (Miyazato, 2014).
A primary theme of articles such as these, besides the need for training, is the need for classroom research by teachers. Teachers are in the best position to tell the outside world what is happening in the classroom to improve educational standards – sometimes called ‘researching from the inside’. This need for classroom research by teachers is completely supported through the Professional Development (PD) modules (16 to 23) of this course. There, you will find all the tools to develop your own research goal, conduct research, and write and publish it with the aim of raising the quality of education delivered. By contributing to the future of language education, you will also gain more job satisfaction and transferable skills (conducting research, collaborating with teachers, writing and publishing etc.).
We saw that the importance of language learning, mainly English, is continually raised through the CoS. The 2019-2020 CoS stipulates that one ALT is to be in every ES. ES teachers are not trained English teachers though (4.9% had English teaching certificates in 2015), and ALTs at this level of schooling are more likely to find themselves teaching on their own: as we writers all do. There is a lot of research on this, and a dedicated section on the ALT training site here. Some more general aspects about teaching in ES from ‘The Japan Times’ are here. If you have written something or know of something to add to the website that will improve educational standards, email it in, and we’ll put it up – remember the Facebook group too for any teaching tips you can share.
MEXT has been widely criticized for failing to provide sufficient training for teachers in ES. These teachers already work full time and have full-time responsibilities (as we looked at above). Putting yourself in their shoes will help to understand the pressure they are under and will go a long way in building a professional relationship. To illustrate, imagine if you were cornered into teaching a foreign language that you don’t speak and provided with little to no training. This reality has attracted a lot of research. Here are some example papers/topics to start you off on becoming more familiar with language teaching at this level: research on teacher anxiety is here (Machida) (2015) (the abstract outlines the findings provide useful information), and research on teaching in fourth to sixth-grade ES classes here (Suwa et al 1994), and need for training here (Miyazato, 2014).
A primary theme of articles such as these, besides the need for training, is the need for classroom research by teachers. Teachers are in the best position to tell the outside world what is happening in the classroom to improve educational standards – sometimes called ‘researching from the inside’. This need for classroom research by teachers is completely supported through the Professional Development (PD) modules (16 to 23) of this course. There, you will find all the tools to develop your own research goal, conduct research, and write and publish it with the aim of raising the quality of education delivered. By contributing to the future of language education, you will also gain more job satisfaction and transferable skills (conducting research, collaborating with teachers, writing and publishing etc.).
David's Vignette
My BoE has done (and still does) a lot to support our HRTs in ES. I think the BoE understands the challenges that HRTs face and how much they are being asked to do. When it comes to HRTs in ES, some are very enthusiastic about English and help out a lot in the classroom. With some teachers you can get the feeling that they’re just doing it because they have to.
In either case, I think it’s important to remember that we are here to support the students and the teachers. One way to do this is to create an atmosphere of supportive, collaborative learning. Some things I’ve done to accomplish this are having short conversations with the HRT at the beginning of class, asking the HRT some of the questions I’ll be asking the students, and asking the HRT about questions related to Japan. We often have to remind our HRTs that the goal is communication. They don’t have to be perfect, fluent English speakers; they just have to be able to say some basic phrases and have decent pronunciation. Even if it’s not native level, they can at least try to break the katakana English habit! Inclusion, support, and respect go a long way to helping advance English education in Japan’s schools.
11.3 JHS
Co-teachers in JHS have received teacher training to be English teachers and will (mostly) have a higher command of English than teachers in ES. Their undergraduate degree may be in either English literature or language; the language graduates are more confident in their English ability. In JHS it is more common for you to speak with the JTEs in English throughout the school day. The 2020 CoS (with gradual implementation at the local level from 2014) requested classes in JHS to be conducted in English – remember that the CoS supplied by the Ministry is a guide and it can be interpreted by BoEs, schools and teachers to suit their schools and abilities.
Some JHS JTEs you work with might be open to meeting any time to discuss upcoming lessons and lesson ideas. Other JTEs might be overwhelmed with other tasks and respond best to written notes left on their desk (as discussed above). If you have free periods and you’re not observing classes or doing any non-classroom work (covered in section 12.0 below) it would be a good idea to look at upcoming classes and prepare materials. Taking a proactive approach to lesson planning will improve your skills and teaching relationships.
Some JHS JTEs you work with might be open to meeting any time to discuss upcoming lessons and lesson ideas. Other JTEs might be overwhelmed with other tasks and respond best to written notes left on their desk (as discussed above). If you have free periods and you’re not observing classes or doing any non-classroom work (covered in section 12.0 below) it would be a good idea to look at upcoming classes and prepare materials. Taking a proactive approach to lesson planning will improve your skills and teaching relationships.
Alice's Vignette
I receive my schedule from the ALT supervisor in each school and written next to the classroom number is the page in the book I am requested to teach. The supervisor usually writes a grammar point on the timetable too. I either walk to the class with the teacher or meet them in the class. The teachers don’t really ask what I’m going to teach, but I do inform them if I’ve incorporated the teachers in the lesson so they know what to do.
After the class we usually walk back to the teacher’s room together, and this is the ideal time to reflect on the class. As often as possible, I ask them how the lesson went, what they would change or tips to make the lesson better. Sometimes their minds are elsewhere, which I understand, but they usually offer a comment. Today, for example, I taught infinitives to a second-grade class (a learning objective that was new to them). After teaching the grammatical point we practiced it using the PPP structure (see module 8). The activity was nearing an end and there were six or seven minutes left of the class. I randomly selected students to read out the answers to 10 questions that they had written, but in voices different from their own (Mickey Mouse, Donald Trump, me, etc.). It was a lot of fun for the students and worked to increase their confidence in speaking aloud. By the end of the class, I had a good feel for who I would chose to read aloud. After the class I asked the JTE on her views of this ad-lib activity. She said it suited the class very well, but in another class, where there are some school refusal* students, and it wouldn’t be a good idea. Although I can usually can pick out the students with some form of complication (school refusal, ADHD, learning disorders etc.) at some point during the lesson, it’s always good to get a heads up from whomever I work with. By such conversations I get to improve my teaching, awareness of the school and students, and relationship with this JTE. Other times, after feedback from JTEs, I edit the worksheet or PowerPoint I just used immediately after the class while it’s fresh in my mind.
* School refusal: An unfortunate phenomenon where students refuse to go to school for extended period: weeks, months, years. Japan has a relatively high number of such students, and reasons are usually related to social psychology and anxiety – just google ‘school refusal Japan.’
11.3.1 English in JHS
In JHS, a school with five classes per grade may have four English teachers, so ALTs in JHS will usually work with fewer teachers than in ES.
As language teachers, we must balance teaching each of the four skills -- reading, writing, listening and speaking -- with skill development (e.g. discussion, teamwork/social, leadership, critical thinking and media etc.). For larger schools with classes that we teach less frequently, more focus is usually placed on speaking, so balancing language skills and 21st-century skills takes practice – remember that nobody is the best at what they do when they first do it (including teachers). Experience and sharing with other ALTs will help you become the best you can be (use the Facebook group to do this).
The chain of command is, hopefully, becoming clearer to you and is a central point to this section (11.0). When we talk about the CoS released by MEXT, we have to use words like ‘suggest’ and ‘recommend’ because the CoS are language teaching guidelines, not a list of rules that schools must follow. Japan doesn’t have a system of checking whether or not the CoS is being used/followed. Other OECD Countries have independent authorities that visit schools and evaluate teachers to make sure they are teaching the national curriculum and those teaching standards are as high as they can be. School inspections by OFSTED in the UK or the ERO in New Zealand to regulate teaching standards and work to ensure the curriculums supplied by educational ministries are being followed. Without such a system in Japan, what is taught and how it is taught varies very much from teacher to teacher and school to school.
As language teachers, we must balance teaching each of the four skills -- reading, writing, listening and speaking -- with skill development (e.g. discussion, teamwork/social, leadership, critical thinking and media etc.). For larger schools with classes that we teach less frequently, more focus is usually placed on speaking, so balancing language skills and 21st-century skills takes practice – remember that nobody is the best at what they do when they first do it (including teachers). Experience and sharing with other ALTs will help you become the best you can be (use the Facebook group to do this).
The chain of command is, hopefully, becoming clearer to you and is a central point to this section (11.0). When we talk about the CoS released by MEXT, we have to use words like ‘suggest’ and ‘recommend’ because the CoS are language teaching guidelines, not a list of rules that schools must follow. Japan doesn’t have a system of checking whether or not the CoS is being used/followed. Other OECD Countries have independent authorities that visit schools and evaluate teachers to make sure they are teaching the national curriculum and those teaching standards are as high as they can be. School inspections by OFSTED in the UK or the ERO in New Zealand to regulate teaching standards and work to ensure the curriculums supplied by educational ministries are being followed. Without such a system in Japan, what is taught and how it is taught varies very much from teacher to teacher and school to school.
11.4 HS
ALTs working in High Schools (HS), usually work in more of a “team-teaching” role than in lower levels of schooling. In HS, there are generally several English teachers per grade. Grammar, reading, and conversation or expression classes are most often taught as separate subjects. ALTs tend to work more in conversation or expression classes.
Since high school education is not mandatory in Japan, the types of senior high school vary more widely than the types of elementary or junior high schools; for example, in addition to traditional academic schools, there are agricultural and technical schools. These schools tend to have less focus on English even if it is a required course. As a result, students at these schools are generally much less motivated to learn it. ALTs at these schools will need to use a variety of strategies to raise motivation to study. Visuals and (spelling out) the usefulness of English in the business sector and globalized world, for example, is a common strategy.
On the other end of the spectrum are high level HSs. These schools tend to have a heavier focus on English and providing pathways to university. MEXT also designates some schools as Super Science or Super Global schools to promote various priorities. Super Science High Schools prioritise science, technology, and mathematics. Super Global High Schools are more likely to have ALTs as they prioritise communication abilities and global humanitarian issues. At these schools, ALTs might teach classes such as Cross-Cultural Understanding or News English in addition to the more typical conversation classes.
Since high school education is not mandatory in Japan, the types of senior high school vary more widely than the types of elementary or junior high schools; for example, in addition to traditional academic schools, there are agricultural and technical schools. These schools tend to have less focus on English even if it is a required course. As a result, students at these schools are generally much less motivated to learn it. ALTs at these schools will need to use a variety of strategies to raise motivation to study. Visuals and (spelling out) the usefulness of English in the business sector and globalized world, for example, is a common strategy.
On the other end of the spectrum are high level HSs. These schools tend to have a heavier focus on English and providing pathways to university. MEXT also designates some schools as Super Science or Super Global schools to promote various priorities. Super Science High Schools prioritise science, technology, and mathematics. Super Global High Schools are more likely to have ALTs as they prioritise communication abilities and global humanitarian issues. At these schools, ALTs might teach classes such as Cross-Cultural Understanding or News English in addition to the more typical conversation classes.
11.4.1 English in HS
As we have gone from ES to HS, we have taken a journey that encompasses contents in the CoS, teacher abilities, and variations in each school context. The CoS can be seen as a wave of implementation. The 2019 CoS (implemented gradually from 2014) introduced English-only classes, but this wave started in HS in 2011. And like we saw in the JHS section above with difficulties realizing this goal, there have been problems at the HS level too: research and ALT experiences all tell us that teachers are still widely using Japanese to teach. Reasons for not teaching in English include: the teacher’s English ability, anxiety, the influence of exams, and educational practices. Also though, and to put this is a bigger perspective, no language teaching theory, approach or method has ever said that instructing only in the target language is a good idea (Carson). Having a fluent or native English teacher in the class helps the quality of education in Japan incredibly (there may be times when you feel it doesn’t, or your competencies aren’t being acknowledged, but try to stay focused on the bigger picture). The links in this section are to get you started on how to navigate teaching at this level of schooling and, as with everything on this course, share your thoughts, experiences and finding with the rest of the ALT community on our Facebook group.
11.5 Preparing for Classes
This section finishes with a very short note on preparing for classes. We preface this with our collective mission statement: To deliver the highest quality of education.
The goal of the course is to put you in the position to do this, and the rest of the modules in the remainder of the course (Teaching and Contextual), support you in doing this. Raising your own game as well as the skills and abilities of your students in meeting Ministry objectives is the motivation behind this course. The teaching resources site (ALTopedia) complements the training and provides ways for you to get involved in shaping educational standards and collaborate with other ALTs.
Other sites exist, and our mission is for you to find the materials that suit your personality and shape your own teaching style on a personal level, so have a look around and go with what feels best for you. Some other ALT resource sites are: ALT insider, ALT Wiki, Eigo Ganbare and English Webbook.
The goal of the course is to put you in the position to do this, and the rest of the modules in the remainder of the course (Teaching and Contextual), support you in doing this. Raising your own game as well as the skills and abilities of your students in meeting Ministry objectives is the motivation behind this course. The teaching resources site (ALTopedia) complements the training and provides ways for you to get involved in shaping educational standards and collaborate with other ALTs.
Other sites exist, and our mission is for you to find the materials that suit your personality and shape your own teaching style on a personal level, so have a look around and go with what feels best for you. Some other ALT resource sites are: ALT insider, ALT Wiki, Eigo Ganbare and English Webbook.
12.0 Non-Classroom Duties
Hopefully, it’s becoming clear that the ALT job that requires a lot of work. We not only juggle learning a new language (that we may not be familiar with), culture and work environment, but we have the added task of working with many different people (staff and students). Building relations, dealing with personality clashes, and navigating similar or different teaching goals and learning outcomes, as with any work environment, can be challenging at times. On top of this, we don’t have a clear job description, and each of the 50-plus ALT employers provides various descriptions, which, as seen above, depend on Japanese laws and economic motivations.
The good (bad?) news is that there is one thing on which almost all employees agree, is that we help out with the numerous responsibilities that keep the school running. Some of these are fairly standard (like cleaning), and others only a few of us have experienced (like serving tea to visitors). As these duties are (mostly) not mandatory, the amount of effort and time you commit to this will depend on your preferences. Some of these duties include:
The good (bad?) news is that there is one thing on which almost all employees agree, is that we help out with the numerous responsibilities that keep the school running. Some of these are fairly standard (like cleaning), and others only a few of us have experienced (like serving tea to visitors). As these duties are (mostly) not mandatory, the amount of effort and time you commit to this will depend on your preferences. Some of these duties include:
- Cleaning with students.
- Visiting students during club activities (joining in, coaching or watching).
- Coaching students for their speech contests.
- Starting an English club (see here for ideas on starting one)
- Greeting students at the front of the school in the morning
- Having lunch with students
- Talking to parents
12.1 About Doing Non-Classroom Work
Before we go on, a quick note about non-teaching duties. Most staff do not turn down requests to work. When you ask a school staff member to do something for you, they will very likely say ‘yes’ even when they have a lot going on Likewise, when you are asked to do something, staff often assume you will also say ‘yes.’ As teachers, the more we can integrate ourselves into the school faculty the better our rapport usually is. Completing any non-teaching tasks will support integration and Intercultural Communication (ICC) skills. With this in mind, we’ll start by looking at the most common requests and (potential) expectations.
12.2 Talking with Students
ALTs interacting with students during non-teaching hours may be done in a variety of ways, as mentioned above. By speaking in these informal settings, a more authentic feeling of communication occurs. These, often short, conversations check a lot of boxes beyond simple communication. They help students to raise intrinsic motivation, raise awareness of how to communicate, develop communication skills, and share knowledge about themselves and their cultures.
12.3 Translating
One of the main documents ALTs could be asked to translate are is a letter of recommendation for a student. Students going to other countries to study (whether permanently, for a long time, or just a short time) usually have to write a letter to the school and/or place of accommodation. There is a fairly standard structure when preparing this document: information about the student (hobbies, interests), previous trips abroad, academic interests, why they want to study in another country, what they hope to do and gain from the experience, and/or if they intend to stay in the country permanently. It often helps to meet with the student (on your own time) and talk about what they want to say so that as little as possible is lost in translation. BoEs that require ALTs to translate or read Japanese tend to only hire ALTs with proficient Japanese ability, like level N2 on the JLPT. It is unlikely you will be asked to translate something you are unable to, and if you are, just speak to your employer for advice on what to do.
12.4 JTE Teaching Materials
Imagine working in a school and there was a teacher in the staff room that spoke the language you were teaching – would you ask them to check your teaching materials for errors? Unsurprisingly JTEs that are keen to teach English with no spelling or grammatical errors ask us to check their work. Taking a quick look at worksheets or PowerPoints (or something similar) really helps the quality of education students receive. On this note, one of the most common topics on blogs and forums of parents (of any nationality) in Japan is about the English their children’s teachers use – usually, after reading a test paper or handout, the errors and questions relating to the quality of language education are reported on and discussed online. Those of you with children will likely be aware of such forums, and those without will not be surprised to hear about them. Remember that you are a part of the change. You are improving the quality of education students at your schools receive. Being really assertive here, asking the other teachers as they are on their computers if you can check anything, getting in the habit of checking tests they write (and even asking them to check tests you write), are some steps you can take to support students English acquisition.
12.5 Marking and Proofreading
You may assign homework to students or ask them to hand in anything they don't complete in class. One place to collect student work is in the class cubbyhole. Next to, or near, the staff room all classes usually have a cubby hole/shelf. Just ask them to put it there within a time period you set for you to conveniently collect, mark, and put back there for students to collect.
In addition to your work, the busy JTEs may ask you to mark their work for them, which could be classwork, homework or tests. The attention you give when marking is up to you. Some teachers provide comments on errors like grammatical explanations with examples, others might just check if the responses are correct or not. You could mark with a tick/check (√) and cross (X), or with a circle to signify a correct response in line with Japanese customs (as a goal is an immersion, our personal preferences are to use a check for a correct response).
In addition to your work, the busy JTEs may ask you to mark their work for them, which could be classwork, homework or tests. The attention you give when marking is up to you. Some teachers provide comments on errors like grammatical explanations with examples, others might just check if the responses are correct or not. You could mark with a tick/check (√) and cross (X), or with a circle to signify a correct response in line with Japanese customs (as a goal is an immersion, our personal preferences are to use a check for a correct response).
Ben's Vignette
As an ALT and father living in Japan I read a lot of forums, blogs and books about living in Japan, society and evolving social culture. Since around 2014, I started seeing comments from English-speaking people on most forums about the quality of education that schools are providing their children. One topic that frequently comes up (and increasingly so) is the English used in the exams. Japan has an exam culture as any ALT knows about from the sheer number of exams students have. The English in them (in schools all over Japan), is commented on by so many people, even just simple spelling or capitalization mistakes are brought up (sometimes a bit too critical). As an ALT, I've always actively asked JTEs I work with to check the tests they write, and any worksheets they make. This does increase my workload, on top of everything else, but I find that if I don't ask, then nobody asks me to check. I don't know if they think I'm too busy, or it would be inconvenience me or something, so I always just keep asking. Some JTEs see what I'm doing and actively ask me to check – which is great. But others don't get into this pattern. In addition to supporting other teachers and building rapport, I also know that I'm influencing the quality of education, even if only a little.
12.6 speech contests
Speech contest season is mainly from October – December. Many universities have speech contests in addition to the prefectural, regional, and national contests. Each student participating in a contest is matched up with an English teacher to help them. Teachers usually have multiple students. As ALTs, we’re often asked to help provide feedback, not just on pronunciation, but also on delivery and style.
Students generally write the first couple of drafts on their own or with the help of their supervising teacher. Then the draft is brought to the ALTs. We check the draft not only for grammar, but also for speech structure and clarity of the message. It is important to meet with the student personally. That way you are able to discuss the speech with them and pinpoint the message they wish to convey. This focuses the speech and guides the rest of the drafting process. Teachers often want you to make the speech ‘better’ -- though what that means depends on the teacher and the speech contest. Check with the school and your employer if the contest has any guidelines or topic requirements.
Once everyone involved is happy with the written speech, the student begins practising and memorizing it. Teachers and schools will have widely varied experiences with how they approach this; some teachers will approach you as early as May to work with the student, other will approach you a week before and ask you to go through it quickly. As always, being assertive can really help the student.
Some ideas we use and have heard about include getting more confident students to read/deliver their speech in front of a class, having them read it in front of friends, giving them a CD of you reading the speech, locating the student in May or June to start working with them, or recommending they watch TED talks to get ideas on delivery.
Students generally write the first couple of drafts on their own or with the help of their supervising teacher. Then the draft is brought to the ALTs. We check the draft not only for grammar, but also for speech structure and clarity of the message. It is important to meet with the student personally. That way you are able to discuss the speech with them and pinpoint the message they wish to convey. This focuses the speech and guides the rest of the drafting process. Teachers often want you to make the speech ‘better’ -- though what that means depends on the teacher and the speech contest. Check with the school and your employer if the contest has any guidelines or topic requirements.
Once everyone involved is happy with the written speech, the student begins practising and memorizing it. Teachers and schools will have widely varied experiences with how they approach this; some teachers will approach you as early as May to work with the student, other will approach you a week before and ask you to go through it quickly. As always, being assertive can really help the student.
Some ideas we use and have heard about include getting more confident students to read/deliver their speech in front of a class, having them read it in front of friends, giving them a CD of you reading the speech, locating the student in May or June to start working with them, or recommending they watch TED talks to get ideas on delivery.
We have found that schools tend to ask students to participate in speech contests who, unsurprisingly, have a high command of English: non-Japanese, biracial students who have lived abroad or students that go to English schools may be asked to participate. This may make the school look good (the quality of education they deliver), but it is questionable how fair the contest really is. The student who speaks has to ‘volunteer’ (all students are asked, and if there are no volunteers somebody is strongly asked to do it), and the person who does it usually has some level of confidence. This is where your educator hat must be worn. The skills you can develop here (as well as the language) are powerful tools that students will be able to carry with them into the future. Presentation skills and public speaking developed from JHS will be needed in higher levels of education and work.
12.7 General Support
Students, teachers and other co-workers have all kinds of needs and issues, as seen in modules 4 (for JTE needs) and 6 (for student needs).
We’ve touched on the work environment and teacher workload throughout this module, so rather than supplying a list of possible situations and how to remedy them, we thought to ask you about your experiences.
We’ve touched on the work environment and teacher workload throughout this module, so rather than supplying a list of possible situations and how to remedy them, we thought to ask you about your experiences.
Now back to the teachers and their English teaching. We have mentioned some situations and solutions, such as extra help with speech contests, checking teaching materials and marking papers. Another common activity is to watch a JTE’s class when you have a free period (all of it or just a few minutes – remember to ask first). You can make notes of the language mistakes they make when giving instructions, and (considering their personality) guide them on how to teach more effectively. If this isn’t well received or introduces an awkward power dynamic, you could ask them for feedback on your classes beforehand, then simply do the same for them.
Over to the students. Starting at the beginning of the school term first graders at all levels of schooling are stepping into a new environment – just think back to when you entered the next level of schooling and you had to orient yourself, make new friends, learn the school layout and teachers’ names. It can be overwhelming, and sometimes just a sympathetic, smiling face can help.
Over to the students. Starting at the beginning of the school term first graders at all levels of schooling are stepping into a new environment – just think back to when you entered the next level of schooling and you had to orient yourself, make new friends, learn the school layout and teachers’ names. It can be overwhelming, and sometimes just a sympathetic, smiling face can help.
Alex's Vignette
I’ve been an ALT for 6 years now, and the April pattern of student and staff behaviour is well in my mind. There are lost students, both in orientation and missing their family and friends (that went to other schools). Many teachers are also trying to settle into the new school by putting on a brave face, and the opposite of course, many excited people and confident teachers (I’ve been told by many teachers, not only JTEs but other subjects, that when you’re new to teaching, the annual rotation of schools is fun, but it soon becomes a real pain). Throughout the year everybody mostly settles in, but you never know what’s around the corner. I saw a third-grade girl in JHS walking aimlessly around the school a few weeks ago heading for the exit. I decided not to approach her as she seemed upset, and the stress of sharing her problem with an untrained counselor wouldn’t have helped. She left the school, so I quickly went to the nurse to talk about this. The nurse explained that the girl’s boyfriend, who went to a different school, recently committed suicide (unfortunately figures peak around exam time). Working in Japanese schools, these realites, as things that can’t be ignored, but it is one of the many, many things, I have to consider when interacting with students. I’m dealing with real people every day, and being considerate in spite of a language barrier guides me to understand my surroundings more, while remembering that I’m dealing with individuals. (For suicide prevention training, see here). There are many other organisations around the world to help you learn how to spot the signs and work towards prevention.
Here are some other sites I've used to educate myself: WHO, Specific to Japan
Teaching in Japan, according to Toyo Keizai, is slowly becoming a 'black occupation' because of all the extra work, as looked at in this module. Balancing your support, understanding the teachers and students whilst juggling all your responsibilities including possibly being the one person in the school able to develop 21st-century skills in the students, can be tough. The level to which you support really is down to your personality. Please use the ALTTO Facebook group to share your experiences and move a system with a lot of potential forward.
Young people, (as well as older) in all countries have their issues, and we’re all influenced by the wider forces of economics and politics. We’ve added some references throughout the module to aid in the understanding of sociocultural, political and economic factors that influence teacher and student behaviours (see Contextual modules also).
Young people, (as well as older) in all countries have their issues, and we’re all influenced by the wider forces of economics and politics. We’ve added some references throughout the module to aid in the understanding of sociocultural, political and economic factors that influence teacher and student behaviours (see Contextual modules also).
Consider the above discussion on workload and use that to develop empathy, remembering to look after yourself and wellbeing too.
12.8 Outside School
Now we turn to roles outside of the school grounds. Sometimes it’s surprising for students in any country to see their teacher outside of school – elementary-aged students especially can’t believe that teachers live outside of schools!
You’re more likely to bump into your students if you live in a rural area and/or live close to your school(s). If you are a parent, especially, you’ll see your students all the time at local parks, shops, swimming pools and play areas. Students and their family members will see you out and around, but often without you knowing it (as you likely don't know the parents). Shopping in your local store, the person serving you might say ‘Are you Ms Gonzalez? You teach my daughter at …….. school’. In the park, your students might run over and want to play with you and your daughter while you chat with their parents. You could be in a pub and notice someone looking at you a little too long before they ask if you are Ms Fischer. ALTs can have a positive impact on the community, and we paint a picture of ourselves through our behaviours. In more cosmopolitan/multicultural areas you will blend in, but away from these, you will likely be noticed. Japan, like any country, is full of gossip. So remember that as a teacher you have some responsibility to conduct yourself professionally.
You’re more likely to bump into your students if you live in a rural area and/or live close to your school(s). If you are a parent, especially, you’ll see your students all the time at local parks, shops, swimming pools and play areas. Students and their family members will see you out and around, but often without you knowing it (as you likely don't know the parents). Shopping in your local store, the person serving you might say ‘Are you Ms Gonzalez? You teach my daughter at …….. school’. In the park, your students might run over and want to play with you and your daughter while you chat with their parents. You could be in a pub and notice someone looking at you a little too long before they ask if you are Ms Fischer. ALTs can have a positive impact on the community, and we paint a picture of ourselves through our behaviours. In more cosmopolitan/multicultural areas you will blend in, but away from these, you will likely be noticed. Japan, like any country, is full of gossip. So remember that as a teacher you have some responsibility to conduct yourself professionally.
12.9 Weekends
Someone at the school might occasionally ask you to come in on the weekend and give you a weekday off. Just make sure you are asked well in advance – a good time would be at the meeting/conversation you have in May when you write the calendar for your school(s). Many ALTs have been caught off-guard by what seems to be a disorganised school that asks/tells them suddenly to come in on Saturday – when they already have plans! This nugget of information comes under the ‘you are expected to say ‘yes’ ideology. Of course, you can say ‘no’ – just make sure this conversation happens in advance of the event so re-scheduling (personal and professional) can happen.
12.10 Sleepover camps
Some schools have events where students sleep off-campus, and you too. Just make sure, like above, there’s fair warning.
13.0 Types of ALTs
There are three main types of ALTs in Japan: direct hire ALTs, Dispatch Company ALTs and JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) ALTs. Employment conditions and responsibilities for each vary depending on the type of contract and the company/organisation employing the ALT. This section gives an overview of the different types of ALTs and their working conditions -- a recap of module 3.
The table below clarifies the trend of ALTs that BoEs are hiring. The BoE decides which type of ALT their municipality, city or prefecture needs and which schools to send them to. Private companies and direct-hire BoEs do not keep clear records of their ALTs so these groups have been put together as ‘non-JET’.
The table below clarifies the trend of ALTs that BoEs are hiring. The BoE decides which type of ALT their municipality, city or prefecture needs and which schools to send them to. Private companies and direct-hire BoEs do not keep clear records of their ALTs so these groups have been put together as ‘non-JET’.
Table 1
Year |
JET |
Non-JET |
Reference |
1987 |
848 |
Zero |
CLAIR 2016 |
2002 |
5,676 |
3,090 |
Kashihara, 2008 |
2006 |
5,057 |
5,951 |
Kashihara, 2008 |
2013 |
4,089 |
11,343 |
Kano, et. al, 2016 |
2020 |
6,400 est. |
13,600 est. |
McCrostie, 2017 |
(information on these stats are on the About tab).
13.1 Direct Hire
Local government districts recruit ALTs directly by placing advertisements online and in the media. These ALTs are often recruited from within Japan and are known as ‘direct hires.’ The pay and employment conditions of direct-hire ALTs is stipulated by the contracting organisations themselves. Direct-hire ALTs, employed by a Board of Education, are appointed a supervisor from within that organisation. These ALTs usually have monthly meetings to talk about their experiences together or receive some form of training.
13.2 Dispatch ALTs
This group of ALTs are hired through a DC. DCs operate differently to JET and direct-hire contracting organisations because they are operated for profit. Their role is to secure a contract with a school or Board of Education and then find ALTs to fulfill that contract (see this paper for more). These ALTs are also different as they have two sets of obligations - one to their schools (on-site supervisor) and one to their DC supervisor. DC supervisors are responsible for ensuring ALTs follow company policies, while educational concerns are usually directed to on-site supervisors. Once again, the involvement of DC supervisors varies depending on your situation.
While some dispatch companies and supervisors offer educational support, others might be entirely hands-off. Labour laws in Japan don’t allow dispatch ALTs to talk to teachers at their schools about anything work-related. Legally, anything work-related must go through the DC supervisor. We have talked about communicating with the supervisor and co-teachers throughout this module, however some my not be legally able to do this.
While some dispatch companies and supervisors offer educational support, others might be entirely hands-off. Labour laws in Japan don’t allow dispatch ALTs to talk to teachers at their schools about anything work-related. Legally, anything work-related must go through the DC supervisor. We have talked about communicating with the supervisor and co-teachers throughout this module, however some my not be legally able to do this.
13.3 JET
The final type of ALTs is a JET. JET Programme participants apply through the JET Programme in their respective countries and are then accepted and appointed to a Board of Education or local government authority known as their Contracting Organisation (CO). JET ALTs are assigned a supervisor from their CO who will be their primary point of contact for work-, and sometimes, life-related issues. The assistance and support provided by the supervisor and CO varies quite a lot depending on the individual and situation. JET ALTs have their minimum payment and conditions stipulated by the JET Programme itself; however, there is some variation from CO to CO.
13.4 Different conditions
The differences in contract types and in the process of hiring and placing ALTs at schools means that ALTs find themselves in a wide variety of situations around Japan. There are many political, legal and economic factors that dictate which type of ALTs is hired, and the same factors dictate teaching practices. Consider these short examples:
In order to teach effectively, you must be in peak condition too; something that ALTTO addresses in the guest blogs. ‘Working in Japanese Schools’ could encompass a whole range of topics (as with working anywhere) but we’ve stuck to professional development throughout the module. We have included a small number of topics here related to different types of ALTs, and to our psychological well-being. The aim here is to keep the discussion open among us and provide support of each other.
We want you to be the best you can be, so share your experiences and questions. And, importantly, do read your contract before signing it. If you spot red flags share them here to advise others.
- Current labour laws (as of 2017) forbid ALTs to take any work-related instruction from anyone other than their employer, as mentioned above. These ALTs can’t legally talk about lessons with JTEs, and they cannot team-teach (as they would be talking about work-related matters with someone other than their employer).
- Dispatch companies bid for contracts, and one outcome of this is that if a company loses the contract all of their ALTs are out of work. Well-known cases of large numbers of ALTs suddenly being out of work are often in the Japanese press, for example June 16, 2016, and July 4, 2018.
- MEXT may pressure BoEs to employ a certain type of ALTs even when they don’t want to (see McConnell 2000 and Tope). And some BoEs are more autonomous and hire the types of ALTs that they want (e.g. teachers with more teaching experience – see, for example, Crooks, 2001.
In order to teach effectively, you must be in peak condition too; something that ALTTO addresses in the guest blogs. ‘Working in Japanese Schools’ could encompass a whole range of topics (as with working anywhere) but we’ve stuck to professional development throughout the module. We have included a small number of topics here related to different types of ALTs, and to our psychological well-being. The aim here is to keep the discussion open among us and provide support of each other.
- Different employers differ widely in how they contractually treat you like people. A common discussion amongst ALTs is time off, maternity/paternity leave and accommodation. Dispatch companies are businesses, so if you don’t work you don’t get paid. ALTs' pay and treatment is often talked about in Japan, on the media and in academia, see Flynn, 2009.
- Leave for expecting families too falls a long way behind European and North American standards too. Very generally: eight weeks for maternity leave, and five days paternity leave (laws for Japanese nationals differ).
- Some employers support you in finding accommodation, and some subsidize it too.
We want you to be the best you can be, so share your experiences and questions. And, importantly, do read your contract before signing it. If you spot red flags share them here to advise others.
14.0 One-Shot system
As this module has progressed more and more into an appreciation of ESID, we arrive now at a Japan-specific policy that is the cornerstone for explaining ESID: the one-shot system.
School educators around the world typically work at one institution, and that goes for Japan too. However, it is very rare that an ALT will work at a single school from Monday to Friday throughout an academic year. We’ve seen throughout this module that we typically work in any number of schools each month, a reality otherwise known as the one-shot system.
Regions with a higher budget for education (which varies widely across Japan) offer different educational experiences for students. For example, some BoEs schedule ALTs to teach at schools regularly and encourage us to develop 21st-century skills (like problem-solving, collaboration, communication, or tech-savvy) in line with other developed countries’ educational policies. Other BoEs have more of a focus on ALTs going to as many schools as possible. These BoEs may or may not focus on the quality of education we deliver. This depends on a large number of things, primarily how much money the BoE has, and who the ALT representative is (some are progressive, and some are not).
Here’s a little bit of history to understand the present. The first year of the current ALT initiative, 1987, saw the introduction of the one-shot system of school visitation. At that, that time ALTs had a desk in the Board of Education (BoE) from where they were sent out to work irregularly at schools for durations of a day, week or month. At this time the ALTs rarely saw the same students twice each month (McConnell, 2000, p.125). As you can read about in McConnell, there was a lot of confusion about this system. ALTs weren’t clear about their jobs until they arrived at schools, and the terms ‘gaijin show’ and ‘panda mentality’ were born. ALTs didn’t feel like teachers, but rather more like foreign performers carted around from school to school to perform. Four decades later, and this one-shot system hasn’t changed, but the understanding of the teaching context and individual professional ability has, and it has improved dramatically.
ALTs almost always work in more than one school. ALTs work in all classes and with all JTEs in one school and HRTs in ES. We’ve seen throughout this module that we could work in more than 20 different schools each month, at schools that could have 700 students or 70, and at schools that are high-level or low-performing.
This section brings elements of the topics discussed throughout this module together to understand both the one-shot system and how we may make it work towards the goal of raising the quality of education we deliver. We discuss good and bad viewpoints first before offering some discussion for you to expand.
School educators around the world typically work at one institution, and that goes for Japan too. However, it is very rare that an ALT will work at a single school from Monday to Friday throughout an academic year. We’ve seen throughout this module that we typically work in any number of schools each month, a reality otherwise known as the one-shot system.
Regions with a higher budget for education (which varies widely across Japan) offer different educational experiences for students. For example, some BoEs schedule ALTs to teach at schools regularly and encourage us to develop 21st-century skills (like problem-solving, collaboration, communication, or tech-savvy) in line with other developed countries’ educational policies. Other BoEs have more of a focus on ALTs going to as many schools as possible. These BoEs may or may not focus on the quality of education we deliver. This depends on a large number of things, primarily how much money the BoE has, and who the ALT representative is (some are progressive, and some are not).
Here’s a little bit of history to understand the present. The first year of the current ALT initiative, 1987, saw the introduction of the one-shot system of school visitation. At that, that time ALTs had a desk in the Board of Education (BoE) from where they were sent out to work irregularly at schools for durations of a day, week or month. At this time the ALTs rarely saw the same students twice each month (McConnell, 2000, p.125). As you can read about in McConnell, there was a lot of confusion about this system. ALTs weren’t clear about their jobs until they arrived at schools, and the terms ‘gaijin show’ and ‘panda mentality’ were born. ALTs didn’t feel like teachers, but rather more like foreign performers carted around from school to school to perform. Four decades later, and this one-shot system hasn’t changed, but the understanding of the teaching context and individual professional ability has, and it has improved dramatically.
ALTs almost always work in more than one school. ALTs work in all classes and with all JTEs in one school and HRTs in ES. We’ve seen throughout this module that we could work in more than 20 different schools each month, at schools that could have 700 students or 70, and at schools that are high-level or low-performing.
This section brings elements of the topics discussed throughout this module together to understand both the one-shot system and how we may make it work towards the goal of raising the quality of education we deliver. We discuss good and bad viewpoints first before offering some discussion for you to expand.
14.1 One-shot as Good
By working at many different schools with many different teachers, ALTs develop an array of activities and teaching strategies they can use in any class with any teacher. ALTs at two or more schools will also have more opportunity to develop interpersonal and intercultural communication (ICC) skills. ALTs working at multiple schools might also make more connections to young learners and develop more skills in a shorter time that can be applied to future schools. ALTs at larger schools have an increased responsibility to proactively engage students in communication as much as possible, especially those grade levels they will not be teaching for a while.
Transferable skills such as managing large numbers of foreign language speakers as well as materials development, critical thinking, and organization are also acquired.
Transferable skills such as managing large numbers of foreign language speakers as well as materials development, critical thinking, and organization are also acquired.
14.2 One-shot as Problematic
ALTs working at multiple sites will come in contact with their students irregularly, which could be detrimental to the quality of education being delivered. Understanding and remembering individual students’ English abilities, interests, personalities, social or cognitive issues, and previous lessons is very challenging. As you move onto JHS and HS hormonal, social, attitudinal, psychological and social changes complicate your teaching further. The one-shot is problematic in that it sees the ALT job as one that requires a lot of thinking on your feet, to enter classes and be able to adapt at all times throughout each lesson. For example, maybe the last time you saw class 2:4 you made a joke about a band that is popular at the moment and lifted the spirit of the whole class. But when you saw them two months later, mentioning the same band went down like a tumbleweed. In a more extreme example, say you choose a student to module an activity, and they refuse and run out of the class crying (you later find out that they are clinically depressed).
Other reported realities of working at multiple sites include having difficulty remembering students’ names and building rapport with students and school staff. This can lead to feeling isolated at either school.
Other reported realities of working at multiple sites include having difficulty remembering students’ names and building rapport with students and school staff. This can lead to feeling isolated at either school.
14.3 One-shot evaluation
Like all things relating to ALTs, a lot has been researched and written about the one-shot system, the good and bad.
15.0 Final thoughts
This module has been both pure joy and a complicated task to put together. Earlier versions were double and triple the length of the final edit. We truly hope we have produced a useful introduction to working in Japanese public schools to you.
The job description presented here, as you know, is honest. ALTTO is a grassroots initiative and we’ve been free to express ourselves, and the teaching context, without barriers. We are not an authority but actual teachers, and our aim is to help you make informed decisions about your job and remove any uncertainty you might have.
We have tried to write without bias and to remain general so as to apply to as many ALTs as possible. Since we are in schools, it is obviously difficult to remain objective, which is where writing as a group has helped. Other writers and the dedicated team of proofreaders have filtered content to be applicable to all ALTs and removed emotive personal comments. As ALTs taking this free course, it’s now up to you to help the ALT community grow, to connect with ALTs from other employers and to improve educational quality as a team.
We very much look forward to reading, and contributing to your thoughts on this module and the reflection questions.
Remember to actively use the companion site ALTopedia – free resources made by ALTs, for ALTs (you). Simply go to the site to download materials and upload your own, read this blog, or listen to this podcast, about how it has been developed.
Congratulations on completing module 7!
We really hope you enjoyed and gained from the content and reflection questions. Please take 2 minutes to tell us your thoughts towards this module.
The job description presented here, as you know, is honest. ALTTO is a grassroots initiative and we’ve been free to express ourselves, and the teaching context, without barriers. We are not an authority but actual teachers, and our aim is to help you make informed decisions about your job and remove any uncertainty you might have.
We have tried to write without bias and to remain general so as to apply to as many ALTs as possible. Since we are in schools, it is obviously difficult to remain objective, which is where writing as a group has helped. Other writers and the dedicated team of proofreaders have filtered content to be applicable to all ALTs and removed emotive personal comments. As ALTs taking this free course, it’s now up to you to help the ALT community grow, to connect with ALTs from other employers and to improve educational quality as a team.
We very much look forward to reading, and contributing to your thoughts on this module and the reflection questions.
Remember to actively use the companion site ALTopedia – free resources made by ALTs, for ALTs (you). Simply go to the site to download materials and upload your own, read this blog, or listen to this podcast, about how it has been developed.
Congratulations on completing module 7!
We really hope you enjoyed and gained from the content and reflection questions. Please take 2 minutes to tell us your thoughts towards this module.
16.0 References
Flynn, C. (2009). ALT Furniture: A look at dispatch ALT contracts. The Language Teacher, 33(5), 39-40. Retrieved from http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/job-info-centre/articles/532-alt-furniture-look-dispatch-alt-contracts
McConnell, D. L. (2000). Importing Diversity. California, CA: University of California Press.
MEXT, 2015, June 5. Plans on the Promotion of Improvement of Students’
English Abilities. Retrieved from
http://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/10/19/1378469_001.pdf
Simmons, N. (2018). Gaijin private parts: Maintaining privacy at work in Japan. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Yasushi, W., McConnell, D. (Eds). (2008). Soft power super powers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the Unite States. New York, NY: Routledge.
Flynn, C. (2009). ALT Furniture: A look at dispatch ALT contracts. The Language Teacher, 33(5), 39-40. Retrieved from http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/job-info-centre/articles/532-alt-furniture-look-dispatch-alt-contracts
McConnell, D. L. (2000). Importing Diversity. California, CA: University of California Press.
MEXT, 2015, June 5. Plans on the Promotion of Improvement of Students’
English Abilities. Retrieved from
http://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/10/19/1378469_001.pdf
Simmons, N. (2018). Gaijin private parts: Maintaining privacy at work in Japan. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Yasushi, W., McConnell, D. (Eds). (2008). Soft power super powers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the Unite States. New York, NY: Routledge.
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