Being overqualified for JET

[jasonbvr]

Oh and by the way, other ALTs are not only cheaper, but usually work more than the JETs. None of those silly JET conferences to attend, and many ALT companies pressure their teachers into not taking holiday during the school term. They write up these BS contracts with penalties in them, many not legal and in no way reflecting your actual terms dictated by the BoE.

What really sucks though is when a city has JETs and non-JETs. They really need to go one way or the other. You work for a couple years and then some new teacher shows up with no experience making three hundred more than you a month, then you will know what I am talking about.

[MMM]

The numbers for JET are declining. I don't know if JET is trying to put people in elementary schools, but I have friends who were ALTs at two schools that no longer exist. The number of students is declining rapidly. Though, you are right, elementary schools should want ALTs.

Keep in mind that schools don't hire JET participants, the Japanese government does. My employer was not my school, but the board of education in the prefecture I worked in. Schools do not choose their teachers, the prefectural board of education does. So if private eikaiwa teachers are replacing JET ALTs, that is a prefectural government decision, not a school one.

[jasonbvr]

City decision actually. They are the ones paying your salary and benefits. This is why in Gunma you can go from a city like Kiryu where every ALT is JET to mine where it is mixed to Oizumi where there are no JETs. The city makes their budget then request the JETs from the prefectural offices. The more rural schools though, I can see them getting a lot of assistance fromt the prefectural level.

And for the most part you are right about schools having no say in the matter. Unless you go somewhere like Ashikaga and have to do an interview with the BoE and schools you will work for. That is if you are private. The JETs there certainly don't go through that.

[MMM]

It is probably different by prefecture. In Hyogo I was an an employee of the Hyogo Board of Education. For some things I could go to my local City Hall, but often I had to go to Kobe to get things done. I think while I was there Osaka City JETs were fighting for 5, not 3 year contracts, but I was told no matter what happened (despite the fact I was right next door) it would not affect me.

[jasonbvr]

I am actually starting to think about applying to the program this year when I go home. It would be interesting to see the response to a person with ALT experience, not just going to school in Japan. Then again, I bet when they figure out I owe a bit of tax to Gunma that will weigh on their decision heavier than living here.

[Tsuwabuki]

Wow, a lot to get through, and I can't quote it all, so I'll just reply with a few thoughts.

I agree with Samurai to some extent, but not using political catchphrases to do so. I DO think that this attempt to be totally egalitarian is a profound handicap. The goal of a public educational system is to level the playing field; make sure everyone STARTS from the same place. That doesn't mean that we need to pretend someone who isn't performing deserves to continue to be rewarded. It just means everyone has the same opportunity to move forward. If a child needs help above and beyond that initial leveling of the field, that's where the parents come in. Except, too often, they just don't. Rather than help, they enable. Thus you get this entitlement syndrome that has children turn to teens and teens to young adults who just expect someone to come along and enable them for the rest of their lives.

As for the ALT situation, I am an ALT, and my experiences sound completely different than what I am hearing above. I rarely deal with my company at all, and most of them time not even face to face. They're there to arbitrate in case something goes wrong, or there is a major communication difficulty. For the most part, I report to the BoE, not the individual schools at which I teach, and other than those above mentioned issues, I don't really deal with anyone beyond my immediate supervisors... sorta. My contract makes a lot of sense, the money I'm getting is more than enough, and I couldn't care less how much is being "skimmed" off the top. I'm not in Japan for the money, I have a retirement account that is quite robust, and as long as I have enough to eat, pay my bills, and travel when I want to, I am good. I certainly don't have issues asking off work. I have two weeks vacation useable within the school year. That seems to me the same as any other job I have ever held.

I also don't use just English in the classroom, especially not at the Junior High level when I am the sole teacher present. I have to use Japanese to explain grammar and to teach the lesson. I make a habit of repeating everything in Japanese and English, and my writing skills are good enough that I do the same thing on the board. Every direction, every sentence, is written in both languages. That doesn't mean I let my students bully me into minimising my English (and they certainly try) or let them off the hook when it comes to speaking English back to me, but speaking nothing but English with the textbook and materials they are presented with would simply be impossible.