Why Am I Here?
I apologize in advance, but I need to write an angry post. I’m talking pissed off, want to beat the shit out of things post. This has to do with my job.
Now, my job description is, essentially, to assist students in learning English and to enhance international awareness. Or something like that, I’m not so sure. Regardless, to be able to do either of those things, I have to actually interact with the students. That seems fairly easy, right? I mean, I’m in a school, I’m on the job, you’d think I’d be working with the students.
Oh, no, that’s not how it works here.
I am currently back at the very first school I went to this year (the one up the giant hill). This is the third and last time I’ll be here for this year (their school year ends in March). This school has, by far, my favorite students, who just happen to be third years. Third years means they graduate in March. Which means I’ll never see them again after this visit. When I got to school, you should have seen the excitement of the students, especially the third years. They were so happy to see me again because, I must admit, I am dynamic in the classroom and the students enjoy my teaching, for the most part.
I don’t have a single third year class. Not one. I will not see these kids in class. Why? I’ll be goddamned if I know.
Over the next two weeks that I’m at this school, I have a total of… 12 classes. Discounting the first day because that’s usually reserved for planning, I have a total of 48 possible class periods in which I can teach. I have 12. That’s 25% of the time I’m here.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re thinking: “wow, Steve, you have the easiest job in the world! 75% of the time you don’t have to work! How can things get much better?”
This is true, my job is easy, and I should be happy. However, I did not travel to the other side of the fuckin’ world so I can sit at a desk and stare at a computer screen doing nothing. I did not become a teacher because it was easy. For the first time in my life, I love my job, but no matter how much I want to work, I can’t work! How often does that fucking happen?
I don’t know the exact reasons for this. I don’t know if it’s because the teachers just can’t speak enough English and therefore don’t want to make an attempt to try and cooperate with me. I don’t know if it’s because they’re too busy to try and incorporate me. I don’t know if it’s just because they think I’m too inept to help out. I don’t know if it’s because they feel having an AET in class must be some sort of fun time “event” and so my presence in class is taking away learning time. I just don’t know, and I don’t care.
And here’s something else. As I’m sitting here in the teacher’s room, I happen to notice one of the English teachers returning from a class he did not take me to. In his hand was a CD player. Which means, for class today, he was playing the shitty recorded come with the book English phrases. Why? Why in the name of all hell would you do that? You have a real live English speaking person who is more than willing to assist in class! Why use a fucking recorded voice that sounds like shit and is guaranteed to bore the students into not giving a fuck.
This is completely fucked up, and the bitch of it is that I can’t do a damn thing to help the situation. I have less power than the students when it comes to what happens in schools. I’m going to a meeting on Wednesday with some English teachers to try and persuade them to make changes… it won’t make a damn bit of difference.
I don’t want to generalize an entire culture, but I will make a generalization right now, based entirely on my brief stay so far in one section of Japan (which makes me a bit of an ignorant asshole, I know, but I’m angry enough to do it). If the Japanese have a major fuckin’ flaw it’s their complete unwillingness to accept change of any kind. They just want to keep things the same as it always has been rather than take the risk of accidentally upsetting one person by making a change. Even if a change is to be made, it has to go through about 15 levels of bureaucracy before anyone will even be willing to discuss it.
I recontracted for next year. I’ll be here another full year. I’m wondering if that’s now a mistake, simply because of the fact that I have the single most useless job in the world.
I don’t think that would be such a problem if I didn’t see the immense potential of my position, only to watch it get pissed away by incompetence and fear.
Now, my job description is, essentially, to assist students in learning English and to enhance international awareness. Or something like that, I’m not so sure. Regardless, to be able to do either of those things, I have to actually interact with the students. That seems fairly easy, right? I mean, I’m in a school, I’m on the job, you’d think I’d be working with the students.
Oh, no, that’s not how it works here.
I am currently back at the very first school I went to this year (the one up the giant hill). This is the third and last time I’ll be here for this year (their school year ends in March). This school has, by far, my favorite students, who just happen to be third years. Third years means they graduate in March. Which means I’ll never see them again after this visit. When I got to school, you should have seen the excitement of the students, especially the third years. They were so happy to see me again because, I must admit, I am dynamic in the classroom and the students enjoy my teaching, for the most part.
I don’t have a single third year class. Not one. I will not see these kids in class. Why? I’ll be goddamned if I know.
Over the next two weeks that I’m at this school, I have a total of… 12 classes. Discounting the first day because that’s usually reserved for planning, I have a total of 48 possible class periods in which I can teach. I have 12. That’s 25% of the time I’m here.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re thinking: “wow, Steve, you have the easiest job in the world! 75% of the time you don’t have to work! How can things get much better?”
This is true, my job is easy, and I should be happy. However, I did not travel to the other side of the fuckin’ world so I can sit at a desk and stare at a computer screen doing nothing. I did not become a teacher because it was easy. For the first time in my life, I love my job, but no matter how much I want to work, I can’t work! How often does that fucking happen?
I don’t know the exact reasons for this. I don’t know if it’s because the teachers just can’t speak enough English and therefore don’t want to make an attempt to try and cooperate with me. I don’t know if it’s because they’re too busy to try and incorporate me. I don’t know if it’s just because they think I’m too inept to help out. I don’t know if it’s because they feel having an AET in class must be some sort of fun time “event” and so my presence in class is taking away learning time. I just don’t know, and I don’t care.
And here’s something else. As I’m sitting here in the teacher’s room, I happen to notice one of the English teachers returning from a class he did not take me to. In his hand was a CD player. Which means, for class today, he was playing the shitty recorded come with the book English phrases. Why? Why in the name of all hell would you do that? You have a real live English speaking person who is more than willing to assist in class! Why use a fucking recorded voice that sounds like shit and is guaranteed to bore the students into not giving a fuck.
This is completely fucked up, and the bitch of it is that I can’t do a damn thing to help the situation. I have less power than the students when it comes to what happens in schools. I’m going to a meeting on Wednesday with some English teachers to try and persuade them to make changes… it won’t make a damn bit of difference.
I don’t want to generalize an entire culture, but I will make a generalization right now, based entirely on my brief stay so far in one section of Japan (which makes me a bit of an ignorant asshole, I know, but I’m angry enough to do it). If the Japanese have a major fuckin’ flaw it’s their complete unwillingness to accept change of any kind. They just want to keep things the same as it always has been rather than take the risk of accidentally upsetting one person by making a change. Even if a change is to be made, it has to go through about 15 levels of bureaucracy before anyone will even be willing to discuss it.
I recontracted for next year. I’ll be here another full year. I’m wondering if that’s now a mistake, simply because of the fact that I have the single most useless job in the world.
I don’t think that would be such a problem if I didn’t see the immense potential of my position, only to watch it get pissed away by incompetence and fear.
posted by S A B at 1:34 AM
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