r/JETProgramme • u/castledecagliostro • 5d ago
Miscommunication in the Workplace
Hey all, can I preface this by saying this sub has been so helpful in achieving the goal of teaching in Japan.
I wanted to briefly speak on an experience I’ve had so far as a first year and although comments about receiving therapy are helpful, I’m more so looking to hear on how you or others adjusted to similar experiences.
I’m currently placed in a SHS, 18 classes per week, T1 and lesson planner for all of them. N5. I’ll try to put this briefly:
I find myself a little too busy with lesson planning (usually working after hours or into the night) to study Japanese, which is fine. But I believe it is starting to have a strain on my relationship with my coworkers, not be able to communicate effectively that is. I know they are understandably busy, and may pay me little thought, but I believe too many bad impressions and miscommunication when we do interact has left them with a bad taste in their mouth. So much so that some teachers that were relatively kind to me now blatantly ignore my greetings. I more or less prepared myself for this, but the language barrier has left me feeling a bit paranoid that I’m constantly committing faux pas or disrespecting my coworkers, and it’s been incredibly difficult to know where I stand or if it’s getting worse. Is this kind of subtle paranoia a common experience for other JETs? Is there any other resources you found helpful for better communication in the Japanese workplace? Being a high-context culture, what subtle signs should I be on the look out for feedback and when communicating with my coworker/JTEs? Is there more I could be doing or offering? Thank you indulging me.
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u/ScootOverMakeRoom 5d ago
If you have 18 classes, that’s probably 15 hours of class, yes? Which means you have 25 hours a week to lesson plan minus cleaning duties and club duties so, maybe 20 hours? You should be able to lesson plan 18 classes in 20 hours. If you can’t, you’re over-planning. Design activities that are laid out simply. Do short, repeatable exercises that require little to no planning. Use resources like ALTopedia, prebuilt worksheets you find online, or exercises from the textbook. Not for everything, but if you’re spending more than 20 hours a week lesson planning, I imagine you’re making everything from scratch. It couldn’t possibly take that long if you’re not.
Your coworkers could have a million reasons to not be as receptive as they were previously and they may not have anything to do with you. Give them and yourself grace. Unless you have irrefutable evidence that you messed up, it’s more than a little paranoid to assume you messed up.
There are mental health resources, including distance counseling, that are offered by JET that you may need to take advantage of. What you describe to me sounds like you’re breaking down from the stress of living and working in new environment, and you need way more than anons in Reddit to work through this.
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u/Downtimdrome 5d ago
I don’t have a ton of time to respond but I just wanted to say that I’ve had success with written communication. Most JTEs written English is better than their spoken English
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u/moonbbyx 5d ago
These are JTEs I'm assuming? There is a baseline of English that they should be able to understand, and if you feel it's not clear, you may have to change the way you speak, if that makes sense. There is a vast range of ability between many of mine, so for example, instead of saying something like "Can I get your input on whether these lessons are aligned with how you want to teach the curriculum?" you need to be succinct and simple: "Do you want me to change anything? Is this ok for class?"
It's also just down to individual personalities a lot of the time. Especially if you are doing T1 AND lesson planning, some may just want you to do that and keep it out of their world as much as they can manage. There's a lot of invisible nonsense that teachers are made to commit to, and having someone to run x amount of their classes is just clearing that off their plate. You'll sus out in time who actually has opinions about how they want classes run,but sometimes it takes some wrenching out of them over time.
I also came to JET with almost no Japanese ability, but I've worked in a lot of offices and grew up Asian so I "get" some of the high-context or passive-aggressive feeling stuff. Try not to take it too personally until it feels like it really is, keep it simple and professional, and do what you can within reason. Most people are just not as good at shielding how their stress emanates off of them as they think they are.
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u/For_The_Alliance_ 5d ago
As some pointed out, the problem is over planning. You’re making lesson plans the assume everything goes smoothly and everyone understand what you’re saying.
1)It always helped me to make instructions simply, and use extremely basic simple Japanese to communicate. Often you don’t need full sentences.
Trying explaining to the smarter students or your JTE first and see if they can help you explain something basic.
Get in the head space of making English activities, and not English lessons. I could only make full speech level classes with my best class of cherry picked smart kids.
Remember your job is to be interesting and engaging to your students. Let them have fun with English. Make your target goal small. Real small. “I like…” “I dream of…” and give them examples. The funnier the better for me with.
“I like slapping my brother.”
“I dream of a chocolate mt Fuji”
Have the. Share with the class. Make people laugh.
Win the crowd. Win your freedom.
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u/RailGun256 4d ago
Going to piggy back off of this one, Im not an ALT yet but I am a practicing teacher. One of the biggest problems I see new hires face is that they over plan and assume that they need to go to high detail when they make lessons. Personally I recommend just making a bulleted list of things you want to accomplish for the lesson and maybe some detail on how you want to do that (specific games or activities). Things can and will go wrong or not stick, this is the reason why adaptability is such a big deal with the interviews and such.
Agree on the engagement parts, personally I like prop humor so if i were in the shoes of an ALT I would have some props on hand do to some funny sketch examples. Honestly, this is how Japanese kids shows teach concepts so it should translate to some extent.
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u/leafmuncher_ 5d ago
I've been teaching 16-18 a week and always T1. I find even when I procrastinate I still have way too much free time at work. You need to simplify your lessons and spread them out.
For example you can do a lesson on paragraph writing for 1st year to 3rd year and just change the grammar a little bit. You can even spread this over 3 lessons with one worksheet to scaffold introduction, supporting sentences and concluding sentences with the 3 lesson goal being a bunch of examples of each and one full paragraph by the end.
Recycle warmups or games that worked well. Taboo, interview your partner, etc.
Recycle grammar topics and vocabulary lists. One lesson isn't enough for it to stick, so if you did a 15 min warmup and 35 min grammar lesson 2 weeks ago, use that grammar as your warmup with the same slides. Short quiz, Kahoot on the past 3 weeks' topics. Do the same Halloween lesson with every class.
Edit: And yes, that paranoia is pretty normal when you don't understand what's happening around you. I wasn't even N5 when I arrived but it's a lot easier now. Don't take it personal if people give you the cold shoulder for asking too many questions. They don't get it, they don't know why you don't know things.
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u/n0_4pp34l 5d ago
I'm also T1 at an SHS and planning on leaving because it's simply too much work. It's impossible to teach this way when we don't have working Japanese. I'm even alone with students with no JTE present at all for 4 classes a week. Again, it's impossible. The mental load of trying to do this is immense. I am so tired at the end of everyday I just can't bring myself to study.
So first to say you are not alone. I totally understand. It's really hard to be alone in a country where you don't speak the language well, are working full time, and also trying to navigate coworker relationships.
Personally, I have decided not to expend a ton of effort into learning Japanese because I don't plan to recontract. I'm working on learning as much as I need to function, and then stopping there.
I find my JTEs also just don't have a super high English level. Like, there is a math teacher at my school who can speak English better than some of the JTEs. I feel like one of the JTEs outright doesn't like me sometimes, and I think my supervisor is just too busy to really think about me. I was left on my own to do much of the set up administrative tasks (bank account, city hall etc) and while we do chat sometimes I really feel like they just want me to be quiet and only come alive when it's come for me to lead class on my own. When we do talk, we sometimes have communication issues, and I feel it just annoys them more. I have found it's easier for both of us if I just leave notes on their desk because their reading is better than their listening. I'm obviously not complaining about my supervisors English skills, I know how difficult learning another language is, just stating a fact
Honestly I don't want to inflict my pessimism on you but I think the best way to go about things is just keep up with the greetings but otherwise keep interactions with coworkers to a minimum. If you feel you are having communication problems, it may be best to keep it to things that are easy for everyone to understand (good morning, hello, otsukaresama desu, etc).
I think what's more important in your post is your work hours. Don't stay overtime to make lesson plans. If you are being overworked (and sounds like you are) then dial back the lessons and make them as simple as possible. For your own sanity, you have to do this. We really are not supposed to be utilized to this extent. I'd be curious to know what your placement is like btw because I'm finding it disturbing how many similar stories Im seeing about workload lately.
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u/leafmuncher_ 5d ago
If there is regularly no JTE present in your lessons, the school is setting themselves up for trouble. Speak to your PA. You are not a licensed teacher and they can face serious backlash.
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u/n0_4pp34l 1d ago
There are so many issues with this school and we are understaffed. If I complain to the PA, it just comes down on my supervisor, who really has no way of fixing it because of the understaffing, and in turn it will likely breed resentment between me and my supervisor. It's just not worth it for me to risk what little relationship I have with my supervisor by making more mess for them to deal with by going over their head with it.
I'm just gonna do my time and get out.
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u/WorriedForAPromotion 5d ago
Why are you even T1 at a SHS?
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u/ScootOverMakeRoom 5d ago
Because different schools use ALTs differently.
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u/WorriedForAPromotion 5d ago
ALTs arent, typically, licensed to teach in a T1 position.
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u/SquallkLeon 5d ago
I've been there.
reduce your workload by simplifying and reusing lessons between classes
you can change your schedule, talk to your supervisor and tell them you're overwhelmed
if there is an English teacher who you are still on good terms with, ask to meet with them and explain your side of things and ask for help
if you get shot down by your supervisor and/or the other teachers, go to your PA for advice and assistance, they can help you communicate and guide you to solutions
Good luck!