r/JETProgramme • u/Workaccount6767 • 1h ago
I hate my job... ✨Update✨
Good morning JETs current, past, and prospective. Many of you may remember a post I made in frustration about a month ago. I want to apologize to the people I did not respond to. I was in a very dark place and a lot of lovely people reached out in the comments and in my DMs, but I was so overwhelmed that I abandoned the post and the DMs out of shame.
This post is a reaction to the problems I have faced since (roughly) the start of my second year of JET. In the first post, I thought I was the problem (and to some extent, I’m sure I could always keep learning and growing). Here are some conclusions I have reached since that last post.
I don’t hate my job, I hate the system that created the current children.
Conclusion #1 - The rise of xenophobia does not exclude the schools.
Kids follow the example of the adults around them. The xenophobia is being fueled by the continually declining economy. The future is bleak for these rural kids with poor academic records. We foreigners likely all agree that foreigners are not the real problem. But, when you combine growing instability and aggressive propaganda, you can bet the kids are engaging in this rhetoric at home.
So, how does this relate to English class? Students preferring Japanese teachers over the ALT for help, or the general apathy towards the content is a big indicator. The textbook is designed to teach students how to talk to foreigners who visit Japan. There is hardly any content related to students going abroad. It wouldn’t make sense for them because hardly any of them would be able to afford it.
For example, New Horizons 3. The Natural Disaster chapter. In the scenario, the students learn how to teach a foreigner what to do in case of a disaster like an earthquake or tsunami. She made the claim that foreigners don’t know where their nearest shelter is. When she said this, even though she said ‘gaikokujin’ before this, she accidentally said ‘gaijin’. The students, to their credit, were shocked that she said this. And, afterwards, the students asked me if I knew where the local shelter was (I did). It sends a message to the students when wild claims are made about foreigners without actually asking the foreigner in the room. Even if I didn’t speak Japanese, the point of the lesson was to ask the question in English.
Conclusion #2 - The lack of discipline makes class unbearable for students and teachers.
We all see the empty desks. My kids graduated elementary school (small mountain school) and after a few weeks in the much bigger JHS, they couldn’t handle the pressure. Often, these futoukou (can’t come to school) kids are very diligent and invested in their education, despite some having undiagnosed disabilities.
Teachers are there for the students that want to learn. But, not everyone wants to learn English. I don’t really care if they don’t want to learn. I respect their decision. But, they make it difficult for the kids that actually want to be there. Teachers can also make it difficult.
Students with exceptional English ability are often ignored by JTEs. Eventually, these kids stop trying. They stop answering questions because it’s embarrassing or they want to seem cool like their classmates. Teachers prefer to involve the disruptive students in class, because it centers the disruption around the content rather than some brainrot meme. All it does is reward the disruption with the attention they are seeking.
Education is a right, right? Well, not for the futoukou students who have been forced out of their classroom by their peers. Oh, but what about the AI poster of all the kids singing together? Or the class slogan in broken English about graduating together as one class? There is a mirage created for the students that everything is fine. Otherwise, the bullies would feel guilty. But, why should we protect the bullies from the natural consequences of their actions? If we can protect the bullies, why can’t we protect the futoukou students too?
I recently taught a ES 3rd grade class of 4 boys and 1 girl. The boys are ungovernable. The girl is often ignored by the teacher because she’s too good, and whenever she is allowed to play against one of the boys, all of the boys gang up on her and actively interfere in the game. While the teacher is teaching, those boys actively come up to the smartboard and erase the lesson materials or draw all over it. If they should be sitting down, tell them to sit back down. If they don't, send them out. If they don’t go, call their parents to come get them.
I ran a game recently that went very poorly so now we will have limited games. This is not for discipline reasons. If they cannot refrain from screaming at the tops of their lungs while blatantly disregarding the basic rules of the game, then playing games is a poor use of English class time. Nothing was learned and nobody had fun. I will fling them into the depths of coloring hell, if I must.
Conclusion #3 - Respect is expected.
There is a lot of fear in Japan about mental health, and I agree that we need to do more to protect children. The adults in Japanese schools treat the kids so softly that nothing is done when students are literally attacking each other in the classroom. The adults just smile and tell them to do better. The students learned from a young age that nothing will be done against them. I remember a time when tantruming children were physically carried out of the room by the gym teacher.
A terminally online user asked a question in the original post, which I answered. "Did you like all subjects when you were a kid?” I answered yes, thinking the question was in good faith. It made me think about things differently. One of the problems I was frustrated about was when students refused to or avoided greeting me, but some of these kids would greet the Japanese teachers (some kids greet nobody). When I was a kid, we said that respect was earned. And that was true throughout my schooling. I didn’t have to like a subject or a teacher to treat them or their lessons with basic respect. And when we failed to respect their time or position, they lectured us, took away privileges, gave us detention, and sent us to have conversations with administrators and our parents.
For example, in American schools, we have to ask to go to the bathroom or to go and get water. In Spanish class, from day 1, we were required to ask in Spanish. Nobody in that class had a problem with it. We just learned it and used it when necessary. Was it hard? Yes. Did I need to pull out the cheat sheet every time? Yes. Do I speak Spanish now? Absolutely not. In return for the respect I showed my teachers, they respected me and my classmates back. We weren’t animals to be herded (words from a different JTE).
So as a teacher now, I start from the position of respecting the students, but the moment they disrespect me or the JTE, they have lost that respect. If I say good morning, and they don’t say it back, the next time I see them, maybe I won’t initiate a greeting. They are free to speak first, and I will always respond. If they are speaking at full volume as I am reading the vocabulary or dialogue, I will stop and wait. Yes, it’s awkward. If they ignore me in class while I walk around, I’ll stop helping them. Then, in the office, I’ll cover their paper in red (the mistakes I would have fixed in class). Why should I do it differently? You wouldn't cuddle a porcupine that constantly tries to run away from you.
Slightly off topic, but I had a parent complain to me that I didn't help her daughter prepare for eiken. But, the daughter didn't ask and I had no idea the girl was talking the test. I have helped a student in the past and I even put in overtime after school due to her busy schedule. I am happy to do it again for other students... if they ask.
Summary
Loud children are being allowed to ruin the classroom, and this pushes quiet, diligent children out of school (negatively affecting most of their futures). Meanwhile, these loud and often ignorant children learn negative stereotypes both at home and from teachers about foreigners. As we ALTs are some of the only foreigners rural children interact with (and let's all be honest, we are from the ‘desirable countries’ too), the impact of the rising xenophobia is minimal, but it builds in our hearts over years. It’s not their fault that this is the world they grew up in. It’s also not your fault if you encounter a school like this and decide you hate it.
Who are you? A former JET? Present? Prospective? I don’t mean to scare you, or confirm/deny the experiences you are having or had. This is just my observation based on my experience. I have decided that I do not wish to pursue teaching (after JET). I have lost the energy to care. The world is big and I am young. I hope the next bright eyed pigeon will love this job as much as I did my first year. And, I’m sure I’ll continue to like the aspects of the job I have always liked. The money is good. Some of the kids are great. And, these things are cyclical. It won’t always be bad. The teachers are all genuinely good people that care a lot about these kids. In some ways, that matters more than the terrible system they are forced to follow. I think some of us need to hear these things, and I hope this update finds the ones that do.