The other side of the coin
Hi everyone, I feel a change may be coming on in my blogging style!! I think I'm through with the first stage of culture shock now - "wow, isn't Japan great? There are so many cool things! So much unexpected stuff! Isn't this... so funny?". No doubt these ideas will contine from time to time, but it's amazing it's lasted this long- meant to only last about 6 months or so, I've come through almost a year.
Maybe I'll blog more about day to day stuff or working thoughts- I'm not sure. But, I hope this summer will prove pivotal in my soon approaching 2nd year in Japan...
I've just come back from a GREAT week, helping out at a seminar for Japanese Teachers of English- i.e. people I team teach with on a day-to-day basis. It was great to be encouraged as I was able to sit in on sessions from 8:30-5pm every day, on how to teach COMMUNICATIVE English. I.e. the way I was taught when I did my TEFL (CELTA) course 4 years ago. When I came to Japan, I was shocked at the amount of Japanese used in the classroom (lots!), & that was in my lesson, which includes the most (spoken) English! It was really good to see the Japaense teachers being trained in how to teach in a more communicative way. E.g. In their grammar classes, they speak/ lecture in Japanese and disect English sentences, even though the teachers can't often produce the sentences themselves in conversations (let alone the students). And reading classes traditionally consist of them just translating the English texts straight into Japanese, without students having any need for communicating in English in the process.
When I did my tefl course a while back, it was just after I left school & I'd studied German A -Level, so understood loads of the techniques they were promoting: in fact, I was able to see what the teachers were trying to get us to do in all those lessons! And again, this week I was reminded about the purpose & usefulness of certain ways or methods. For me it was startling that for some, this was the first time the teachers had learned the communicative way. - 5 days wasn't long enough! [At uni, lots of people study English literature, which often doesn't prepare them very well to teach English communicatively in the classroom.] One of my old German teachers was a native speaker & she often got us translating straight from German into English. And the other teacher used more of a variety of (communicative) techniques I guess. So it's odd that, for me this is how I expect it to be done, but for these teachers, it's all new!!
Another interesting thing about the week was seeing the teachers as 'students' in a way: they were the learners. And it was remarkable how similar they are to my students. E.g. very quiet, don't volunteer to answer questions, etc etc. It was interesting! But I really hope they come back and use the things they learned. They were in an all English situation for a week - amazing, and I think their English has improved as a result. I hope their lessons change- not just to become more communicative, but more INTERESTING for the students. It's terrible I know when you sit in a boring lesson for at least 50mins... I think it was a revelation for some teachers, that it's not that students hate English or dislike them, but that their lesson plans are just plain boring!
Sorry the last thing I want to say, relates to the title. It was great and refreshing to me to see the 'other side of the coin'. Working as an ALT, I get annoyed when I don't have enough work to do, feel guilty when I'm sitting at my desk doing nothing (not 'internationalising' the school, teaching English or interacting with students or teachers), but it was great this week, to see things more from the Japanese teachers' side of things. This came out especially when I and another high school ALT, led the 'ALT presentation' (the only time in the 5 days where we got to 'teach' for an hour, rather than just pass out work sheets, go around with the mic and write on the board, for the American guy who was instructing all week). We focussed on the benefit & disadvantages/ challenges of having an ALT. And it was interesting to see what they thought. They like having someone who's a 'living example' of the English language and specific culture; someone who can help in teaching and correcting students' English; make interesting lessons and befriend both teachers and people in the town etc. And also the challenges too (often not qualified teachers/ have no clear aim for being in Japan/ slack off/ are hard to meet up with due to JTE time constraints etc).
But it was mostly positive. I can't really sum it up right now (am pretty tired) but it was good that they didn't mention the things that I always worry about in a way. They're generally pleased for us to be there to help out etc. I think one big problem / difference beetween us and them, is that Japanese teachers are sooo busy (teaching is about 10% of their job, besides club activities, meetings, paperwork, homeroom etc) and ALTs really aren't: we often have too much time! But maybe slowly we, and I can find our footing in a way to help some of these difficulties. So to sum that up, seeing things from their perspective enabled to see the bigger picture of the school situation & having an ALT (like me) there- let's hope that'll help when I face a period of free time, whether it be 1-2 hours, 3-4 or 16-17+!
I was interested that JTEs noted a lot of ALT anxiety and complaining comes because they have no clear aim for being in Japan. Some were annoyed that ALTs study too much Japanese and don't converse in English (eg in the classroom) enough- which is almost the opposite: the ALT may have a clear aim to study Japanese, but this interferes with their job description here (to help teach English). Yet I read in Proverbs 20: 5 this morning that, "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. " I pray that this next year, I really will be able to draw out the purposes for my life as I live in Japan and live them out. This year has really gone too quickly. I've loved the culture shock, the unexpected, the funny and newness. But I really want to BE stuck in rather than WANTING to be stuck in. [I watched the first 'Lord of the Rings' film again a good few weeks ago- still haven't seen the other 2! And I was struck by what that scary white skinned, white haired woman said to Frodo, after he asked her for directional advice, "You know what you need to do, you're just scared to do it." I know how I should get more involved and stuck in at school- I just need to step out of my comfort zone and do it, as I know from the past that there's freedom gained in doing that (doing what you really want to do).] It was also odd (sorry I am quite tired, and as you probably might have gathered, I hadn't really planned out what I was gonna write before I started typing!) But staying in the training centre over these past 5 days really reminded me of college! My room was tiny and set out just like in Greystoke (despite lack of en suite facilities!) And it was good, but very weird! At uni, I was often challenged to do things I wanted to do but found difficult, namely rowing and Teikyo stuff to name a few, but doing that, with the people involved, really made my time so much more enjoyable. I hope the same thing happens here- that I take that step to get involved. My old goals still stand: build friendships/ be hospitable and learn Japanese. I just hope to really do this and really want to do so (rather than not really getting there).
Then let the good times roll!-
This time tomorrow I will be boarding a ferry to Sapporo in Hokkaido, where I'll study some Japanese in an OMF language school for 5 days then do a bit of sightseeing en route back here. Prayers for that week/ safe travel/ real and good motivation for the language study, as well as continued times of refreshment in all areas, would be great, thanks!
Maybe I'll blog more about day to day stuff or working thoughts- I'm not sure. But, I hope this summer will prove pivotal in my soon approaching 2nd year in Japan...
I've just come back from a GREAT week, helping out at a seminar for Japanese Teachers of English- i.e. people I team teach with on a day-to-day basis. It was great to be encouraged as I was able to sit in on sessions from 8:30-5pm every day, on how to teach COMMUNICATIVE English. I.e. the way I was taught when I did my TEFL (CELTA) course 4 years ago. When I came to Japan, I was shocked at the amount of Japanese used in the classroom (lots!), & that was in my lesson, which includes the most (spoken) English! It was really good to see the Japaense teachers being trained in how to teach in a more communicative way. E.g. In their grammar classes, they speak/ lecture in Japanese and disect English sentences, even though the teachers can't often produce the sentences themselves in conversations (let alone the students). And reading classes traditionally consist of them just translating the English texts straight into Japanese, without students having any need for communicating in English in the process.
When I did my tefl course a while back, it was just after I left school & I'd studied German A -Level, so understood loads of the techniques they were promoting: in fact, I was able to see what the teachers were trying to get us to do in all those lessons! And again, this week I was reminded about the purpose & usefulness of certain ways or methods. For me it was startling that for some, this was the first time the teachers had learned the communicative way. - 5 days wasn't long enough! [At uni, lots of people study English literature, which often doesn't prepare them very well to teach English communicatively in the classroom.] One of my old German teachers was a native speaker & she often got us translating straight from German into English. And the other teacher used more of a variety of (communicative) techniques I guess. So it's odd that, for me this is how I expect it to be done, but for these teachers, it's all new!!
Another interesting thing about the week was seeing the teachers as 'students' in a way: they were the learners. And it was remarkable how similar they are to my students. E.g. very quiet, don't volunteer to answer questions, etc etc. It was interesting! But I really hope they come back and use the things they learned. They were in an all English situation for a week - amazing, and I think their English has improved as a result. I hope their lessons change- not just to become more communicative, but more INTERESTING for the students. It's terrible I know when you sit in a boring lesson for at least 50mins... I think it was a revelation for some teachers, that it's not that students hate English or dislike them, but that their lesson plans are just plain boring!
Sorry the last thing I want to say, relates to the title. It was great and refreshing to me to see the 'other side of the coin'. Working as an ALT, I get annoyed when I don't have enough work to do, feel guilty when I'm sitting at my desk doing nothing (not 'internationalising' the school, teaching English or interacting with students or teachers), but it was great this week, to see things more from the Japanese teachers' side of things. This came out especially when I and another high school ALT, led the 'ALT presentation' (the only time in the 5 days where we got to 'teach' for an hour, rather than just pass out work sheets, go around with the mic and write on the board, for the American guy who was instructing all week). We focussed on the benefit & disadvantages/ challenges of having an ALT. And it was interesting to see what they thought. They like having someone who's a 'living example' of the English language and specific culture; someone who can help in teaching and correcting students' English; make interesting lessons and befriend both teachers and people in the town etc. And also the challenges too (often not qualified teachers/ have no clear aim for being in Japan/ slack off/ are hard to meet up with due to JTE time constraints etc).
But it was mostly positive. I can't really sum it up right now (am pretty tired) but it was good that they didn't mention the things that I always worry about in a way. They're generally pleased for us to be there to help out etc. I think one big problem / difference beetween us and them, is that Japanese teachers are sooo busy (teaching is about 10% of their job, besides club activities, meetings, paperwork, homeroom etc) and ALTs really aren't: we often have too much time! But maybe slowly we, and I can find our footing in a way to help some of these difficulties. So to sum that up, seeing things from their perspective enabled to see the bigger picture of the school situation & having an ALT (like me) there- let's hope that'll help when I face a period of free time, whether it be 1-2 hours, 3-4 or 16-17+!
I was interested that JTEs noted a lot of ALT anxiety and complaining comes because they have no clear aim for being in Japan. Some were annoyed that ALTs study too much Japanese and don't converse in English (eg in the classroom) enough- which is almost the opposite: the ALT may have a clear aim to study Japanese, but this interferes with their job description here (to help teach English). Yet I read in Proverbs 20: 5 this morning that, "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. " I pray that this next year, I really will be able to draw out the purposes for my life as I live in Japan and live them out. This year has really gone too quickly. I've loved the culture shock, the unexpected, the funny and newness. But I really want to BE stuck in rather than WANTING to be stuck in. [I watched the first 'Lord of the Rings' film again a good few weeks ago- still haven't seen the other 2! And I was struck by what that scary white skinned, white haired woman said to Frodo, after he asked her for directional advice, "You know what you need to do, you're just scared to do it." I know how I should get more involved and stuck in at school- I just need to step out of my comfort zone and do it, as I know from the past that there's freedom gained in doing that (doing what you really want to do).] It was also odd (sorry I am quite tired, and as you probably might have gathered, I hadn't really planned out what I was gonna write before I started typing!) But staying in the training centre over these past 5 days really reminded me of college! My room was tiny and set out just like in Greystoke (despite lack of en suite facilities!) And it was good, but very weird! At uni, I was often challenged to do things I wanted to do but found difficult, namely rowing and Teikyo stuff to name a few, but doing that, with the people involved, really made my time so much more enjoyable. I hope the same thing happens here- that I take that step to get involved. My old goals still stand: build friendships/ be hospitable and learn Japanese. I just hope to really do this and really want to do so (rather than not really getting there).
Then let the good times roll!-
This time tomorrow I will be boarding a ferry to Sapporo in Hokkaido, where I'll study some Japanese in an OMF language school for 5 days then do a bit of sightseeing en route back here. Prayers for that week/ safe travel/ real and good motivation for the language study, as well as continued times of refreshment in all areas, would be great, thanks!
- Ah yes, but just out of interest, I've remembered something I read recently about refreshment which I enjoyed, from this book (not dodgy I might add!) I've just finished, entitled 'The Naked Christian', where it says that although Jesus gives us rest, it's not for us to spend as much time as we like by the pool. (We have to get up and follow and obey him, wherever that will lead.)
posted by bananatree @ 10:24 am
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