Finding a Place

Here starts another round of teaching in Japan as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in my career as an ALT/ELT in Japan. I have experienced many types of schools and classes over the last six years. In most cases an ALT will get a school where the Japanese teachers are friendly and willing to communicate with the ALT and where about half of the students will open up and try to use their new found communication skills. Depending on the location of the school will usually give some kind of hint of what type of school it will be. I have taught in both urban and rural schools, my preference being of course rural schools as the Japanese teachers are more open and willing to ask/give advice from/to the ALT, also the students have the confidence to try and communicate. In Japan it is truly rare for foreign teachers to find a school that really fits like a glove in a manner of speaking. I have taught in schools where only the Japanese English teachers will communicate with the ALT, only the other teachers communicate with the ALT or the teachers and only a handful of student will communicate with the ALT. But one school experience that is burned into my brain was a school I had last year in which the students were open and ready to communicate with me but the teachers, even the Japanese English teachers never communicated with me. At first this doesn't sound bad but when you are at school six to seven hours a day and only have two or three classes a day, it does get very lonely because there is absolutely no communication with your Japanese counter-parts. That has finally changed, well at least for the next year.

Recently I took on another Jr. High school contract and upon my first day at this new Jr. High I found myself in a state of amazement as both the teachers and the students were extremely receptive and willing to make that communication leap. Of course there are always problem, but in this case the problem isn't my Japanese counter-parts and students it is rather the travel time from my home to school. This is a down side to working for sub-contracting English companies; they always want to give you contracts in far out of the way places in which your minimum travel time is about forty five minutes. Even though my current travel time is around an hour and a half to school the traveling is more or less a time to relax, this is due to the fact that my current Jr. High is located in rural Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture. Being a country boy from Montana State this contract provides and relaxing peace of mind as it takes me out of the city and puts me back into the countryside with colleagues and students who live a slower, more relaxed and laid-back life. As a country-boy and educator I have come to realize and appreciate country learning as it provides a get template to form young minds. An example of this is that in the cities farmer's fields, open expanses of river and lake banks and access to wooded or forested, mountainous areas are not available so learning of subjects such as biology, geology and scenic art is only learned through the textbooks; whereas in the more rural areas such as Kakogawa all of these scenic attributes are readily and fairly easily access giving a hands on experience to the learning experience of the students. Even in the teaching of English I have used these outlets to teach English to my students as it gives visual, tangible material to help them retain the content material of the lesson.

Upon my first day at this Jr. High school, as with every first day of school, I had to introduce myself to my third year student. It was a blast as they realized that I am very much like them as I too am not a Native English speaker and had my own problems with the English language as well as trying to learn their own language. This fact intrigued them and I would say to a point inspired them to try in whatever manner that they could to communicate with me. We laughed at each others jokes, shared tongue twisters, and things we liked and disliked about English. In all of the classes I visited upon my first day I asked the honest question, 'Who hates English? Raise your hands.' I know it is neither a question that most English teachers would ask nor what to hear the answer to, but I am not your ordinary English teacher, I hate English too. I found out about half of my new students hate English, so now I know which students to focus on and then challenge them by finding new and interesting ways to engage them in English. This in itself is a challenge for me because I have to review the materials, and then adapt it so that it becomes enjoyable and builds their confidence so they will use their newly acquired lingual skills.

Another interesting aspect of this new school is for the first time in my six year career as an ALT a Japanese English teacher asked me to teach phonics to her first year students the next time I come to the Jr. High. I was not sure what to say as phonics is the least taught part of English here in Japan. Most Japanese have no comprehension of what phonics is nor do they understand how important its study is. So here too posses another small challenge for me, I am can teach phonics as it is the field of English that I was inadvertently trained in. Knowing that phonics is the key to any language I have spent over four years developing phonetic classes for Japanese student and now I have the chance to put my lessons with their pertaining visual aids to the test in an actual class with actual students. These are the things that make a real educator overjoyed, to be able to put those long hours of study and research to the test and then to adapt and reform that material into real classroom materials.

To set the record straight I must concede that my current contract is comprised of two Jr. High schools and five elementary schools. This type of contracting among sub-contract English companies is standard, in most cases ALTs will be assigned to nine to eleven elementary schools or two to three Jr. High schools and four to eight elementary schools. The two Jr. High schools that I teach at are in a manner of speaking exceptional in their own rights, I thus will refer to them as Jr. High A and Jr. High B. The above Jr. High I have written about is A, even though it is a rural school it is centered with in a small spread out town whereas Jr. High B is located in a quiet valley in the North-west section of Kakogawa.

In the case of Jr. High B the scenery is splendid as are the students, in the section of Kakogawa the bus from the train station to the bus stop closest to school only runs once an hour thus I must walk to school from the station. This journey takes about forty five minutes and covers about three and half kilometers, during this walk I pass many wheat fields, cattle and sheep pens, as well as meeting my students along the way in which case many of them walk with me and ask questions about how to say something in English or try to carry on an English conversation. This experience is enjoyable and relaxing for my students and me. Sometimes we joke about this or that and they try to explain more about the area including the local temples and shrine. Other times they will give me a treat in explaining the history and culture of the valley they call home, as they know that I am very enthusiastic about these subjects. Also I must say that my Japanese counter-parts at this school are all very intriguing in a good way as they engage me in various conversations during lunch or if we happen to meet in the coffee room or out-side the school ground having a smoke break.

So it can be said that, 'Everything has its place or rather every teacher has their place'. To this I am satisfied with the exception of one minor factor it takes me between an hour to two in a half hours to get to work from home. But my students and counter-parts make up for that down side.