Why are there so many bad English teachers in Japan? Part two
There are only five possible reasons why there are more bad English teachers in Japan than elsewhere, and as is usually the case when there are several explanations it is probably a combination of all of them. The possible reasons are:
- Worse teachers come to Japan
- The good teachers leave Japan
- The worst teachers stay in Japan
- People who are bad teachers and stay in Japan continue teaching instead of getting another job
- People actually get worse at teaching due to being in Japan
I’ll deal with number one here and the rest will have to wait until it’s less hot and my brain starts working.
Why do worse teachers come to Japan?
- People who go to European countries and Latin America often do it because of an interest in learning languages and so are more likely to be suitable language teachers. This is rarely the case in Japan.
- Conversely, people who are interested in things like Japanese language and cultural things like haiku and calligraphy can tend to be over-intellectual and have problems talking to teenagers who are ignorant of their own high culture and have few ideas about their country or the world.
- People who decide to completely escape from everything by going halfway across the world and are quite happy to not see their friends and family for years to do so are likely to be more emotionally unstable and have less social skills than people who pop back home once a month or so on Easyjet. Such people are likely to be a strain on their DoS, for teaching and other reasons.
- Ditto for people who come to Japan due to an overwhelming interest in otaku things like anime, female J pop duos or Japanese bullet trains. They often do not have the best social skills and this can be a problem when teaching, especially in one to one classes.
- Ditto for people who come to Japan because they can’t get a girlfriend back home.
- The dating opportunities for men and lack of dating opportunities for women etc. means teachers are overwhelmingly male. Men are not generally as serious about their teaching as women, or at least there is a macho culture of not showing interest that can start to really have a negative effect.
- The lack of well respected chains like Bell and International House puts professional teachers off applying for jobs in Japan
- The low standards many language schools have (not even a CELTA or equivalent needed) puts professional teachers off, even when they are offered increased pay for qualifications and experience, because it makes the school look unprofessional
- The way the schools in Japan recruit from abroad is more likely to attract people who had no previous interest in teaching than the types of advertising etc. used by chains in other countries
Wow, that was a longer list than I expected. Looks like it might be a while till I get down to talking about the effect of the expression “English conversation school ” in number 5 in the first list (sorry Katie!)
August 11th, 2007 at 3:22 am
I’ve only been here 7 months but sadly I totally see what you mean and have already experienced quite a lot of it. Personally i never set out to be a teacher - it was the easiest way to get into the country, which I’ve wanted to do for a long time. But having done the CELTA course before I’ve found teaching to be incredibly good fun and challenging. I’ve never understood why people do jobs they don’t like or have no interest for - especially with something like teaching because it requires so much more from you than a simple desk job.
I’ve foudn it hardest to keep focused on teaching, and being good at it (which is i guess quite difficult at times for new teachers), when there is so much crap in the job with things like bad schedules, silly procedures, managerial non-sense and dealing with japanese staff who have no idea what your job is really like and students who are as you pointed not really interested in learning English in the first place.
Oh and i’ve noticed that female teachers tend to be a lot better too - my girlfriend is incredibly on the ball when it comes to teaching, even tho she never set out to be a teacher either. I hear you on the macho not caring thing, i’ve seen that a lot.
One thing though - an interest in anime and various other geeky things, can work wonders when it comes to teaching teenagers though I’ve found. A lot more useful than high brow interests that’s for sure.
August 11th, 2007 at 6:58 am
You’re right about the interest in anime working with teenagers, although you have to be careful which anime you express and interest in as an adult for them not to think you a little strange- it’s a bit like Thais not approving of falang wearing flip flops… Certainly a lot more useful than an interest in the tea ceremony, especially as students who do know about will be disappointed if you already know more than them and they can’t explain it to you.
I’ll be sure to mention disillusionment at the side things in the job being a demotivator when I get to Part 6(?), as well as the connected “If nothing in my company works in a professional way, why should I be a professional???”
August 11th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
ha ha sounds like this kinda of rolling post could take a long time, there’s a mountain of things to wade through really isn’t there? i’d like to hear your thoughts on the whole unprofessional thing as well as the demoralising aspects of the job in certain schools.
Yeah i’ve noticed that you need to be careful about what anime you like, tho most will shrug it as you being a crazy foreigner if they think its weird. I’ve also come to quickly realise that all the anime i watched as a kid in France is actually now pretty old, so i’ve had to shape up and study my new school anime, ha ha.
August 13th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Oh, man, my suggestion put last on the agenda..! I’ll be back to see what you say about the conversation school theory.
These are some interesting theories…I’m not sure I’m convinced that social skills exactly make a person a better teacher (especially because people usually think of talkative people as social…but part of the trick is getting the students to speak). But - I can see your general point that personality plays a role.
August 14th, 2007 at 12:29 am
Good point, Katie. Let’s just put nattering away and not listening down as another lack of social skills shall we…
August 14th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Sorry to leave your point to last, Katie. Wasn’t deliberate, the logic just seemed to work better that way, but at least it will keep you reading…
August 14th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Well, okay, save the best for last, I guess, I can live with that. In fact, I might have forgotten my point….
August 30th, 2007 at 1:39 am
The reason most of them suck…is because they are traveling and using English teaching to finance their travels. I personaly know 3 good teachers and about 20 shitty ones I wouldnt let teach my dog.
August 30th, 2007 at 6:15 am
I wouldnt go quite that far, but it is nice to have someone outdoing me for gross generalisations for once!
Some teachers come here to save for travelling, for sure, but the more travellery ones tend to stick to Thailand and see if they can do the travelling and the saving both there. The difference I would say is a lot of teachers go there to travel and then a suprisingly large minority find they are interested in teaching itself and that becomes more important. In Japan, a surprisingly large minority come with more interest in teaching than the average Thailand teacher and then lose that motivation when they get here…
btw, Chris, its a pain in the back end to need to be a google account holder to comment on your blog. I know nothing about Blogger, but if it is possible to change the settings so the rest of us could comment (only nice stuff I promise!), would be appreciated.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Yeah sorry bout’ that.
I’m currently looking for a good comment box to integrate into the blog.
The default one is nasty.
There is a comment box down on the bottom. In the picture frame. It for very short comments though.