Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program by David L. McConnell

Author:David L. McConnell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-01-30T05:13:00+00:00

School Switching

One of the more common headaches for Sato-sensei and Tanabe-san was caused by the desire of renewing ALTs to switch schools. But in 1989 they instituted a policy that an ALT must spend two years at a school before the board of education would entertain any such request. "We're just not going to listen to their ultimatums any more," Sato-sensei told me. "From now on, if they want to renew, they have to stay where they are for two years."

It was only a matter of months before the new policy was tested. Chad was a twenty-three-year-old American; though based at Kitano High School, he also made irregular visits to six other high schools, including several dominated by union teachers. Chad thoroughly enjoyed his newfound celebrity status at his base school; although he was not particularly attuned to Japanese culture, his outgoing personality made hirn well-liked by students and teachers. At the midpoint of his stay, he had indicated to Sato-sensei that he planned to renew for the following year. Only a few weeks later, at a team-teaching workshop, Sato-sensei had told him that he would remain at Kitano as his base school and that he would visit only Sano and Yamaguni; a new ALT would take over the other three schools. Chad was excited about the idea of making fewer visits while still being able to keep Yamaguni, which had by far the most active group of JTLs and students.

But sometime thereafter, Sato-sensei decided to reshuffle the visit schools for the new ALT to include Yamaguni, precisely because the teachers there were such an enthusiastic group. It was exchanged with a strong union school that had expressed little interest in team teaching, where Sato-sensei felt it was dangerous to send a new ALT. Unfortunately, Satosensei forgot to directly notify Chad, who felt betrayed when he received word from a JTL at Yamaguni that Sato-sensei had changed his mind. The prospect of staying for an additional year seemed much less appealing to Chad if he would be traveling to schools that were lukewarm about team teaching and the ESS club. He immediately called Sato-sensei, who apologized for the misunderstanding but stood firm, saying that the decision had already been made.

After some thought, Chad decided to press his cause. He met with several of his favorite teachers at Yamaguni and explained how much he liked the school and that he wanted to stay on the following year. Chad then developed a three-pronged argument: first, it was unconscionable that he was not consulted before his visit school was rearranged; second, it was unfair to put the new ALT into a teaching situation that would demand so much work; and third, the teachers at Yamaguni did not want him to leave. All of this Chad put into writing in a lengthy letter that closed with a veiled threat: he was not happy with the way his situation for the following year was shaping up, and he hoped to be able to come back to Japan and start afresh with a good attitude after his short trip home during summer vacation.

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