"For a start, scrap immediately this ridicilous jet scheme, thus freeing up billions of yen that can at last be used properly. Why should japan's taxpayers fund holidays for foreign kids??"

Exactly. High cost, and no return what so ever. Get Japan some REAL teachers.

 

It really all comes down to discipline. Teachers are not -- by and large -- allowed to discipline unruly students in this country, from what I have experienced. And since this is the case, students know that they can get away with literal murder in many cases, either directing their undisciplined selves at their fellow classmates or at their teachers. Cases in point are the 12-year-old girl who murdered her classmate at school a year or so ago, and the 14-year-old who tossed a 4-year-old off the top floor of a parking facility in 2004. In both of these cases, the killers were sent to a so-called mental-rehab hospital for "evaluation" rather than being DISCIPLINED and PUNISHED by the rule of law.

As long as this is the case in Japan -- or anywhere else in the world -- students will continue to do as they please, with teachers being unable and unwilling to teach.

 

I am a JET, and I take great offense at your ill-informed opinion of my teaching ability. I AM the English department at the schools where I teach, and not for a lack of Japanese teachers of English. The truth is that these people are so shockingly bad at their jobs that were it not for my constant oversight, our students would be learning the same corrupt, incomprehensible English that plagues the rest of this country. I am regularly the only teacher in my junior high school classes, and at the very least students know they can't fool around when the gaijin-sensei is there to make sure they've got their faces in the book.

As for JETs not being REAL teachers, I'd like to contrast my position with that of my Japanese colleagues, who had all of two weeks "training" in the classroom before being handed the reigns. If their proficiency in English was something approaching "literate," I might concede the point, but as is I am far more qualified to teach my native language than the people this bureaucrat justly criticizes.

As for this job being a holiday, I'd like to say that mandatory nine-hour workdays spent dealing with spoiled, violent children is my idea of a vacation, but instead I'll have to settle for the ten days of paid leave I am afforded every year which, I'm willing to wager, is far less than either of you receive.

 

systems really not contibuting much to saving society,from hell of ignorance.
If teaching does not do its job,how do you expect rest of societies system to work well.

 

good points, and valid. But as a former JET, I think I have to side against you. The JET program is a farce and should be axed. Right away. I'm thinking there are already too many english con schools kicking about to bother sending Uni grades out to the schools where the 30% who really want to study english already are (outside of school). With the levels of apathy in this land spoiling another 45% of the kids J-high and up, you're only really teaching to 25%, and it just doesn't justify the salary. Hack the JETs and put some frickin air cons in so those kids who care can at least be comfortable.
I just don't see why any board should be asked to dole out 4,000,000 yen (salary+airfare+tokyo expenses+a load of other BS) per teacher/per year to fund some program that may or may not actually help students when their general education policies seem so bent on not helping them. I must say after lazily hanging around for 3 years and watching MEXT make blunder after blunder, the whole idea of keeping the JET program around is baffling. I'm sure the govt is on to it but like everything else they lack the fiber to just go ahead and cut it. Put the money towards something more useful, like teacher training.
And of course channel some disciplinary powers to those who have to deal with the real education challenges, those in-need-of-a-spanking kids who seem to have the final say on how the class room will run.
PS I'd just like to thank the JET program for backing me in the purchase of this very sweet top-o-the-line Mac I'm writing on. Thanks for the memories.

 

foreign-devil: You've obviously not been posting on this site long or you'd know not to waste your time responding to any comments by rverbeke. His/her sole purpose is to defend Japan at all costs, criticize those who dare say something negative about Japan and to divert all legitimate criticism to some kind of evil influence from the West, in this case that evil being JET teachers. I've known more than a few JET teachers and found them all to be nice people who were quite serious about what they did and quite seriously shocked by the actual conditions at many of their schools, despite the oft praised Japanese educational system. That they may have a good time while they're here has little bearing on whether or not they're good teachers, or is someone going to try and tell me that drinking and partying is not a well-ingrained aspect of Japanese society.

As for this supposed wasted money, Japanese teachers get fairly large bonuses that are not tied to how well or effectively they teach. If you want to free up billions of yen and make people accountable start tying bonuses to quality and you might see some changes.

 

is the Fascists in the LDP and Japanese government who hide the truth from Japan`s youth and are trying to re-instate the evil regime of the past.

 

just going off on people who dare to say something positive about Japan? Obviously, rverbeke was not talking about how nice the “JET people” are but about the uselessness of the program in general.

If you knew anything about the JET program, you would know that no school in the U.S. (speaking from experience) would allow any foreign teachers as much leeway in the American public schools as Japan allows the JET teachers. These foreign teachers do not have Japanese qualifications and a large percent of them do not have teaching credentials in their own country. For them to be picked up and brought to Japan just because they speak a foreign language other than Japanese shows that Japan is wasting its money and I do not see how one could derive “anti-western” slogans from criticizing a money wasting system.

Your comment about “” shows your lack of understanding of the Japanese education system. Bonuses are controlled by the principals and principals tie in many factors to include the teaching ability.

Sorry, I do not come from a family of teachers like you so I do not know everything about education and Japan.

 

I agree with you. But as a former JET I also have to side with montyB4prez and the rest on this one.

The JET Programme is an incredible waste of taxpayer money and the returns on the taxpayer's investment hovers between negligible and non-existent. The argument that the JET Program is somehow supposed to instill a sense of internationalism in Japanese youth is nothing short of absurd. English is irrelevant because there are no foreigners. If they actually had foreigners living in Japan, the JET Program would become irrelevant, no? It's all just smoke and mirrors.

What's worse is that most JETs are fresh out of college and have no ESL license or other tangible proof that they are qualified to teach English. There is a difference between being a teacher and a native speaker. Being a native English speaker certainly helps but ask any American what language they speak and half will say "American". Being "white" (as almost 95%+ of all JETS are) seems to be more important to Japan as most of the Asian JETs I have ever talked to said that their schools totally resented them for not being "different" enough.

Anyway, foreign_devil, you are probably not a career teacher and even if you are, you are not on an educator's career track in Japan. You need to accept that. Comparing yourself to Japan's career teachers is unhealthy and will lead you to resent being there. You are basically being paid to do nothing other than "be foreign". That is your job. It's theatre and just goes to show how 'closed' Japanese society still is. Don't worry about the students. If you want to make a difference, set personal goals for yourself while you are there. Enjoy yourself. Don't spend too much time "working".

Finally, if JET was eliminated, schools could take that annual 4,000,000 yen designated for JETs and upgrade the facilities for starters. Almost every school I have visited looks like some run-down, Soviet-era bomb shelter. It's embarrassing. Most of the electronic equipment looks like Salvation Army hand-me-downs from the early 90's. I bet if I mined the hard drives I could even find a copy of Oregon Trail buried in there somewhere. Better yet, they could hire a frickin' janitor. Parents do not send their kids to school to "clean". If they have enough time to clean, then what exactly do they need Juku for?

 

Sorry we do not live in your fantasy world where Japan is this sugar-coated, magical utopia and the only problems are those pesky foreginers! Which is what rverbeke happens to be! Asking for equal rights is an IGNORANT thing to do and it's just ASKING for open immigration (I never knew the civil rights movement was a method to demand Japan to open its borders, yeah right). Not wanting to be treated differently soley based on ethnicity, nationality, sex, religion and orientation for the most part is such a daunting task it would kill Japan and destroy their civilization as we speak.

I never knew praising something Japan does makes one an apologist and Japanophile, as well as CRITICIZING (not bashing) something the nation does makes them anti-Japanese and Japanese bashers. Double standards, no?

 

diveit: First, I never suggested that I knew everything about either the Japanese nor the American educational systems. That is your assumption based on my saying I come from a family of educators. The subject in reference to that comment was the comparison of international test scores.

As for JET teachers, nor did I suggest that they were some kind of panacea to all of Japan's educational woes. If, as you suggest, they are unqualified, that would prove my original point about the teachers themselves being less to blame for their poor training but the system that allows them to be so, both Japanese and foreign. As for that, in the States, it wouldn't matter if you were "foreign" or native born so long as you were qualified. Even that though is not exactly true, because there are inner-cities in the States where you are allowed to teach without certification for a certain number of years, such is their desperation for bodies in the classrooms.

Again, I never said I knew everything about the Japanese educational system but I do know, also from experience, that every teacher gets a bonus, regardless of their actual teaching effectiveness.

Finally, as for my intention, it was obviously to make a point, which you would know if you read my posts in any detail. If you are really so keen on criticizing someone who's intent is just going off on people and not dealing with issues at hand, then I suggest you redirect your venom towards posters such as reverbeke, who's sole intent is to defend Japan at all costs and to dismiss any legitmate criticism of Japan as racism or "nothing worse than what anyone else does". If you can't see that from the history of his/her posts, then you either don't read them very carefully or come from the same narrow-minded, knee-jerk, nationalist, reactionary mind set - which you don't need to be an educator to see does no good for Japan. To try and squelch legitimate criticism only serves to stiffle discussion which could be helpful.

 

One more point, is there anyone here complaining about the JET program who can provide some data on how the money that goes to the program is being taken out of training program budgets for Japanese teachers or would go into that if the program were eliminated? If not, then all this talk about the JET program is what I originally suggested, diversion to take away from the real issue which is the overall ineffectiveness of the current Japanese educational system. Nice job those of you "positive posters" who can't bear to keep things on track when they smack of any criticism of Japan. If people like you were on schoolboards you can be sure that while all the JETs might be eliminated all the crappy Japanese teachers, poor training techniques and so on would remain.

 

Toolong: First you said, "I never suggested that I knew everything about either the Japanese nor the American educational systems."

If so, then how can you make the following false statement:

Even that though is not exactly true, because there are inner-cities in the States where you are allowed to teach without certification for a certain number of years.

No where in the U.S. do they allow teachers to be uncertified to teach. A provisional license may be issued which is not as fully valued as a full licensure, however provisional license still have to meet a certain standard. Also, provisional licensed teachers must be fully qualified within two years or must be terminated.

From a New York City education website:

Besides being the largest and one of the most diverse school districts in the country, New York City is a major employer of uncertified and AC teachers. More than 50,000 new teachers were hired in New York schools between the 1999-2000 and 2004-05 school years. Uncertified and AC teachers accounted for, respectively, 34 percent and 20 percent of these new hires.

I'm not sure how you equate my talking about certification with suggesting I know everything about the U.S. educational system. Once again, I did not say nor imply I knew everything about either system so why you want to pick an arguement over this is beyond me or do you think that that's all there is to the educational system is the certification. Is a person allowed to know anything about a subject without being accused of suggesting they know everything? I'm sorry but I am not the one speaking in doubles here. That honor goes to someone else.

Your second point concurs with mine about being allowed to teach without full qualifications (see above quote), though again you are picking a fight where there is none because it seems we basically agree on that point though admittedly you have articulated it better.

Again, unless you can relate this to the Japanese system I don't understand what your point is except to pick fights where there are none and diverting the discussion away from the point of the quote which is the Japanese educational system.

 

is that the Japanese system is in need of repair and needs it badly. However, it is no more broken then any other industralize country. Because rverbekesuggests that the JET program should be done away with and seems pro-japan as I am, it does not rule out that the JET system should stay.

Japan is being very gracious to its JET participants as compared to certified teachers in the states. (Dallas, Texas pays $38,000 starting and New Orleans, La pays $29,000 starting). JETs are not certified and the money being paid should be used to either entice certified teachers from abroad or the system should be done away with all together. Hopefully the money would then be used to better the education system in many different ways (many which we may or may not concur with). But JET overall is a waste of good money.

Back to the point of the discussion - I think it is lame when a person who could have done something when they were in charge now can blast a system that they helped to entrench.

P.S. toolonggone, one of my working dreams is to establish a U.S. modelled college to promote real teacher education system in Japan. The question is: Does Japan really want this or is it lip service?

 

I have read everyone`s posts and I have the distinct feeling that some people here have a pretty good idea of what is happening in Japan. I am leaning more towards the pro-Japan side for a few reasons. I am able to fit two full time jobs into my work week because of the flexibility and the freedom they have given me. Also, my two jobs are completely different from each other. Anyone who has said teachers are not well paid have, perhaps, not taught in their own home country. The salaries for qualified teachers are quite high...compared to Canada anyway. This opinion does not really contribute to the heart of this discussion though. We are discussing whether or not Japan`s education system is failing its students or not. We are also discussing what changes could be made in order to make the education system better. Before I give my educated opinion I will explain how I have come to my conclusions.

As stated earlier I am very fortunate to be able to work two full time jobs ( salary-wise not time-wise.) The first is the kindergarten position and this can be compared to my French Immersion education which I received back in Canada. Same class of the same students five hours per day / five days per week. They are learning English and part of my reward is the results that I see. The second position is a juku position teaching grade five and six students. This job, unfortunately, shows minimal results as far as English speaking ability goes. So am I a bad teacher? Am I too tired by the time that I see my juku students? Neither statement is the reason for the very different results comparing the juku with the kindergarten. The problem lies in the amount of time I spend with the juku kids. I teach at 13 different schools for the juku and I see my students for either 50 minutes a month or 100 minutes per month...depending on the school. Is it a total waste of time then? For being able to speak English freely and comfortably it is not producing many results but there is also the gaijin factor to consider. After two years with my juku kids many of them are gaijin friendly and will perhaps be more inclined to travel to English speaking countries as a result. This is where becoming a better English speaker will happen...spending time abroad for a few years. My kindergarten kids are fluent after a year.

I am sorry for the lengthy post but I will now summarize. I think the following are true statements regarding Japan and its education system:

a) English is not the be all and end all of this system. Japanese is the most important factor within a variety of disciplines. English is a bonus and should be an elective for only those students who really have a desire to learn English.

b) Starting English at an earlier age and having the children study in an immersion setting will improve the overall fluency, in English, of the Japanese population. My brother did the normal core French program in Canada and he can`t speak French whereas my sister and I did an immersion program and we can. Immersion for those families who feel English is important enough rather than forcing everyone to do it is what I believe could help English fluency.

ENGLISH aside / Japan and all other countries included:

c) Education is not wasted on the young but the statement that education is wasted on the young might pertain to some students between the ages of 16 and 24. These years could be the first stage of the working years...a break before doing your senior year and attending university. A student who is 24 years of age will be more focussed and more mature to handle the more challenging level of education of grade 12 and 13 (senior years) / 1st year university. This would also allow people to pay for their own university education making the need to do well more personal. It might also eliminate the RONIN factor.

d) More class time and less test days in Japan is one area I feel Canada has a better system than Japan.

e) Don`t fail children by passing them when thay haven`t achieved the level necessary to move forward.

f) If you look around you Japan is doing something right. The population and the size of the country has not prevented the Japanese from prospering economically as well as being very organized. JMO. There are some very smart people out there in Japan just as there are some very smart people out there from other countries around the world. Ranking third in the UNICEF study says something about the earlier stages of education being the most important years for students.

For those of you patient enough to read the entire post remember that I only know what I have encountered thus far in my Japanese experience. I am still learning something new every week that I stay here. Cheers.