April 1st is the start of a new fiscal year in Japan. In the US, fiscal years didn't mean much to me. However, in Japan they have ushered in a whole slew of changes. The new fiscal year also coincides with the new academic year. Students that I taught in elementary school are now looking so much older dressed in the junior high school uniform. I haven't had any classes yet (this first week was filled with administrative chores), but it will be interesting and perhaps difficult to switch from being seen as their main English teacher to an assistant who controls such a small percentage of any given class.
My school now also has a few new teachers. The Japanese system for teacher placement is confusing to me. I know I wouldn't want to be a part of it permanently. A teacher cannot stay in a school for more than six or seven years. Once they reach that point, and oftentimes many years beforehand, they are moved to another school. The school doesn't even need to be a local one. Gunma is divided into four education zones. A teacher can be transferred to any school within one of the zones. And by any school, I mean that a teacher teaching at a junior high school could be moved to an elementary school or vice versa. The time frame for reorienting yourself after a move is extremely short. Just about a week is given between finding out if/where you are transferring and the start of the new school term. Can you imagine being a teacher at a nice jhs near your house and then on March 31st (with the new school year starting April 7th) being told that you will be transferred to an elementary school an hour commute away?
I don't see much sense in this system. I guess you can argue that it keeps things fresh and fair since everyone is affected equally, but it seems like teachers cannot build strong relationships with staff or loyalty to a school. It also seems to cause unnecessary stress.
At any rate, my school now has four new staff members. That is a relatively low turnover. Some of my friends' schools have lost a third of their old teachers. Lucky for me, none of the new teachers are English teachers, so I won't have to start over again with a new person. The new teachers are also very welcoming and interested in me which I appreciate.
Another change which I find a bit disorienting (simply because I keep forgetting about it) is that the teachers change which grade they are teaching. They are attached to a particular class. For instance, the teacher of first years last year is now teaching the second years. The old second year teacher now has the third years. I would have hated this system growing up. To be stuck with the same teacher (or class) year after year just sounds horrible. Plus, it adds more work to the teachers' life since they are responsible for creating lesson plans for every grade, not just perfecting them at one level like in the US.
2 comments:
I really don't see anything to like about that system, especially transferring the teachers to different schools like that. I wonder, are teachers paid more or less than their U.S. equivalents?
I can think of some teachers who would have been a nightmare to be saddled with all the way through school! How do the teachers feel about the way the system works?
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