Life as an ALT
Over a year ago I made the decision to leave retail management the sector I had been in for nearly ten years and take the leap into teaching and education. If you had told young me that she would eventually be teaching English in Japan, she would have thought you had escaped an asylum. I never believed teaching was for me but here I am in my second school year creating lesson plans and teaching as a T1 which essentially means I lead the class with the occasional input from a Japanese English teacher or JTE.
I teach at three schools academic, commercial and special needs. Last year I taught at the highest ranked public academic in my prefecture, so I have a varied experience. I teach primarily high school; in Japan there are different types of high school with different focuses. High school is not mandatory in Japan however most opt to attend as it helps them prepare for work and further support their desired career track. High school in Japan is not free even though I mentioned teaching public school, students still pay to attend fees varies but on average they are cheaper than private schools.
Every school runs slightly differently, experiences will vary from prefecture to prefecture. My own experience will not be reflective of yours if you apply for the JET program or other teaching programs in Japan. But they will be a good base for you to gather a general idea of life as an ALT from expectations, duties and responsibilities.
My day starts around 6:20 waking up and preparing. My schools are in the north and with all three I have about an hour to an hour and a half commute. I take the bus to the station and then depending on the school I take a train, bus or walk. As an ALT your start time is usually between 8:30-9:15, my commercial school is slightly later because I run English speaking society, so it’s been adjusted into my hours. This is not the norm and anything extra after your contracted hours is considered voluntary.
Japanese school is usually split into 6 or 7 periods with 45 minutes set aside for lunch. On my busy days I have 4/5 classes and on the quieter days I have 2. This can vary if there are exams or any events on, during summer there are long periods of no lessons and having little to do. As for what I wear it depends on season. In the winter I wear a wool jumper over a shirt as I never take the wool jumper of, Japan is cold in the winter and schools are cold. Some schools have budgets and others may have old kerosene heaters. Its not uncommon to see teacher’s sitting with a blanket on their laps to keep warm, students will also do this and use hand warmers. Depending on the school I have even pulled of teaching class in my wool winter coat this coat is designed to be worn over a suit so it looks formal. More academic schools will be stricter, but for woman there is a lot more wiggle room. In the summer I wear a variety of blouses and my waistcoat. All of the above items are paired with black work trousers. I have found the longer I have been in a school people were a lot more lenient with me. As teachers are shuffled every 7 years you may see new faces incoming who will be unaware of your school’s vibe. I still aim to look smart and organised but having the coat in the winter has saved me from being a shivering popsicle.
As for lessons this has varied wildly from my experiences at four schools from doing nothing but reading from a text book. To prepping a whole years’ worth of lessons with no guidance. When you are T1 you are more likely to be asked to create entire lessons as well as warm ups. If you are T2 you will be asked for either no preparation to prepping games, warm ups or small sections of a class primarily lead by the JTE. Some teachers want lessons plans in advance, the ones I work do not and don’t often want to see anything and rock up as the bell rings to head to class and only then ask what the plan is. You need to be prepared for all of the above if you are considering applying. I never asked to be T1 it just happened so be aware that you may go from never having taught a class ever to being the primary teacher.
I am blessed that the majority of my students are lovely, they greet me outside of school whenever they see me. This includes weekends or when heading to another school. In class my students love to get involved but something that I have noted from others experience too don’t expect volunteers or hand raising. No matter how energetic they are its uncommon and I have only witnessed it once, during a parent observation lesson where students were motivated to perform. My students will always answer when we spin the number picker though. Your situations may vary wildly but I am blessed and I have heard of cases where students have been rowdy or where teachers have sent the ALT away if a class becomes unmanageable. This is perhaps the section that will vary the most.
But for me all of my students have been great to teach, every class has its own personality. Unlike in the UK where your classes will vary subject to subject based on ability. Japan is not like this; students are sorted into a class and this remains the class for every lesson unless joining another class for P.E. This itself is a challenge as you will need to make lessons suitable for a wide range of abilities and prepare yourself for students finishing quicker or slower than others. With the one school I have been at for two school years now I have figured my classes out and adjust quicker. It took about a semester to figure out levels, temperament and vibe of my classes. In my prefecture school shuffles are the norm but this is not the case in every prefecture. You may have only one school which never changes allowing you the benefit of really getting to know your students and their abilities. You even have the chance to get to know names and faces of the students you interact with more often.
Whatever the situation, all I can advise is, enjoy the challenges as things change fast. There are often staff changes once a year and the classes you teach will change each year. I was able to build on my experiences and I think the changes and the challenges shaped me into a more adaptable person, one who can make snap decisions and who doesn’t panic as much. The thought of having no lesson plan a day before a class use to scare me, but now I handle it and often come out with some fun results where students have engaged or at least found some fun in last minute lessons.
Another aspect of daily life is your interactions in the staff room, some of my interactions come from teachers who do not teach English. So, do not write of the crazy P.E teacher! even if you’re both limited in the others language there are ways around it. My level is not strong but I have worked this to my advantage and often used encounters as an excuse to learn new vocab or even teach the teacher. This is another area that can vary wildly your teachers may not say a word to you bar the ones who you collaborate with or they may be a chatty bunch who invite you to their homes. For me it wasn’t until the second school year where life became chatty, but throughout the first I put a lot in to happy energetic exchanges with a handful of teachers. I found through these encounters I was more informed about daily events and what was happening at the school.
As an ALT you will have a supervisor this can be a good or bad depending on the person, the role of supervisor is passed around and not given to a person who often wants it. The teachers I have grown good relationships with and who I can call friends are sadly not any of my supervisors. There is a chance your supervisor may not have great English skills or may not even want the job and avoid you at all costs. Do not loose heart and try to leverage your interactions with other teachers to gain information. Your school will display a monthly schedule somewhere in the staff room. Google translate can be your friend if you have none in the workplace. Lesson changes are often displayed too so you can stay informed about daily and monthly events. Some events are unplanned and often teachers themselves are unaware but most events will be on the big schedule. There are many options open to you but you will need to get creative. The role of the ALT is one where adapting and overcoming challenges is expected, often responding to a situation with a bunch of unknowns is the norm.
The role is different from my previous job but there are areas where its similar, the at times fast-paced environment, the customer service persona, handling problems and making quick decisions. That’s also not including the skills you learn from living in Japan also and overcoming the unknown. The role has taught me things about myself that I would have never known if I had stayed in retail.
There have been really fun moments from singing in my school’s culture festival, taking part in a Korean exchange, making pancakes with students, helping with speeches, exploring culture festivals, calligraphy and origami, the list goes on. Schools have culture and sports festivals which you may be asked to participate in or just have fun and admire your student’s creativity and hard work. There is the school trip that you most likely won’t go on but you will have fun reading essays or hearing about it from your students. There are speech contests, graduation which can be very emotional, entrance exams and meeting the new first years students. There are many events that make up a Japanese high school’s year and these will become part of your experience too even if you are not directly involved.
At my commercial school I have seen my students doing events outside of school on weekends and helped them by buying some of their produce. Schools with a specific focus can offer some unique opportunities. Those who teach at Nogyos/agricultural may have the fun experience of seeing farm animals and getting involved with farming activities. This can even include having the chance to buy some cheap produce to take home and cook.
The takeaway I can give with todays blog is that the role is unique and every entrant will have a different experience. This is something that you need to be aware of before you hit apply. Every aspect of your life will be left up to a gamble. But sometimes gambling can pay off and it may lead to unknown places full of excitement. Some never leave their placement prefectures and some go one to be an ALT in other countries. If the gamble does not pay off take it as experience and move forwardly proudly for you tried, the worst thing you can choose to do is nothing.
For me teaching gave me a chance to do something I didn’t think would be possible, it gave me new skills and let me change my life that had fallen into a ten-year rut. Whilst I do not see myself in teaching for much longer it has opened my eyes and opened me up to the possibility of a different careers. I know I love travelling and this experience has certainly allowed me to do just that. I have also made many fun unique memories which will stay with me. People often come on this program to find themselves and learn about themselves be it what they want to do or perhaps what they don’t want to do. Some people leave Japan never wanting to come back but that in itself is a good experience. Being able to work out what is not for you is also a very important takeaway.
If you have any specific questions, please feel free to use the question form found on this website. I am always happy to answer anything I can and do my best to point you in the right direction if I cannot provide any answers.
