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Yeah, is there many AET's out there? I have a mate in Gunma at the moment who is an AET and it seems they get heaps of spare time so he is really looking forward to Tenjindaira this winter. Met another guy in Hokkaido last year who did the full 3 yrs on the JET program and loved it. He rode sooo many days each season too so I suppose that is why! He even supposedly scored a car and house!

 

I actually am thinking about doing the JET program and if anyone has any views on it or experiences I would really like to hear them. Cheers everyone

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JET is an all round BAD THING. Even the official reasons given for it don't stand up to two minute's scrutiny.

 

One day my boy may have to sit in a class and do the hokey-cokey with an AET as part of his English education, and if he's still my boy then, he'll walk out. mad.gif

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Let's be more specific.

 

I don't think JET is an all round bad thing. For starters, JET is good for JET's. Moneys good, lots of free time, general carnival atmosphere.

 

As for the students, its hard to tell whether it is good or not for them. I imagine that it enables them to learn better English than it would if they didnt have a JET there teaching them. Of course, it could better managed if the goal was to soley to teach English well. But, that is not the only goal of the program. The beauty of the program is that each JET, to an extent, can participate as much or as little as they like in school and extra curricular life. So, the program has a 'looseness' otherwise rarely seen in Japan.

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I can't comment on whether JET teaching is good/bad or achieves anything in terms of actual language aquisition. I have the impression that many JET teachers do not teach at all but rather function as a side-kick to the Japanese teacher. I guess it depends on the teacher (native & Japanese) and the system at the particular school.

 

I do feel qualified to take a meaty swipe however at the Ministry of Educations efforts at teaching communicative English conversation. Only a Japanese bureacracy could invest so many resources and take up so much of the learners time to produce such pathetic results. Whatever good intentions JET teachers have, they are but pawns in the juggernaught of the Japanese education system.

 

I teach at a siemongakko(spelling?) and it's my job to de-programme the students and drag them screaming and kicking from their passivity to actually respond to questions, ask them and ahhh...communicate in a language they have apparently been studying for 5 years.

 

I'm sure that JETs do make a positive contribution, but at the end of the day school here is not necessarilly focused on teaching applicable skills. It's a double edged sword from a professional point of view as it makes your job more difficult but guarantees that there'll always be plenty of work as long as the government keeps doing such a crap job. Phew-sorry for the rant. Maybe I have it all wrong , it'd be interesting to hear more from some JETs.

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Ok I agree and disagree.

I have done AET eikaiwa kindergardens and helped train Japanese english teachers. First the Jet program is a good Idea but there are problems one being that they are often puppets to the Japanese teacher. Another is they are mostly teaching through games. Of course the fact that the students get to meet someone other than a Japanese person is good. We have to remember alot of these schools in Jet are in the middle of nowhere. One thing I think the Japanese education system and ekaiwa system could do better with kids iis to teach them how to read. It is much easy to promt the kids into speaking if they can cheat a little by reading the board. I spend 6 monthes teaching my students to read and follow trough to the next step which is reading and advancing in grades, levels. Speaking is important of course but when I hear some teacher tell me that writing is important the first question I need to ask is "but can they actually read that, can they somewhat understand it"?

 

As for the hokey pokey it has its place in kindergarden and then if that a humrous review.

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You want to be more specific? OK.

 

The JET program is bad for everybody.

 

It's bad for the JETs. They spend 3 years getting screwed while being distracted by the carnival atmosphere. Their pay maybe OK for what little some do, but it is underpay considering their qualifications. Basically they fritter away 3 years, gaining no professional experience or qualifications. Teaching is known to be a demanding profession requiring training and development, but the Ministry of 'Education' extends none to the thousands of 'teachers' who it brings in by the boxful.

 

If JETs do recognize a vocation to teaching and do try to pursue it in Japan, they're often disappointed to discover that they've made themselves a rather uncomfortable bed to sleep in. Because the JET program is actually an illegal scam. Japanese Labour Law admits only 2 kinds of contract; 1 year renewable, and fixed term contracts for work of a fixed term. But the JET contract famously and quite scandalously mixes these 2 kinds. The Japanese Government is basically breaking its own laws. Because it is allowed to do this, it makes it easier for non-governmental teaching organizations to do the same thing. And they do, to the detriment of not only foreign teachers, but Japanese teachers too. So when ex-JETs try to become university teachers, they find illegal contract limitations are imposed, they find that Japanese 'education's' taste for fresh young things as opposed to finickity older professionals is now a big handicap to their now older selves, and they find that their ability to earn a decent living is limited. So that's bad.

 

JET is bad for Japanese teachers. They should be going abroad to immerse themselves in the culture and language of English-speaking countries, as do the language teachers of any other economic power. JETs are no substitute for this, whatever optimistic fantasies they themselves may entertain. The money spent on throwing parties for JETs to distract them from the realization of their true role could be much better spent on educating Japanese teachers. Those pitifully few Japanese teachers who have 'lived the life' overseas are often brilliant motivators in the classroom, and have far more impact than some bright (or hungover) foreign play-teacher doing the hokey-cokey. They're actually fluent in both languages, which really means a lot (a real role model - shows the unmistakable signs of effort, and can help others on the same path so much more effectively).

 

JET is bad for the students. 'Looking at a foreigner' actually doesn't constitute a worthy educational goal, and if the status and capability of the looked-at foreigner is generally low, it can breed contempt rather than understanding. It's also setting the educational target far too low. Certainly kids often enjoy the contact with the foreigner, but the thickies don't get much from it apart from a good laugh (Jon-sensei snobo- jozu datte!), and the earnest ones would get much more from a fluent and motivated Japanese teacher.

 

Even the name 'JET' is a lie. There's no 'exchange' in the normally accepted sense of the term. Where are the reciprocal 'American/Spanish/French Exchange and Teaching' programs and so on? There aren't any, of course, because no other advanced country would think of spending so much good money on such a pathetic system. Of course the 'teaching' part is a lie too, because the JET seminars don't amount to the professional development that teaching as profession demands.

 

There's much more to be said, but I think that's pretty specific. But if you end up in the place of your choice (and there's no guarantee of that, eh, barok?) it can be a good way of snowboarding for 3 years until you're given the boot.

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You take a one-sided very dark view of JET Ocean, it seems.

 

There are some redeeming instances when it is a great success.

 

As for the JETs, the ones in the countryside get paid very well for what they do and the cost of living where they are. Ones in the big city, I've no idea - do they get extra?

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Yeah, the one success JET has indubitably scored is in getting the screwees to mouth their pathetic platitudes forever after about 'well I had a nice time', or 'I think I might have made a difference to one or two peasant children'.

 

Big deal. How much does 'the program' cost all told?

 

Dark? Damn right. One-sided? Suggest why. Details would make your response more credible.

 

talisker, thank you, you make my point very well.

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just for the record ocean I dont want anyone thinking that I go along with your line of thought. I was pointing out that although your ideas are sound, in order to inplement the changes you suggest, you would have to change the very fabric of Japanese society...being as you cant do it and Japanese people arent very likely to...is Jet really that bad?

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I would suggest that one of the major problems with the JET programme is that the AETS are utilised too late in the curriculum. The emphasis should be on educating kids at elementary level, before they become inculcated in the educational sausage factory that is junior and senior high school. The most effective learners I have had are 5-6 years old, and twelve months of ongoing learning often makes them better speakers than their Japanese teachers.

 

Ocean11, there are several flaws in your argument, which I will happily go into at a later stage. For now though, I need to go and plan a lesson (that I get a lot of latitude in) that I actually believe will make a difference to the kids I teach. I have students that I taught while on working holiday 13 years ago, who consistently maintained enthusiasm in English lessons, and have gone on to travel and improve their ability.A couple are now (as young teachers themselves) encouraging their own students at Junior high schools.

 

If you want motivated teachers, you have to develop them first. If even half a percent of the kids that come through the programme learn a love of language and go on to instill that as teachers themselves, the programme can be judged a success, I believe. Peace \:\)

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A yield of 1/2 percent in any normal process would be considered a failure of epic proportions!? That's just more of the same platitudes that I noted above.

 

And talisker, revolutionary educational programs are one means of changing the social fabric. A chorus of 'sho ga nai', including from current and ex-JETs is one way of ensuring that nothing changes. As is accepting unacceptably low yields.

 

And as for kids maintaining enthusiasm for learning, that's a common human trait, and persists often in spite of teachers, and very rarely because of them. Believing that your ex-pupils' continued enthusiasm is due to having met you is quite astounding hubris. (I have a bunch of letters in my closet from people thanking me for having taught them with enthusiasm, but they were real keanos anyway, and unusually polite.)

 

And inflicting people with no teaching or language study behind them on younger and younger kids would simply yield even worse results.

 

JET stinks.

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This thead opened up a can of worms.

 

I think you pay for what you get. The JET programme gets exactly what they want, gaijin with (USUALLY) no teaching qualifications, no Japanese language ability, and no experience fresh out of university. So, are they underpaid Ocean, No. 300,000 yen/month plus a free apartment - Not too bad especially for some JETs who come from countries where the average wage after college isnt that high. Dont have to pay taxes and get about 90 Man back after 3 years. Im not a JET but do have friends who were...

 

You cant blame the JETS for what they do - you have to face the blame at Monbusho. There in lies the problem.

 

They want Japanese to speak English but not to be loud in class so as to not possibly disrrupt other classes. The APPROVED book list sucks. Almost everyone should be thrown out as most of them just emphasize passive learning, but more than this, its the culture of the Japanese that prevents them from actually acquiring the language.

 

Little kids have the freedom to do whatever they want. Look around in a store sometime and you rarely see parents scolding their kids eventhough they are acting like brats. Once they get to maybe junior high school the ridgid mold takes place and students who were once outspoken become quiet. Why? The education system here is like a an assembly line factory. Everyone will get the same treatment and education. This is great! Since education was reformed after the war theyve stuck with the same structure since. It would make too much sense for them to think that everybody doesnt learn the same way. No, that would mean somebody here is thinking!

 

No, the problem is Monbusho and the College entrance exam. Once again, its only a passive test. So, if its not on the exam, its not important, right?! Well, we can through speaking out the window. Talk about the pot in the kettle. Until Monbusho and the entrance exam are overhauled, nothing will change in this country. And, with the speed of which change takes place here, Japanese wont be speaking English decently anytime in the near future. Might be the fact that this country is also an island nation... confused.gif

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I don't know much about the CIR position, but I imagine for those with talent it's a better opportunity for benefitting themselves and their hosts. Why, talisker, does it stink? You tell me.

 

The responses to my posts really are quite amazing. I point out that the program is based on a breach of the law, that it is not what it purports to be, that it is ineffective, and has a number of bad effects.

 

Then a number of ex-JETs come out of the woodwork as usual and confirm, in their own words, the awesome ineffectiveness of JET, and then go on to praise the system without providing a scrap of support for what little they say. As usual.

 

After a point, this kind of behaviour becomes part of the problem, and they are no longer innocent of responsibility for what the JET program is. Of course, blame for the failure of English education in Japan falls very broadly, but it also falls on a good few JETs and 'alumni' (I love the hyperbole of that usage).

 

I also wonder about blaming college entrance exams. If pupils could read, write, and speak English, they could score massively on those tests and make them obsolete (and have something useful besides when they pop out of education's butthole). That would be my goal as a teacher, not lobbying to change any test.

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