kaiser soce 0 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 For sure Rach..... My wife is a secondary teacher and she does a lot of prep/marking at night usually up to 8pm and on weekends. Her subjects are primarily assignment based so marking can be quite a laborious task when you got a 100+ to do! The school loves to have meetings after school to discuss things but yeah sometimes she gets out by 4pm. So yeah, its not all rosy for the teachers...I dunno maybe primary teaching might be more relaxed. I do agree however that the school/work system in japan sounds like it just plain sucks..... I mean, those poor kids...seriously. I lived for 7 months in the countryside in France. I really believe they have the work/life balance right over there and they seem happier for it. Here in Australia while not being as bad as Japan still I still feel it is getting way out of control. My hours are a minimum 49hours a week over 6 days and then when things are busy the hours increase from there up to the supposed maximum of 68hrs/week. IMHO..... A 68hr week is nuts. Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Originally Posted By: Kumapix If you have kids that go to a Japanese school would you let them go to clubs? None of the options. I think I would just let my kids decide. I agree with what everyone is saying about the teachers having no life & its true that many clubs are OTT with the hours they demand. Also, it may not be the best way of bringing up kids but if you ask the actual kids themselves, most of them are there by choice. I don't think that Japanese teachers work harder than those in the west - they just work longer hours. When I was teaching in schools (JHS & SHS) the Japanese teachers would be fairly relaxed during their daytime free periods, reading books, writing emails or even sleeping on their desks. When I asked them about it they said they wanted to save their work for the evening when the headmaster was in the staffroom to make themselves look good. My mum and a few other friends are teachers in the UK and I know they don't stop during the day. My mum taught kindergarten and she said often didn't have time to speak to the other teacher in the class all day cos the kids need constant attention. She used to bring a bit of work home but not much - for kindergarten it is just cutting shapes, sewing things, washing aprons and display work. It's not in line with the stereotype of the Japanese being efficient & productive but it seems to me that Japanese spend a lot of time in work/school wasting time butlooking good by being there. Japanese students learn these "time management" skills early, sleeping, keitai-emailing or writing notes to their friends in class because they don't need to listen, having learned all the same stuff in juku two years previously. Club activities too, where the kids spend a lot of time just hanging out or doing pointless drills encourage this ethic. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Originally Posted By: me jane but if you ask the actual kids themselves, most of them are there by choice. True, but alot are there just by wanting to fit in or hang out with friends. What biz you in Halfmachine Link to post Share on other sites
kaiser soce 0 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Construction. So its a pretty physical 49hr minimum. Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Originally Posted By: Indosnm True, but alot are there just by wanting to fit in or hang out with friends. That's true too. I don't agree with the way J-clubs are run, but just in answer to the question "What would you do...", I would let my kids make the choice as you have done with your kids. Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 The clubs at the school I was at didn't seem that strict actually. I bet some schools are in it for the competitions and really push the kids while others take a more relaxed outlook on it all. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Quote: I don't think that Japanese teachers work harder than those in the west - they just work longer hours. Goes without saying but it depends on the people. I have a close friend who is a teacher and she is totally dedicated and works long hours (without the waste), weekends and often evenings as well. It is relentless. I feel sorry for her but then again she seems to like it. She needs to get more control of her life though. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Originally Posted By: JellyBelly The clubs at the school I was at didn't seem that strict actually. I bet some schools are in it for the competitions and really push the kids while others take a more relaxed outlook on it all. i've been told the big city schools are far less rigid with clubs than the rural schools. likely due to the abundance of alternative after school activities available to city kids versus the near void available out in the country. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 again, that depends on the school I think. Our school is in the city with plenty of extra-curricular options for kids, but they are still club nazis. Although it also depends on the club and the teacher in charge of the club. Some are very relaxed. Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I think the city schools in general are less strict. One of the obvious reasons is they are much more difficult to police. I was on JET in Saga and all the teachers looked out for each others pupils. For kids who broke the rules even in the evenings or on the weekend, there was a pretty high chance of them being caught by a teacher from another school who would phone the offender's school the next day. Forget smoking and drinking, crimes at my school included: On school days: hitched up skirts, loose socks, untucked shirts, make up, hair in one pony tail not the required two bunches, name badges turned in so they couldn't be read Any day (including school hols) Two people of the opposite sex hanging out together (groups were okay), dyed hair, part-time jobs without a letter of permission from the school, taking driving lessons without the same letter Perhaps it's not the lack of activities but the fact that nothing else is allowed that drives the inaka kids to clubs? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 again that depends on the school in question. One of my first schools here was inaka, and not strict at all on ANY of those things... Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 >crimes at my school included: On school days: hitched up skirts, loose socks, untucked shirts, make up, hair in one pony tail not the required two bunches,< And those were the rules for just the boys.. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 >On school days: hitched up skirts, loose socks, untucked shirts, make up, hair in one pony tail not the required two bunches, name badges turned in so they couldn't be read at least your girls wore clothes and didnt try nampaing on you on a daily basis Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Originally Posted By: me jane part-time jobs without a letter of permission from the school, taking driving lessons without the same letter Where do schools get off not allowing kids to have PT jobs. They're a valuable lesson in teaching kids about money. Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 they can get a part time job when they graduate from uni. after that they can have all the louise vutton bags their little hearts desire. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I started work at 12, delivering newspapers. I used the money to buy and service a bike, and pay for my holidays with the Boy Scouts. Never have had an LV bag. Anyone who tried to control that got a kick in the nuts. That's why I was expelled from school at 15. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I started my local paper round at 10 for a mere $10 a week! Parents made me pay my way for Bali holidays, my expensive bikes and so on. Lesson well taught, coz it took me 10 weeks to get my bloody first set of scott bars. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Ten shillings (that's 10/-) for me. The breakthrough came when I moved up to 12/6d. I still know how to conserve cash. My first pint cost 1/10d. Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 oh sweet lord... this isn't going to turn into a "how much things used to cost in the old days" thread is it? Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Gotcha beat Indo! 6 bucks a week for 5 hours riding my bike delivering pamphlets to peoples letter boxes! Then 12 bucks a week on the local milk truck. Running for 4 hours. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 When I were a lad, a shoe box in the road cost 4/6d. We couldn't afford that. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I don't even know what 4/6d is!!! Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Twelve pence to the shilling and twenty shillings to the pound. Three feet to the yard, and eight furlongs or 1760 yards to the mile. It's easy. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Sorry, being cryptic. "d" is short for the Latin dinarii, meaning pence. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 That still doesn't really help me, but thanks anyway soub Link to post Share on other sites
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