Hey not sure how long this post will be, if I feel it’s too long I will put a TLDR at the end.
Anyway, I’ve been teaching in SE Asia for a few years. And it’s been a rollercoaster, when it’s good its GOOD, when its BAD it’s BAD, I think that can apply for teaching anywhere or any job in general. However there are some aspects about English teaching here and education as a whole that’s been making the spark die out. I’ve been looking into heading to Japan/Korea for work. Now I don’t think these places will be magical and perfect or even void of the issues that I don’t like currently, but I’m under the impression that the issues are less severe..or not as baked into the system.
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I’ll try to explain as straightforward as possible. Again I think these issues exist everywhere, but my main goal is to check how severe it is in Japan.
Negatives:
Lack of consequences(grades, attendance, skills dont matter, failing is impossible, parents are kept out of the loop
Students are way too zombie’d out as a result of being aware of the lack of consequences and they are also lacking a lot of fundamental skills that they should have as middle/high schoolers such as literally being able to output developed thoughts when speaking/writing. This isn’t a language barrier issue because all my students speak English with some having rougher grammar than others.
I hope it isn’t coming off as a “why isn’t everything perfect” whiny post. The lack of skills thing wouldnt bother me if I was teaching smaller kids where they are still learning how to do these things. I teach all middle-high school grades. So it is exhausting when a 9th grader hands in an assignment that looks like its from a 1st grader and the reason why its like its that because he knows it wont matter if he gets marked down for low quality work.
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There are positives though:
Work environment is nice, both the fellow foreigners and local teachers are great and supporting.
The students themself as people/individuals are interesting and fun people. And have good rapport amongst each other and the staff.
My school does do activities and events to keep the kids engaged as well.
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My main gripe is the dark side of the classroom. Again I dont think Japan, back home(America) would be magically better, perfect or without these issues. In fact I have a friend teaching back home now who says the exact same negatives are present in his area but a bit less severe. So I’m wondering how is it in Japan? My only personal sources of info are 2 friends who have been living and teaching there a long time. One friend enjoys it, but say ssome of the office culture can be draining. Another guy just does tutoring as teaching isn’t his main job so he’s pretty neutral.
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If the post sounds like I’m whining about the students…its less on them and more of the system they are in that enables or leads them to certain tendencies. I think almost all of my students, if places in a different system would flourish greatly. But I just personally feel a bit demoralized and conflicted
by KnucklesAdventure