What’s the maximum teaching hours in a private school (middle and high school)?

14 comments

1. I do 3 a day, lol

2. At my school, 18 fifty minute classes a week is the max. This seems to be around the norm. In a day, 6 would be the absolute maximum.

3. My schedule is split between private junior high and senior high in a combined school. Most years I teach between 16-18 lessons a week, usually 2-4 “preps” per week. That means I need about four or more hours just for planning.

   This year, on a 45-minute schedule, I’m assigned 17 lessons. The instructional day is 7 or 8 periods a day.

   There’s no way I could handle more than 4 lessons a day with all the prep and marking required. Not to mention meetings. The English department has weekly meetings plus each course we teach in has meetings a few times a month.

   The admin at your school is overloading you if you’re assigned every teaching hour of the school day. You’re going to burn out quickly even if you’re T2.

4. What are you, exactly? An ALT?

5. I’ve been between 16 and 20 classes a week as a full time private school teacher, with and English meeting, grade meeting, and grade year leader meeting on top of that.

   Nobody teaches 9 classes a day as T1, in any school I’ve ever been at. Stand up for yourself.

6. Esh. I hope your monthly salary is at least 450,000 with the shenanigans they are pulling.

7. Do you get nenkin, hoken, and two bonuses a year?

8. Yeah, that’s absurd. With 35 classes a week, do you even have time that’s not spent in the classroom?
   At my school (private jr/high split) HR teachers max out at 17, the rest at 19. Some people go beyond that but there’s a stipend that comes with it.

9. I teach 17 classes a week but I actually volunteered to teach one of those classes and all are 45 mins long.

10. You know you’re being exploited.

    I’m here to tell you that you’re also participating in exploitation. There is no way anyone can do a good job making their own lessons, prepping materials, marking and teaching for 35 classes a week. Let’s leave aside that at that level of exhaustion, you can’t give your students the teaching they deserve; at that level of exhaustion, you’re a hazard to your own health and your students’ safety. Say no. The worst that can happen is that your exploitative school that’s already trying to make you do two teachers’ work at substandard pay chooses not to renew you.

11. My school is 17 50 min classes per week. I teach 18 though so get an extra 8000 per month for that class.

    Having said that, how does a school even have 9 periods a day? Our school has 6 and the occasional 7th for certain grades. It doesn’t make sense to me or am I missing something?

12. The average is 15×50 minute classes at my school. I have 21 classes a week but I get a kind of overtime pay for that. Your schedule is obviously ridiculous.

13. I read though your responses here. You need to know:

    – It is legal to ask employees to do overtime past the number of regular work hours on their contract, but you would need to be paid for these. Most teachers do a lot of extra work after school and sometimes on weekends, so that in itself is not unusual.

    – Everyone is allowed a 40 minute break if they work a full 8 hour day, but companies aren’t legally required to give you any other breaks (as far as I know; if someone else has info on that, post it).

    Unless you aren’t being compensated for overtime, then it sounds like your employer is not breaking the law; so in that sense, you may not have any legal recourse, and the labor board won’t be able to help you.

    However, it’s clear that your employer is exploiting you. As everyone else has said, asking you to teach 8 or 9 classes a day is insane. That’s just not done, and I’m amazed the parents allow this to be done to their children. I’m thinking you might work for one of those faux “international schools” that pretends to be legit, but is a money-making front that cares little for education.

    I see two choices here for you.
    1. Leverage your degree and experience to get a new job.
    2. Unionize your workplace and strike for better working conditions and more pay.

    That’s about it. But in case you want to read the labor law for yourself, or talk to someone, here are some links:

    1. labor law in English: https://www.jil.go.jp/english/laws/index.html

    2. Hoteresu is a legal support center where you can get advice: https://www.houterasu.or.jp/en/

    3. Labor unions that support English teachers:
    Tozen: https://tozenunion.org/
    General Union: https://www.generalunion.org/

    Good luck!!

14. I’m working 12hrs and sometimes if there’s an event double ship!! No Off exhausted