How to do the Teach-Now and TeacherReady practicums as an ALT?

5 comments

1. Have you asked the teacher or principal whether your class can be videoed? That’s the first step. If you get a “no” then you can’t join a program that requires your lessons be recorded.

   I have a feeling (and other teachers can confirm if I’m right or wrong) that they likely won’t allow this, as it could be considered an invasion of students’ privacy. Considering Japan’s risk-adverse culture, I can’t imagine many parents agreeing to this.

   And to be honest, I highly doubt any eikaiwa would let you video your lessons either. The students wouldn’t like it (again, privacy issues) and corporate headquarters would not be keen on letting out information about their classes. There might be some exceptions, but I imagine it would be difficult for you to find one, and you’d have to quit your current job.

   The problem is, programs like the ones you mention require teachers to be working in contexts where they have full support of the school in getting further education and qualifications. Japan is not such a context, since generally speaking, they don’t consider ALTs to be teachers. For the most part ALTs are only seen as an aid, and your career advancement is immaterial to them. And of course eikaiwa don’t give a flying eff whether you can actually teach or not, because it’s not a requirement of the job. All you need do is look smiley and be entertaining.

   This is why Japan is a horrible place to teach – career advancement is immaterial and seen as unnecessary since you’re not seen as a real teaching asset – only as a temporary worker.

   You’d need to be a full-fledged, full time professional teacher to have full the support of your school or university in taking such a program, as only then would they see you as an asset whose advancement benefits them.

   If you want to advance your teaching skills while in Japan, I’d suggest an online CELTA. It doesn’t require a teaching practicum so you can do it while you are still working. But honestly? To really further your career, you should probably enter a face-to-face university program, because I don’t see how else you’d be able to do a teaching practicum.

   But maybe someone else knows more about this than I do, and can suggest something better. I completed my teaching practicum long ago, so am not very up to date on such things. I do hope you manage to find a program. It’s really good to see an ALT who actually cares about upskilling.

2. I did moreland at a private school. I teach by myself.

   One of the example videos we had to watch was of a woman in a public Korean school and it was very similar to being an ALT in Japanese schools. However she was T1 for the part she videoed so I think you would need to be T1 for most of the time to get anything out of it.

   Like the commenter below said, your school would have to OK it. Possibly also your BOE if you are direct hire. Dispatch might get thorny. At private schools, most parents sign waivers allowing students to be used for school promotional content and I was told by my admin that waiver covered me videoing class in this context as well. So, permission is first.

   Someone who supervises you will have to digitally sign a document allowing you to tape class and certifying that you did your clinical there at the end.

   Moreland can occasionally find people placements teaching online. I have read in the past people would sometimes teach no one and video that but I am not sure if that is allowed now – nobody in my cohort was like that and I think Moreland is gradually trying to be taken more seriously. (There was one example video for asynchronous learning but that’s a bit different…)

3. Sorry for the long post, but I was in your exact position earlier this year, so I have lots of relevant advice to offer.

   I’m a current ALT with the JET Programme.

   I’m 7 weeks away from completing the TeachNOW programme, and have submitted 3 of the 5 required videos so far; all videos were given a passing grade by my instructor at Moreland.

   BEFORE signing up to the programme, I emailed the clinical team and explained my situation; I also had several Zoom meetings with members of the team to further clarify my situation. Like you, I was worried about the practicum given that I’m an assistant teacher and not the main teacher. They said it would be fine, so long as I’m the main teacher in the videos I submit. So far, this has proven to be true; as I mentioned, I’ve submitted 3 videos and all have been given a passing grade. The JTE was always with me in the lessons (and in the videos), but I took the main role.

   It’s also worth noting that your lessons are 45-50minutes, but you only record/send in 15-20 minutes of footage (for the first 4 videos), and 20-30 minutes of footage (for the final video). You’re expected to edit the video and show only the relevant parts. If you think that the JTE took too much of a lead role in one of your recordings, just cut those parts out.

   I also made sure to contact my BOE and ask for permission to record. I wanted to only record one specific class at one of my schools (I teach multiple classes in multiple schools), so the BOE contacted the principal of the school and asked on my behalf. I received permission, but I’m required to blur my students’ faces throughout the video, AND show the video to my principal before submitting it (to confirm that students’ identities aren’t revealed). Again, so far I’ve had no issues on this front; every time I’ve shown my principal the video, it’s been given the green light. It’s worth noting that I have a very good relationship with all staff members in this school, which no doubt helped in not only securing the requisite permission, but also in the JTE being confident to relinquish his duties to me.

   Anyway, each situation is different. Don’t give Moreland any money until you’ve confirmed everything with the clinical team, AND your BOE, AND the principal of the school you wish to record at.

   Also, you didn’t ask this, but a bit of advice. Japan is a popular destination country for international teachers, and getting into the genuine international schools that offer a decent salary and benefits will be difficult; you’ll be fighting an uphill battle to get into these schools, as ALT experience doesn’t typically count as main teacher experience. If you’re content with working at an ‘international’ school in Japan (i.e., international in name only, and usually with low salary, long working hours, and few benefits), or starting off your career in a country that takes NQTs (China), then you’re good. If not, you may want to do an ITT course in your home country and get some domestic experience instead.

4. Hey. Just so you know, YOU DO NOT NEED TO VIDEO KIDS for Teach Now. I blacked out the video anytime a child entered the video with the reason being privacy concerns are too strict in Japan.

5. I’ve done the Teacher Ready program. They do not require you video lessons. But you will need to log 180 hours of observation and then teach for about 40 full time under an experienced mentor at a school. You need to be a US citizen and fly to USA to pass a series of standardized tests.