I’m a 5th year JET leaving this summer and I was wondering why schools and BOE’s always keep it a secret until the last minute when a teacher leaves? I’m not allowed to tell the kids I’m leaving and apparently they will find out when I give a farewell speech at the closing ceremony next week! I’ve been at the same small school for five years and have a really close relationship with my coworkers and the kids. To me it feels mean that they find out on my last day, but the same happens every year with teachers who are transferred. Why the secrecy?!
11 comments
There are very few situations where it’s socially acceptable – almost expected – to show emotions. This farewell ceremony is one of them. Don’t worry too much about it, there will be farewell cards and the like prepared for you.
Not sure, a coworker she told me she was leaving and then said she hadn’t told anyone else. She’s leaving in three weeks I don’t think she has told anyone but the principal. I wanted to ask why, but I guess it’s just how things are.
This is not the case with me at least. I’m leaving my school next week and everybody knows it. So do the students. The principal has even mentioned it. It’s not a secret at all
Depends on the school. My JHS told the kids literally on the first day of the new school year. I was expecting people to be much more hush hush about it based on what I’ve heard on social media, but that totally hasn’t been my experience.
As to why a lot of schools do that, I would assume they’re just copying what they do with teacher changes in April. Kids usually don’t find out which teachers are changing until the closing ceremony. As for why they do it like that, “idk but that’s how we’ve always done it” is the answer I got when I asked
I believe the teachers aren’t really allowed to talk about it until a document is released saying where all the teachers will be going – never really understood it either though
They used to keep it a secret, but for me, my students and teachers have known for a month or two.
I assumed it was because they don’t want students to lose motivation in class or treat the ALT like “oh they’re leaving anyway, why should we listen to them?”
I’ve already told teachers and students that this is my last recontracting year. They’ve all been asking me about it since they know I’ve been here several years and ask about what I’m doing afterwards so I feel no need to keep it a secret and I’m not going to keep a secret about myself for free lol. And because I’ll still be living in the area, I feel even less of a need to be hush hush.
((Also I use my sob story of it being my last year to be able to experience classes and events with the students as a way to include myself in non-English class things too. they can’t say no when its my last chance))
It depends on the school, mine has been fine with me telling the students in advance and some of my colleagues told them before I did.
There was an extremely small scandal in my town regarding this very topic. A teacher, who had been working at the school for over 10 years and was in charge of the school’s brass band, was going to do a farewell concert and the posters had been posted around town. However this clashed with the fact that his leaving the school was yet to be announced to other staff and students.
I asked one of my co-workers why that was an issue and they told me that the concern is that his students won’t study as diligently if they know that their teacher is leaving. For example, even if they completely fail the subject it won’t matter, because that teacher won’t be around to scold them.
Honestly I’m not sure either. My CO forces us ALTs to switch schools every year. The students know it, the teachers and staff know it. I recently told my CO I’m leaving the program in April (I’m an ED) and they panicked and told me to not tell my JTEs. It wouldn’t matter anyways because that’s when the school year ends and we switch schools.
Weird, I’ve never heard of this being kept a secret. Everyone’s known this is my last year for basically the whole year