I’m a JHS ALT and a teacher wants me to be T1. I don’t want to be T1 because I am not qualified and I feel more comfortable being T2 since my job title says assistant. I’m happy to team teach but leading the whole class for the entire lesson time is pushing my role to its limits since I get the pay and title of an assistant. I know some people enjoy being T1 but I don’t.
Can I refuse and ask to remain as T2?
Is there anything in an ALT contract says that I can show to prove to them I’m not legally allowed to be a T1?
Have you ever refused to be T1 and if so what were the repercussions?
25 comments
You are not supposed to be T1. You`re an ALT which means T2. That teacher is probably a lazy ass and wants you to do the class so they can have a rest. Tell your co-ordinator.
You can most certainly try. You should have signed a contract at some point. Read over that contract and try to understand what kind of position you’re meant to hold. If it doesn’t explicitly say you are to be T1, then you can definitely argue against it. Whether your school will be cooperative or not will really depend on you and how well you can articulate your reasoning as to why what they’re doing is wrong.
details. Elementary School or Junior High?
What level of school are you working at? ES? JHS? SHS?
What type of ALT are you? JET, direct-hire, dispatch?
Is the Japanese teacher remaining in the room while you are T1?
Edit: Anyhow, all of the above aside, you’re generally what the school wants of you. Better get to working on your self-confidence now, especially if you’re a dispatch ALT. There’s nothing illegal about you being T1 **as long as the Japanese teacher is in the classroom**.
You can, but I wouldn’t reccomend it outright. Instead of ‘refusing’ to be T1, which might be slightly confrontational, try to suggest team teaching or making activities for part of the class instead?
I know we’re only ALTs, emphasis on the A for assistant, but sometimes being T1 is the assisting. I don’t know a single ALT that doesn’t T1 sometimes. Think about it, you T1 your self intro, don’t you? This is the same. You’re just using the textbook instead of yourself and generally making fun games or quizzes with it. I know they always say “we’re not supposed to” etc, but as long as the teacher is still in the room it’s OK. They still have control and authority, it’s safe. If they’re in the room floating around then they are in charge and they can jump in anytime. Being ‘T1’ in this way just allows you the opportunity to interact with the kids as a whole class more and gives them greater exposure to English in a fun way. It’s really totally different than being T2, for both you and the students.
If it’s every couple of lessons that they want you to T1 then you might want to work towards doing it, it’s really useful and fun. The kids enjoy ALT T1 lessons a lot, and they develop you into being more of a teacher, and they’re just way less boring… But yes, if they’re trying to get you to T1 all the time try and negotiate it down to every third lesson or whatever you’re happy with. Of course, you are not a qualified teacher, and **ALT T1ing should be used as lesson long fun time rather than relying on you to define and lead the curriculum.**
>… and the teacher wants me to be T1.
While you can just tell the teacher “No“, “I don’t want to… ” and/or “I don’t feel comfortable…” aren’t the best reasons to support it – they are valid reasons, just not very good reasons.
“I’m not qualified to…” is definitely better. In JHS, the grammar is quite technical, and a pretty significant Japanese language ability is required to teach those.
How you can try to approach it would depend largely on your specific situation.
In some areas, the BOE has a clear mandate that ALTs are to support, and not to lead classes. If you’re in such an area, use that. Also, your contract (with your dispatch company, or with your BOE if you’re a direct hire) will also very clearly state your roles/tasks/responsibilities. It could be in a separate document (eg: Notice of Working Conditions for a Dispatch Contract / Type of work, 派遣契約就業条件明示書 / 業務内容) in some cases. Use that to further support your position that you are not permitted to do so.
At best, you won’t have to. At the very worst, they’ll just arrange to have you replaced instead.
You can refuse, but your relationship with said school might go down the drain.
All these comments are ridiculous. If you don’t feel you are qualified to be a teacher, why did you sign up to be a “Co-teacher” or ALT?
Being a real Jr. High school teacher in japan is awful, unforgiving, demanding… And your English teacher absolutely needs a break and you’re refusing because… You liked your cushy, do nothing, have no responsibilities ALT “T2” position?
Tldr: if you’re not “comfortable teaching” , quit
Can we take a minute to appreciate the double-standards of this subreddit? When an ALT wants more respect or more responsibilities, we meet them with a chorus of “What do you think the ‘A’ stands for?! You’re not a real teacher!” Then when this ALT doesn’t want the responsibility of being T1, they’re met with a chorus of “You have to be a real teacher if that’s what the school says you are!”
*Why, it’s almost enough to make me think the entire construct of ALTs is imaginary, and they exist to be whatever schools can get them to be while not paying nearly the salaries a trained teacher would expect.*
Speaking as a trained and qualified solo teacher, I would be mortified at even the thought of needing to ask an ALT to do my job for me. If I had a good rapport with an ALT *who actively volunteered for extra challenges*, I might let them take on more responsibilities if I thought they could handle it, but for me to step back into the T2 role against an ALT’s wishes could only be taken as an admission of laziness and irresponsibility on my part.
That said, ALTs are often exploited and just how much you can push back will depend on how exploited you are. I have a feeling your ability to stay in the T2 role and keep your job past recontracting will depend on not showing defiance, but getting someone on the other’s level to shame them into doing the job they get paid a salary and bonuses to do. If you have someone you trust among your school’s English teachers, you could go to them, but probably your only hope is to bring this up with your coordinator.
lmao when you think a post from the teaching in japan subreddit is from the diabetes subreddit.
(T1 is the abbreviation used for type 1 diabetics there, thought this was a denial post from a sad recently diagnosed person)
Where I used work as an ALT there were often ‘teaching assistants’. They literally didn’t do anything. The Japanese teachers just ignored them. I guess those guys get paid similar rates of pay to ALTs so it’s a bit rich that the JTE get ALTs to do there slavery work whilst the so-called ‘teaching assistants’ live high on the hog.
My advice, foe what it’s worth, is give it a go. Make a sincere effort to do what is asked of you and then ask for any help you think you need while doing it
What’s the context – dispatch, direct hire at public or private school? Does your contract specify 英語指導助手 or 教師?
Read your contract and ask your supervisor.
Instead of outright rejecting the request, ask for a meeting with a department head and your supervisor, and find out what your responsibilities are.
Also consider the motivation of the JTE. Why are they asking you to do be T1? How does the JTE intend to supervise and support you?
An unusual situation I encountered in my first year as a JET Program ALT was a chronically ill JTE. I came in with a background as a TESOL instructor but without a lot of knowledge of the Japanese curriculum and low fluency in Japanese. I would say I was not ready and certainly not licensed to lead.
The English department head, BoE supervisor, and I had discussions about how to provide instruction for the school year while the JTE was receiving treatment and was frequently absent. The plan we settled on – another subject teacher and I took on all instruction for her classes. The English department provided us with materials and plans that accommodated our skill sets (the other teacher was brilliant at classroom management and systematic instruction, me with communicative teaching).
The students were receptive and followed our instruction. They achieved similar results as their peers in other classes.
It was tough as the state textbooks were unfamiliar to me at that point, and I couldn’t field questions easily in Japanese. But it was an amazing experience that boosted my knowledge and teaching skills.
Don’t even let them call you sensei in the first place. Just say call me Mr. Doe or Private citizen Z.
Are you REALLY ‘T1’ though, or are you being used as a human tape player?
Like… the qualified teacher is directing you to do x, y and z so it’s their plan and they are running the show. They don’t have to be speaking at kids in order to be in charge of the lesson. Telling you to sing songs and lead activities doesn’t mean they are stepping aside as T1, they’re just putting you to work.
I’d say that in theory you can ‘refuse’. However, in practice it’s likely that…
– This would be insubordination. I mean your very question is whether you can refuse one of your supervisor’s requests. You can, but you’re not the T1 so it’s not really your call, right?
– If you’re a labour supply teacher then you can refuse work, but do you have a job then? Nobody can force you to do a job you don’t wanna do. But, they don’t have to pay you if you refuse.
– I suggest that what you REALLY wanna do is say ‘yes but I’m not qualified so I feel a bit nervous about this as I’m used to leading activities. Can we discuss the scope of what you’d like me to do and practice a little bit? I’d really appreciate your support if I’m gonna do this…’
Legally, you can not be T1. You need a Japanese teaching license to design classes and know how to properly follow the curriculum mandated by MEXT.
Lots of lazy teachers will attempt to pass their work on to the ALT. Don’t let them do it, it will not help you in any way other than having the real teacher complain a bit less. Your company will not give a shit, the BOE will not give a shit and it will not help you find better work.
Politely say, “I am not legally certified to lead lessons” and go back to studying Japanese.
This post needs a lot more information. What are you counting as T1 vs T2? What is the subject matter of the classes that you are leading? Are you expected to lead activities and/or give instruction? Are you expected to take care of curriculum and lesson planning along with material creation and distribution? What about classroom management, is your JTE still managing the classroom during the lesson? What about contacting the students, parents and other faculty members about relevant information outside of class time? What is your role in evaluating and testing the students?
If you’re taking the lead in activities and giving instruction in the classroom but not responsible for doing most or all of the other things that I wrote then you are still firmly in the role of assistant to a teacher. It might help you to look at this issue less as a “do I enjoy doing this” or “is this an expectation of the job I agreed to do?” You’re enjoyment of the responsibilities is irrelevant.
On the 振り返りシート for last year, the kids wrote that they wanted my lessons to be an hour, so my JTE pretty much had to scrap any type of involvement she had in my lessons to eek out as much time as possible in my lessons.
The key is to get the kids to do most of the heavy lifting during the lesson. For 3rd graders you can pretty set them on auto-pilot for most of the lesson.
T2 kinda sucks because it doesn’t allow any type of creativity and doesn’t let the kids get to know you.
>I don’t want to be T1 because I am not qualified and I feel more comfortable being T2 since my job title says assistant.
Unless you are some sponge with zero charisma or classroom presence, I very much doubt that. I am not a qualified mechanic but I can still bleed air from the radiator in my car.
The rules are simple, depending on the type of school
Public elementary:
*You get paid 40% of what the Japanese teachers make because you’re not a qualified teacher.
*However you will teach 100% of the lesson because they are not able to teach English. Please understand, eigo muzukashii.
*If you have a good homeroom teacher they will manage behaviour issues and stand at the front of the class with you (not doing much)
*If you have a bad homeroom teacher they will be in the teacher’s room drinking coffee or grading papers.
Public JHS:
*You get paid 40% of what the Japanese teachers make because you’re not a qualified teacher.
*However if you have a bad Japanese English teacher they will expect you to plan and teach the lessons 100% because your the ALT and that’s your job. Their job is to catch up on grading and drink coffee at the back of the class.
*If you have a good Japanese English teacher they will plan the lessons with you and give you various roles based around pronunciation, but they will be the T1 for 80% of the class.
In case it wasn’t obvious the “bad” ones are incorrect in their assumptions of your job requirements, it may not be their fault, rather decades of incompetence and no one speaking up.
If you have a bad one, talk to your dispatch manager, they will contact the head of staff at the school, who will in turn may or may not tell the teacher.
In summation, it’s a crap shoot, you never know what kind of teacher you’re going to get but don’t let yourself be walked all over. Don’t put up with 600,000yen worth of job stress on a 250,000yen salary.
I’m not involved in ALT work so I can’t give good advice in how to best deal with school administration.
My expertise is in education, and if you don’t have any ESL qualifications, then no, you aren’t qualified to be T1 and should not be given that responsibility. Were you to take that role, it would be to the detriment of your learners. It would also not be of any help to your career: without proper education and training, you would be teaching according to guesswork. And teaching in unprincipled way will only teach you bad habits that will be very difficult to overcome.
I would also suspect that you’re getting this foisted onto you because the Japanese teacher is either lazy or lacks confidence.
You aren’t qualified nor are you being paid a salary commiserate with this kind of responsibility.
Take it up with whoever your employer is.
However, I will say this: as deeply unethical these ALT companies are, I would imagine they could give a fuck less that you aren’t qualified, and there is no way in hell they will raise your salary to pay you properly for the extra responsibility. They only care the customer is happy, so they will gladly throw you under the bus.
Honestly, when you work for an ALT company this is the bullshit you inevitably wind up dealing with. My advice is to turn in your resignation. Don’t put up with it. Find a better job, even if that means leaving Japan.
“Perhaps we should canvas the thoughts of the vice principal, principal, PTA, and BOE on whether an unqualified teacher should be teaching the children?”
I was working for Interac and I had a teacher who wanted me to be T1. I’m fine with it in ES but in JHS where the grammar is more intense I told the JHS teacher that I wasn’t comfortable leading the class. It wasn’t just “make a fun day lesson and play with the kids” it was “these are the grammar points you need to address, these are the pages to do, etc.”
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I tried it for a couple of lessons though and the teacher just bounced when the bell rang. As far as I knew that is illegal since I don’t have a license to teach and lead the class nor am I supposed to be responsible for the kids in the event of an emergency or accident. After this I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore.
He didn’t relent and my wife, a Japanese ES teacher, told me that I ought to speak to the VP. I did. The three of us sat down and worked it out. The JTE didn’t want to do any kind of team teaching, it was either 100% me or 100% you. So the VP told him to do 100% him and it was the end of it.
I feel like you are definitely still an assistant if you lead like one class a week per class that reinforces a grammar point they already know or is a cultural lesson or something. I am a high school ALT though so I plan all my lessons and lead the class. I think all high school ALTs do that at least, but even though I am T1 for that lesson, it’s not like I am the actual teacher for that class, like teaching the same kids 4-5 times a week, writing tests, taking attendance, etc. I just “assist” by planning and leading one lesson per week per class. But I don’t teach a grammar point usually. Are they asking you to do that? I definitely would be concerned if they want you to teach the same class more than once a week or have other “real teacher” duties like administrative work, etc. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable for them to want you to take over one lesson. But again, as a HS alt I might be wrong because I do know that junior high has such a focus in grammar that you might be being asked to explain things the kids need to learn and they need a Japanese teacher to help them more in that case.
You can but it’ll make you look bad.
Being T1 isn’t that bad. You don’t have to be perfect. Hell I’m terrible at it but I have fun doing it because I try my hardest.
Normally when they want you to be T1, they expect activities like worksheets, English conversation or games. I usually just do writing practice worksheets.
My advice is in your spare time, make 10 games that you can play in class ranging from 10 to 50 minutes and always have them ready. I’d also make worksheets.
They don’t have to be like board games. Here are some ideas that I recently had to do for 7th graders last week because the teacher was out sick:
1. Interview bingo. The bingo sheet is 3 x 3 with questions like “Are you an AKB48 fan?” And the students go around asking each other the questions. When they find a “yes”, they get the partners signature and when they get a line bingo, they get a sticker or stamp. I sometimes like having them get the sign and seat number and then after like 5 or 6 minutes we do regular bingo with student numbers. I usually let them ask me and my number is 84, my birthyear.
2. Guessing bingo. It’s just a 4×4 grid where there are 16 questions like “Can you play the piano?” And the students guess whether or not I (the alt) will answer yes (O) it no (X). The kids love this one.
3. For the older crowd, I had them write a report. My worksheet had part 1: write in Japanese. Part 2: use a dictionary. Part 3: translate in English and have them write 5 or more sentences on the target grammar. For the 8th graders I had them write about their summer plans using will and going to. For the 9th graders I had them write about their unique experience “have ~ before”.
just tell him to stick T1 where the sun don’t shine T1を太陽の光が当たらないとこにいれとけ！