If I were to teach English in a Japanese school, as I plan to do in the future, would they allow me to put up an Irish flag in the classroom? Also, would they find my patriotism unprofessional or funny?
Edit: I don’t support the IRA or any ideas of Ireland being better than Japan etc, I am just patriotic.
32 comments
Well I’m Irish too and while I doubt putting up an Irish flag would be a problem – my students in China were often curious about our country – I suggest that you don’t bring your political views (about anything) into the classroom, unless specifically asked about them. And even then, I would avoid getting on a soapbox.
Sounds like a question you should ask the school board, not reddit.
IMO unless you’re showing different flags from different countries (maybe flags of English-speaking countries), there’s no reason to have an Irish flag in a Japanese school. Remember that you’re hired to teach your students English, not about yourself.
Having some pride in your country is fine but nationalism for any country is bad. You shouldn’t be doing things like bashing England or trying to insert Irish stuff in everything you do.
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The Irish flag in the classroom is also a big no-no (you are in Japan, not Ireland) but if you want to put a flag or something at your desk that is fine.
Just put on a black balaclava with an Irish flag in the background and refuse to answer any questions about it.
Why would you need to do that? Are you teaching about Ireland?
I happen to favor a particular professional sports team, but displaying team regalia in the classroom would be utterly needless.
Sounds like the OP wants to spread bigoted and racist views.
Nothing worse than pitiful gaijins babbling about political nonsense to Japanese people who have zero interest in their garbage.
OP: You don’t seem to have the right mentally to work in education. Stay home.
I’d be shocked if any of your students have ever heard of the troubles etc. I think a full sized flag would be overkill, maybe a small one on your desk but ask your school.
I think the Irish flag is unnecessary. They do have ethnic natives to Japan too similar to the UK (Ainu in the north and Okinawans in the south) so they will totally understand … BUT as a proud British Celt (don’t really want to say which country on here), but more pride in sports , and gentle cultural traits like language and mythology, I do find flags a bit jarring to be honest. They remind me of people who have grabbed power and other connotations. Just use the flag in your intro, not put on the wall. Nobody will care. I made a decision that I don’t want to live in the past, and yes it’s sad what certain countries have been through but it’s more important to put that aside.
It’s just a country’s flag. They’ll be happy to see the Irish teacher with an Irish flag. Don’t talk about the Black and Tans or any of that stuff though lol
You might not have your own classroom. If you do though it’s fine. Most BOE want “cultural” ambassadors. This doesn’t mean you should spout propaganda. More share parts of your culture that are interesting, fun, and appropriate for the level and integrate that into your classes.
This what annoys me with teaching in Japan – if it was an American flag, it probably would’ve been okay. But anyone else? Nope!
Why not make a poster about Ireland with the flag, some pictures, and some interesting Irish facts?
You.. won’t have a single classroom.. some schools do have an “English classroom” and generally they let you decorate it, but then the reality will sink in and the teachers will bemoan how inconvenient it is for all the kids to move there.
I’d just ask what there’s to be proud of? Was it taking weapons from the Kaiser, or spitting on returning soldiers who fought against Hitler in the British Army?
Ireland – would have been on the wrong side of both world wars, were it not full of pussies.
I imagine if I asked my JHS students their thoughts about Irish nationalism in English, I’d be met with blank stares (most wouldn’t understand what nationalism is even if I asked it simply), and if I asked in Japanese, they’d understand the question, but likely wouldn’t have many thoughts because I doubt they’ve learned much more about Ireland than where it is.
A couple of people here seem to have a chip on their shoulder about Irish resentment for England hahaha. Heavily doubt your students know that there’s even a difference between Northern Ireland and Ireland if they know anything about Ireland at all, let alone the political strife there. Yeah ask your boss, but maybe a small flag somewhere is fine if you want to do a little show and tell to any curious student minus the political talk
Put up the flag, if the school allows you a place to do it (You won’t have one classroom that is yours, you’ll be moving around to all the different rooms, and you may even be moving between different schools).
You’ve ruffled the feathers and upset the national pride of all the Brits who are angry-posting in this thread. Good on you.
You most likely won’t have your own room and I think putting up a flag in each and every classroom to stay there all school year would be too much regardless of where you are from 😂
Alternatives:
Introduce your country and flag during your self-introduction
Keep a flag at your desk
Wear a pin of the flag when at school
Introduce Irish culture through holidays, games, and some words *when the JTE asks you to*
If you’re planning to do a whole semester on Irish Independence and expecting the JTE to translate your history lessons, ALTing may not be for you
TBH most Japanese people will just see you as an ‘English speaker’ and not really care about your country. The schools also try to keep politics out of the class, so even things like pride flags are often not allowed in class. I recommend not going hardcore Irish because you will just alienate yourself.
ALTs don’t have their own class space, but there may be a language lab which is for all English classes. Usually there will be lots of flags, so you can make sure your own is there. Maybe have some pictures of your home town as flashcards.
Consider this:
The only thing of nationalism the Japanese are going to know anything about is their own- and Japan’s own nationalism, while it still DOES exist, is only spoken of in very hushed tones. Too much of it is reminiscent of Pre-WWII Japan, and keep in mind that the US basically did its best to beat that out of the country.
Having pride in your country is fine (patriotism). And it makes for good topics as you can tell students about it. But nationalism, as in saying your country is the BEST in the world (and implying all other are bad compared to it)… that’s when you’re going to run into MAJOR issues.
The vast majority of Japanese students don’t view Irish nationalism full stop. They have no idea it exists, and they have no concept of the context it comes from.
You almost certainly won’t have your own classroom and you will likely have little influence on the decoration of the classrooms you are in. Very few people would bat an eye at you associating yourself with the Irish flag as a personal decoration, but the logical conclusion of that is not an inference about your political ideology so much as turning you into a mascot character, Irish-sensei.
Assuming we’re talking about elementary/JHS/high school students, the most likely result of you heavily laying into symbolic representations of your Irishness is your students remembering after they graduate that you weren’t American. If your students are especially attentive and you do a good job with them, they might remember after they graduate that you weren’t English.
As for your coworkers, I predict that the biggest consequence of you closely associating yourself with the Irish flag is everyone apologizing to you because the venue they booked for the school drinking party doesn’t have Guinness on the all-you-can-drink menu, so can you drink Japanese beer?
Usually, they like to emphasize the fact you are a foreigner; from a foreign country- that is why you are there. Schools often put up flags from their teachers country at events to emphasize this, so no, they won’t have a problem with it. They would also like to hear about Ireland.
What they won’t like is if you start to tell them all the ways Ireland is better than Japan.
No one cares where you are from. All foreigners are foreigners
Just teach English. Problem solved
Lol. I was trying to explain where Ireland us to my Japanese wife, she said she’s never heard of it before…
So your answer is, they don’t care
Tell them how the politicians in Ireland invite Africans to live there and give them tonnes of free things when they arrive. They will think its hilarious.
My school has full-sized flags from current and previous ALTs displayed, including Scotland, Wales, England, New Zealand, Australia, a pride flag, plus South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Singapore. The flags are in the language lab, which all grades use. Sometimes we spotlight particular countries on our English board, and display flags and facts accordingly. The school, teachers, and students have never had an issue with the flags.
As long as it’s not a full-sized flag there should be no problem. In most schools though, you don’t get your own classroom which you can decorate as you like. (Disclaimer: I’m not a school administrator)
As for the concept of nationalism itself, the concept of putting up a country’s flag in your private space might get questioning looks or mild bemusement by most people, but I doubt it’ll be a problem.
I do remember hearing a fun story about one of the previous Irish ALT’s at my school and they asked the students on the first day what things they knew about Ireland, and apparently one of first things to be said was “a monster lives in their lake” lol
Don’t think I have seen it anywhere but you might get an English board, where you can put stuff about where you come from and events that happen in that country
I doubt they would have a problem with your patriotism, but because a teacher goes from room to room, instead of the students; I don’t know exactly how the logistics would work for you in the Japanese school system. If it were an Eikaiwa though, make sure to clear it with your director.
I just watched an interview a couple of days ago about the planned immigration of something like 4 million Africans and Muslims to Ireland over the coming years. It sounds horrific. How do you feel about that?
The way I would go about it is making a sign with the flag and below it has my name and some facts about me, so its like an educational poster of sorts, it would be nicely laminated and portable, maybe tape and string, and your first lesson and day is incorporated into it. You justify it as a way to make it easy to explain your name and nationality to classroom visitors. “Because I’m sensitive about being confused with Canadian, American, Australian” and then people will be on your side about it.
To come at this “because of national pride” angle will be seen as mendokusai lol