Never Can Say Goodbye

As it is coming down to the end of this school year, the question that I get the most from my students now is, "So what are you going to do next year?" Why do they want to know? If they are first or second year students, then they want to learn with me again the following year. If they are third year students, many have a younger sibling that are coming in and would like to hear about me from them. What I can't tell them though is, "no, I will not be here next year."

Originally, I had planned to stay another year in my area. Over the past year, I was able to make a lot of good friends. The kids are well behaved (for the most part) and the teachers were looking forward to working with me next year. Unfortunately, the Board of Education here has different plans. For the following school year, they intend to use a different company. I wouldn't really have anything to say about that if it wasn't for the probable reason of money. In Yamaguchi, they try to have ALTs in as many schools as possible. However, in recent years, they have be trying to cut back on the money that they spend, going with cheaper and cheaper companies.

This has me thinking about the actual usefulness of ALTs, in relation to how they are changed so frequently. As you may have heard before, Japan is a nation of shy people. It takes a while to get accustomed to new people and create bonds. The first couple of months were a bit rough. I was breaking into this kind of work and the kids and teachers were breaking into me. In a society that takes a long time to get used to unfamiliar people, how can an ALT be effective if they are constantly being shuffled in and out?

Dispatch companies are almost like vending machines for foreigners. If the current one wants to leave, get a new one. If you want to save money, get a new dispatch company. "Why would you use the 120yen machine when there is a 100yen machine around the block?" Assuming that all ALTs do the same work it makes little difference who you get. "It doesn't matter if we use a cheaper company." I don't mean to elevate myself but I do a lot. Staying for club activities on a daily basis, volunteering to help in unscheduled classes, going to events and being able to communicate in Japanese. Not only is there no guarantee that the new teacher will do these things, but they will have to get used to yet another ALT. The kids are used to changing ALTs more than anything from all this.

I would like to see dispatch companies search for prospect teachers that are willing to stay in one place for more than a year. People that are willing to take the time to truly bond with their schools and communities. If the true aim of ALTs is to bring foreign culture to Japan, then you need someone that can stay to truly permeate the community that they are living in, that's the Japanese way after all. It takes time. That way, perhaps things like being "underbid" by other companies wouldn't happen. That kind of thing doesn't help anyone. What do you guys think?

Maybe I'm just mad. Well, the next guy gets paid less than me... so he can hold that.