Change Of Plans

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the JET Programme, it’s that staying flexible is the best thing you can do. About 10 days before the end of the school year here in Japan, my schedule for the new school year was sent out. I had expected to be at the same schools I had been for the last four months, I doubted there would be any major changes. Of course, I was proven wrong. 

For the past few months I rotated between four different schools each week, one day at each of my visit schools, and two days at my main school. My schedule for the upcoming school year was going to look rather different. I’ll be at my main school three days a week, and the other two days at just one of my visit schools. 

That means two of my visit schools, my Monday and Thursday schools, I would no longer be working at. I had seen an email saying the new schedules were being sent out, but didn’t think to check the attachment. I (wrongly) assumed it was just a written notice with more information, rather than the schedule itself. 

So, when I showed up at my Thursday school for my final day before the end of classes, I was surprised to hear this would be my final final day. They asked me if I could prepare a short speech, and I endeavored to do my best, despite my limited Japanese. It was a short few sentences that I stumbled my way through, but I was still thanked for doing it. 

Though, this also means that my final day at my Monday school was now an unceremonious goodbye. I had assumed I would see those teachers again in April, not that it would be the last time I might see them at all. I figured it was just a “see you later!”, rather than “Thank you for everything these past few months, please take care of yourself.” I never gave them a farewell speech like I had at my Thursday school.

I’ve rather mixed feelings about the whole schedule change. On the one hand, I’ll probably see classes more often, maybe even be able to learn some names and really see their progress over the year. On the other hand, I like the variety of each week. Each school was different, even if I gave the same lesson many more times, the different classes and teachers all had a different feel to them. 

Of course, I didn’t like every class and every teacher equally, I’m only human after all. I won’t miss working with one teacher who never translated my explanations or instructions, leaving me feeling alone in front of a class that held only blank stares. I usually dreaded lessons with him, because without the translations or explanations my other colleagues usually gave, it left more time for me to fill. 

Filling this extra time, when students were already likely lost or confused by my lessons, was always difficult. I tried to speak slower, and leave bigger pauses between ideas or sentences to help them understand. This never felt natural, and classes with this teacher were often ones where I felt uncomfortable. I don’t feel like I was able to connect with the students, and was more often just trying to get through the lessons than anything else. 

The tone and atmosphere of different classes also varied wildly across my different schools. After a full day of classes at my monday school, my voice was often hoarse after trying to talk over classes of 30 plus students, most of whom were loud boys. But, those loud, spirited classes were a nice contrast to my main school, which are usually painfully shy and quiet. 

Both my Monday and Thursday visit schools were technical schools, meaning the students had a slightly different curriculum that focused more on trades. This meant they usually had mostly male students, and were often louder and more outgoing than more traditional students. They also usually had a more relaxed atmosphere, I would often arrive at a class right before the bell rang, sometimes even after. 

I’ll miss that more relaxed atmosphere those schools typically had. It was a nice contrast to the more button up feeling at the more traditional high schools. Having days at both kinds of schools in a single week made me appreciate each one for what it was. This new school year will probably feel a little stuffier without those technical schools to help break things up.

I also can’t help but wonder the reason for the changes. It seems another non-JET ALT will be taking over at the two schools I’ll no longer be teaching at. They’ll spend two days at one and three days at another, much more attention and consistency than I was able to offer. 

Going to four schools is definitely spreading myself rather thin, and I hope this new arrangement will help each school get closer to it’s language learning goals. Though, that doesn’t stop me from wondering about if my performance was a factor. Did those two schools feel I wasn’t adding enough value to their classes? Or maybe they felt the random lessons I was giving were too off topic from their normal curriculum. 

Or, maybe the two schools I’ll be spending more time at want me to be there more often. Maybe they felt I was helpful to both the students and the staff, encouraging them to continue their English studies. I’ll probably never know which is true, if either is true at all. It could just be scheduling, or budget, or any manner of things. 

Since I’ll likely never know the specifics, I might as well assume the best, because it helps me sleep at night if nothing else. These four and a half months here in Japan have already been such a whirlwind, and as soon as I think I have something down to a routine, like my work life, it’s all going to change. 

In some ways I can’t help but be a little frustrated. The timeline on these changes is short, the reasoning behind the changes isn’t terribly apparent, and I didn’t have a say in the matter. Though, that seems to affect not just me. I’ve mentioned that the English teacher who sits beside me is leaving my school, I had always assumed that was his decision. Well, he may not have a say in the matter either. 

He made an off hand comment about hoping he would be able to stay at this school next year, but wasn’t able to. Here in Japan, it seems teachers being transferred every few years is very common. This was mentioned during my brief training, but I didn’t realize these transfers were sometimes out of the hands of the teachers being transferred.

I suppose, like with all professions, we’re subjected to the ominous higher ups that make decisions we may not agree with, or were never consulted about. When I was laid off in the games industry, what was that if not a sudden expected transfer? At least in this case, I’m still employed and working at places I’m somewhat familiar with. 

Any transfer or change of plans can be difficult. People aren’t usually too keen on change. Even if life in Japan still feels surreal most of the time, I still try to hold onto the familiar to keep me grounded. I enjoyed my schedule, the constant change of scenery, the many different classes and teachers. 

Though, maybe spending more time at fewer schools will help me build more relationships. I won’t always walk into work unsure of the schedule, what lesson I might be teaching, or who I’ll be teaching with. I’m hoping these changes will be for the better, but even still it’s not easy to change plans, especially once I was finally starting to get my head around them.