In August 2015, I secured a part-time teaching job in a Japanese school in a local Jacobean manor house. For years I’d seen Japanese students on my way home and wondered where they studied as it would be good to work nearer home. After nearly forty years of commuting by train in and out of London, I thought it was time for a change. At the time, I didn’t realise how much of a change it would be, but it was very different.
This particular job involved teaching English to Japanese students, but also training them how to teach English to young Japanese learners. It had been decreed by the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) that English would become a compulsory subject for primary school children. I’d not had much experience of teacher training up to this point, but had observed and critiqued countless lessons in my previous schools. So I did a lot of background reading on teacher training and once actively taking part, I found it very enjoyable. In September 2015, I became Director of Studies and ESL Coordinator at the school. I remained until 2020, when due to circumstances beyond my control I could no longer continue working there. These circumstances arose before the pandemic and lockdown, so it wasn’t the best year career wise.
As I have mentioned, the school was a short journey from my home (walking distance) and I was only the non-Japanese person there, so most of the day the conversation around me was Japanese. I didn’t mind as i could zone out and concentrate on my work. I did pick up a few Japanese phrase, probably by ‘peripheral learning’. I noted some phrases always preceded or followed some action and worked out the meaning from observing. The Japanese character system is difficult and I still don’t know that many of them, although again by the frequent use of some characters I discovered the meaning.
I trained many students and had an almost one hundred per cent pass rate as they were all very conscientious and enthusiastic students. I was sometime worried that they might not like the feedback I gave them on observations. However, they always told me how much they appreciated the verbal and written feedback on their teaching practice. Unfortunately, one student did not seem to put the work in and I had to fail them which negatively affected my pass rate. My staff and I offered all the support we could, but unfortunately the student never handed in assignments on time and by the end of the course still owed assignments to all the lecturers. The student also seemed to let their classmates do all the work during collaborative tasks. One of the tasks was to observe a morning in a local primary school class and then return a few weeks later and give that class a lecture in English on Japanese culture. This could be teaching basic Japanese language, telling stories, playing children’s games or origami. One poor woman did all the work that should have been developed by both of the students. Her co-student wasn’t putting any effort into developing material. Teaching is also about collaboration and supporting your fellow teachers. So, I had to fail the student. Even the principal whose marking regime was not as strict as the other lecturers reluctantly agreed that the student had to receive a fail grade. In all my time there, that was fortunately the only time that happened. The rest of my trainees passed, sometime with merit.
I was referred to as ‘Steve-sensei’ by all the staff and students. Even when I wrote a report or meeting notes I referred to myself as Steve-sensei. The local cafe in the park was managed by a nice Japanese lady. Once they discovered I worked in the school, they also referred to me as Steve-sensei. I found it both quite funny and endearing at the same time. Below is my attempt to write ‘Ohayo gozaimasu’ which means ‘Good morning’. You use this phrase up until about 11 a.m. and use ‘konnichiwa’ after that time.
I also taught IELTS classes for Japanese students, plus lectured on EFL methodology to classes where they were learning how to teach Japanese to non-Japanese speakers. In the summer for three or four weeks, I trained Japanese students in using English for teaching Japanese to non-native speakers. That was quite interesting as I was observing classes in a language that was relatively unknown to me, but I think the trainees liked using me to practise on. I was also involved in a class known as the ‘foreign language lesson’. This is also used in UK training courses such as TEYL and CELTA. The trainees receive instruction in a foreign language to give them an example of how it feels to learn another language. Generally the language is not that common, so to have a lesson in French would be unusual. My second language is Danish, so I mainly taught that to the trainees using the direct method. I would not speak in English and only Danish for the entire lesson, using pictures and prompts to illustrate the language. I’d say ninety-nine per cent of the students enjoyed the lessons. I always found it amusing afterwards when Japanese students would greet me in the park in the Danish language. I did use basic Spanish and Russian in the lessons too.
