Being a Direct Hire ALT with other Dispatch ALTs

I don't think many people are in this situation at all, but I happen to be an ALT that is directly hired at my school working with some "part-time" ALTs who are outsourced and managed by a dispatch company. There was no REAL reason given as to why they couldn't just directly hire someone just like me but part-time, but I can tell you the reason is always money-related and not wanting the responsibility to deal with foreign teachers.

Because I'm sort of still in this unique situation for a little while, I want to talk about it a little. What it kind of means, and my advice to other direct hires who have dispatch ALTs at your school.

My Situation

Since my school is a private school, we have a junior high school (JHS) section and a high school (HS) section attached. This is usually quite common, at least in the area I work around. Our JHS communication classes are usually taught by two foreign teachers - a class is split into two so one foreign teacher gets about 20 kids, the other gets another 20.

These classes are outsourced to a dispatch company.

Now you might be asking... ALTs aren't teachers, is this legal?

Well, in JHS - it (sort of?) is legal. It's a bit of a gray area, but it's not illegal. As long as the students aren't graded and the classes aren't counted as a separate subject that goes on the record officially, it's technically ok to have ALTs run these kind of once a week classes on their own.

It's only when you get to high school that it's completely NOT ok unless you have a Japanese teacher's license (which I have and can be left alone to run classes whenever). Classes count for credits in high school and if an unlicensed person like an ALT runs a class alone, the school can get in trouble and the credit for students gone if the authorities find out.

Now... if you didn't know this, and you're solo teaching in a high school at the moment... well...

...it's either your school is trying to get away with it, or your school is trying to act like they don't really know. The moral thing is obviously to say something to fix the problem, but I can sort of understand that it might not be your issue to deal with (as you can be labelled a snitch and there goes your relationship with your school)... so it's best if you don't brag about this to your friends any time soon.

The Logistics

It's no different than the normal.

Direct Hires obey the chain of commands from the school, Dispatch ALTs obey from the dispatch who gets information from the school.

So basically, if you've ever worked in dispatch - you know the drill. Every command and your paystub is from your dispatch company. If you are the dispatch ALT.

School is closed? Well, you might have heard it from the school yourself, but you ain't getting that day off unless your dispatch company says ok. Will you get paid? Who knows, ask your dispatch company.

What I Learned

I used to be a dispatch ALT (and I might go back to being one soon), and I used to think why schools always forget to tell us things. Some are very good at telling me directly, while others are just... terrible. Or a lot of schools think they just it tell to be directly, and then it's a done deal (no, school - please tell my DISPATCH).

It's really easy to internalize the little things, and sort of blame it them discriminating against foreigners... or that they just hate you, and that's why they don't tell you.

But...

As a direct hire, I realized first hand that a lot of temporary staff directly hired by the school are treated pretty shiet as well. I mean, if they're not telling you things, chances are high that they aren't telling other part-time Japanese staff the same information they need know. I'm not excusing the behaviour. I absolutely think these kinds of schools need to do better and treat everyone - full-time, foreign and part-time - the same. For example, like designating a full-time staff to be the person who trickles information down to all the other staff and teachers. Our school definitely doesn't have one, and god knows why that is...

Because of this, I really try my best to get information I find out from the school to the Dispatch teachers ASAP. Maybe they see me as a bit of a busybody, but I certainly would appreciate it if someone remembered me enough to tell me things. Or photocopied the newsletters they gave out to every single full-time teacher but NOT ME.

As someone who as the "privilege", I don't want to abuse the privilege in any way by being bossy or nosy, but I want to "share the wealth" so to speak.

A little kindness goes a long way, especially during these times...

COVID19 in 2021, and Working in Japan

It's been a year since I wrote a piece about how schools in Japan have been dealing with COVID19, and I want to do a bit of an update of how it's like working as an ALT in Japan during these times. My situation may be vastly different from other schools, as I work in private school and not the public school system - so I just want people who are new (incoming JETs, dispatch, etc) to keep that in mind.

School Closures? Online Classes?

As of writing this, my school has been very adamant about NOT CLOSING. We have not done online classes since January, when we closed the school for one day due to Junior High School entrance exams.

A lot of people don't seem to like teaching online classes, even those who are tech savvy. With my school in particular - we definitely have the tech, but a lot of the older teachers are really rejecting the online classes. But I don't think we're the only school who are doing pushbacks of doing classes online. I definitely don't think my school's teachers are singular on their thoughts of online classes. The students also don't love it, other than the fact that they can stay home... and in turn, the parents aren't all too keen about online classes either.

So all in all, schools in Japan are trying to stay open.

Classes & School Times

Whenever there is a state of emergency issues, schools have not closed since last year April. Mine certainly doesn't close anymore.

We have however, been starting school later.

It seems like a few other schools in my area also implemented a late start or early finish of classes. This makes sense so students in the area can sort of trickle home slowly. I'm not sure if other schools outside our area have been doing this.

Due to the shortening times, classes are now 40 minutes instead of 50 minutes. Lunch time is still allotted the same amount of time, and there is also always 10 minutes in between classes for toilet breaks and moving to a different classroom (if need be).

Club Activities & Events

Club activities and any after school events are suspended until the end of the state of emergency.

The only exception we've made for clubs are those who may have a competition or a match coming up. For those clubs, they are allowed to stay after school one week before their big match to practice.

We did have a big event recently, but we kept it within the school. Previously, we allowed guests and students' friends to come to this event. But this year was students only for one day, and parents of students involved in the event only. This was a step up as the event was cancelled last year.

Safety at the School

All students, teachers and visitors are required to wear a mask at all times. During lunch times, students are only either allowed to eat in their classrooms (some classes have up to 45 students, some have less) or our school cafeteria. Certain areas of the school are banned to avoid crowding and clusters.

(you can decide if that's a good idea or not)

Announcements are made during break times to remind students to keep windows open for air circulation. I've personally made signs all across my homeroom class to remind my students to wash their hands, but recently, the school provided each class with their own bottle of sanitizer. We've previously had them on every floor and in many corners of the school, and entrances. We also have a temperature check machine at every entranceway of the school - but we don't enforce this.

I'm not sure if public schools are lucky enough to have this much hand sanitizer lying around the school - so maybe we're a bit more lucky to that end?

Teachers are encouraged (not required) to sanitize the classroom and desks after each day.

Students are also asked to check their temperature at home and record their temperature before leaving home every day. They are to submit this paper at the end of the week. If they have an irregular temperature that day or any symptoms, they are to call the school and encouraged to stay at home.

Teachers on the other hand are not required or asked to check their temperature. But we are encouraged to use our paid holiday if we don't feel well. Business trips and stuff are still normal as usual - these have not been forced to cancel in any way, though I have noticed less happening.

A lot of my school's FULL TIME JAPANESE teachers travel to work by car to avoid crowding in trains...... but this year, they have banned PART TIME and FOREIGN teachers (like myself) from traveling to work by car. Their excuse is that they need the parking spaces for visitors and guests.... I don't know if there's any pushback from the part time teachers about this, but I know that a few of them were quite pissed off about this. Since my school wasn't the only work they had, they needed their car to travel to other places of work - often times not within the area. There's no other parking lots within the area of the school that teachers could park for a long time, legally. Not even paid lots. So these teachers had to somehow make last minute accommodations...

Personally, I think this is absolutely unfair. Especially if the part time teacher had been working there and driving in the past.

Final Thoughts?

All in all, I think most ALTs can agree with me that there's no special treatment made for anyone. If you're a teacher, and you're sick - use your paid holidays. If you're immunocompromised? Well... school says too bad. Suck it up.

Make the accommodations yourself because the schools definitely aren't doing it for you... and good luck getting those accommodations you make yourself approved by your place of work.

If you're a new or incoming ALT, definitely keep this in mind.

The Olympics is coming up... and a lot of people predict that there will be new variant spreads at the rate COVID cases are going and lack of vaccines being distributed in time. If you are vaccinated, then great! But definitely keep yourself up to date about whether your vaccine is effective against new variants.

That's all for today. Stay safe, everyone!

Dear Fellow Asian Kids: You Can Do It

I'm personally not sure how to start this or why I'm writing this... I mean, I'm not even sure why you're reading this. Well, I guess I did address it to you so I suppose starting with an introduction would be fitting.

I won't reveal my name, but I am a female in my 30s. And I'm a Chinese-Canadian. I was born in a Chinese city, and immigrated out of said Chinese city due to political reasons. I completed most of my schooling in a city close to Toronto, but as any suburbia dwellers will understand, we mostly just say we're "from Toronto" to avoid repeated explanations of where my city ACTUALLY is. Like now.

So in any case, I am immigrant child. Or first generation kid, as my University likes to label us. It ultimately means I'm the first kid in my family to go to University (in a western country?). I always hated that label, but that's a conversation for another time.

So why am I writing this?

What do I want to tell you?

To be fair... I'm just bored, waiting for my idle mobile games to regenerate those god damn energy bars so I can do pointless things.

I'm thinking that this will be somewhat like a message for myself to come back to, since I've always wanted to write my feelings about being an Asian kid, from an average household and not having the closest relationship with family. And I am addressing to you and writing it like an advice post, not because I actually think I am wise... well, perhaps I am, but I want to be confident in what I am writing.

Today's Message:

You Can Do It

Confidence is not my strong suit, as you can tell from my writing. Or maybe not (if so I've done my job, case closed). As we speak, I am still learning to not second guess myself. In fact, just 3 seconds ago, I just thought about how what I am writing sounds pointless and dumb. And maybe it is, but I just think I need to write this. And I hope I can soldier on.

My parents never outright told me I was useless, or dumb. But there are so many things my parents wouldn't let me do out of "safety" or "for my wellbeing".

Take driving for example.

I got my driver's license at 20 years old. I practiced my ass off with an instructor, who from the very start gave me nothing but praises. He knew I would pass my tests very easily. And I did. My first one at least. In Toronto, there are two tests you have to take to get a "full license". I failed my second one on my first try (due to me underestimating how slippery the road was).

But it wasn't that test that really fueled anything. No. From the beginning, my parents already knew they weren't going to let me drive alone. Not until I had "proved myself" to them by driving with them in the car every time. I had to prove that I was a safe driver in order to be able to drive alone.

There was no time limit on this. It was for my safety.

If you are a parent, you can probably where my parents are coming from. But as a child, let me tell you how that tanked my confidence from an 8 (which is only thanks to my driving instructor) to an absolute -10.

To this day, I still question if I am a qualified driver at all. I avoid driving, because my parents implanted this idea in me that I wasn't driving with them in car, therefore I am not capable to driving safely. Which isn't true at all. I have driven in Japan several times, for multi-hour journeys in various parts of Japan. If it's anything that makes me an unsafe driver, it's the lack of practice and lack of experience being on the road. Not because I'm not with them.

I don't really have a solution to... anything, but I just want to tell anyone who is lacking confidence today that...... if it's you, I know you can do it. I know it might not mean much since I don't know you, but I don't think I have to. Anyone can do anything.

And I just know that you can absolutely do this!