Changing of the guard
Every year at the end of March, after the students finish their classes, some of the teachers and staff are forced to relocate to different schools. It's not voluntary. A week beforehand, or two if they're lucky, teachers are told, "You will work here. If that's far from your house, we might provide you with a tenement-style apartment with room for one person. If you have kids, well I hope you have a good phone plan. If you're a newlywed, I hope your husband/wife loves you very very much." Basically if a boss tried this in any other country, the employees would tell him to fuck off and find another job. But people just roll over and take it here.
For JETs it's always a nerve-wracking time of year, as the entire English staff can get swapped out just after you've signed a contract to stay on for another year. While there are reasons to send people to schools nearby with a lack of staff (with an appropriate raise in pay), I never really understood why they would make people leave their school just for the sake of shuffling them around.
Well, I'm not losing any English staff. But the vice-principal is being sent across the prefecture. In Japanese schools, the vice principal is the guy who gets things done; a VP pretty much RUNS the staffroom. As a nice benefit, he was always friendly with the foreigners, and was willing to take a break to go for a drink after work. The head secretary is leaving, the woman who makes sure the staffroom doesn't explode while everyone else is doing their job. The music teacher is being sent off, just after he led the marching band this year to a gold award at the national marching competition. His new position? He's supposed to teach English. The poor guy can't speak a word of it. (Just goes to show how important they consider English here, I guess.)
If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit cynical about the whole thing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see who the new crowd is, and hopefully the new VP will be as cool as the last one. But I'm not getting my hopes up.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
I can't believe they would do that to the music teacher! I can barely understand being transferred without your consent, but to totally change what you're teaching--when you're so successful at what you do? Why does anyone in Japan become a teacher, then? Is this all part of the "obey at all costs and ask no questions" mentality? I can't believe YOU, of all people, go along with THAT!
March 29th, 2007 at 12:09 am
What a shame to lose an excellent music teacher who has to switch to English. Good luck on getting a decent VP!!! I almost had to teach math at Mansfeld JH one year before I went to SRHS.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
At work they do this sometimes because the higher-ups like to flex their muscles and also to prevent empire-building.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Yeah, I kinda see the rationale... but in the US they typically transfer people between departments in the same city, if not the same workplace. That's fine because it doesn't really disrupt their personal life a whole lot. The vice principal here, a pretty high-up guy, lived in the situation described above: one room tenement an hour and a half drive from his wife. He used to drive home to live with her on weekends. It just gives me the willies thinking about it.