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Post by gumby on May 29, 2008 18:24:13 GMT 8
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Post by Otaku on May 30, 2008 11:23:39 GMT 8
Was nothing said to this person when they said that? That seems highly offensive to me.
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Post by gumby on May 30, 2008 15:04:22 GMT 8
I would have if they hadn't been the last comments of the day! What is disturbing is that I am finding a lot of teachers are starting to agree with all this. They may tell me that he could've worded it better but the general thinking is that the homeroom teachers need to come up to the plate at start teaching (and the ALT to start assisting.)
I'm just getting too tired to fight them. After having so much control over my classes, it's frustrating to take 10 steps back!
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Post by Otaku on May 30, 2008 15:21:04 GMT 8
Somebody recently told me until there is an employment position for a more permanent ALT, a mindset of a non-diverse culture will never change.
That being said, I have met some ALTs who are directly employed by schools. These ALTs don't even work for a BOE but rather directly for the school. I think these types of ALT positions garner more respect with their co-workers.
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Post by gumby on May 30, 2008 16:21:41 GMT 8
It's not that I feel disrespected. It just seems that English is becoming another subject that elementary teachers must teach, and for some reason I still fully have to understand, the teachers feel that allowing me to take control of the lesson means that they are not doing their job. I've seen some good elementary teachers who do a wonderful job in introducing English to the students. I can tell immediately that these students like English.
However MEXT is lowering the glass ceiling for ALTs. I would rather stay in public schools because I enjoy the opportunity to teach ALL the students and not only those whose parents can and do take an active role in their children's education. But if ALTs become only assistants to the Japanese homeroom teachers, I doubt many dedicated, talented teachers will stay for very long. Most will go where they feel challenged are at the very least better utilized.
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Post by junkdna on Jun 2, 2008 8:32:57 GMT 8
Ideally, there would be no ALTs, and properly educated teachers would hold the positions of this responsibility like in the US (and I assume the UK and Australia, et al).
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Post by Otaku on Jun 2, 2008 9:24:43 GMT 8
It's honestly hard to say how the next 3 years are going to pan out in respect for HRTs and how they operate in English classroom when the ALT is present.
However, I honestly believe the majority of HRTs can handle the new solo English classes just fine with the proper training. It's not like they have a normal English conversational level; they just need to have basic levels and proper training in pronunciation. My concern is the 'proper training' they are going to be receiving, which will obviously be handed down from a government who has proven through the many examples in the English textbooks that they aren't qualified to make English edcuation decisions, much less a proper training program.
I think the biggest problem facing HRTs is weening them off the katakana crack pipe.
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Post by redpanda on Sept 3, 2008 5:57:09 GMT 8
By not standing out, I think they mean the ALT facilitated language learning so effectively that the kids really got into the lesson and that is what did and should have stood out.
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