Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program (39 page)

When I asked ALTs about the kind of JTL with whom they would most
prefer to work, the enthusiasts won in a landslide. The characteristics they
stressed as particularly desirable were a willingness to experiment with
new pedagogical approaches and a willingness to make mistakes when
speaking English.

DIVERSITY AMONG ALTS

ALTs are an extremely varied group, and their responses to the close-knit
culture of Japanese schools differ considerably. Working in a system that
speaks of a need for conversational English yet maintains a rigid examination structure, that advertises "internationalization" yet sometimes practices it only at arm's length, the JET participants sought strenuously to
generate belief systems that made sense of their efforts. Such belief systems, which legitimize responses to a difficult situation, correspond to
what Anthony Giddens has called "practical consciousness."" Much like
the white teachers in Michelle Fine's study of a predominantly black urban
high school in New York City, however, they often developed their belief
systems defensively." In addition, these defenses tended to calcify quickly
and to shape the ALTs' further perceptions, preventing them from considering any evidence that might contradict their beliefs.

The Aloof

Nine of the sixty-five ALTs whom I interviewed expressed no real interest
in learning Japanese language or culture. They were perfectly content to
remain outside the reach of the "consensus model of social relations" that
operates in Japanese schools and boards of education. Most of them saw
their primary role in Japan as modeling foreign behavior and thus they
generally ignored Japanese cultural expectations. "If they want someone to
act Japanese, it's a bit of a waste of time hiring me!" commented one
British ALT. Content to be tourists, these ALTs also have few qualms about exploiting their foreign status to the hilt. "I dress casually all the time,
even when I meet Japanese teachers," advised another ALT at the Tokyo
orientation. "The rules will bend around you, so take advantage of this.
Don't believe you have to conform one hundred percent." One Ministry of
Education official recounted, with obvious mirth, how an ALT once visited
him in the ministry building (located in the prestigious Kasumigaseki area
of Tokyo) wearing a baseball cap, a T-shirt, and shorts!

The Drill Instructor (Homo sapiens scary). Note: Difficult to spot outside of classroom; best observed while teaching. Distinctive call: "My students are so timid."
This and the following caricatures are by Darin Price.

The Cynics

A second group of ALTs (fifteen out of the sixty-five) made halfhearted attempts to learn Japanese language and culture but quickly became frustrated and disillusioned. Seeing little evidence at the local levels of Japanese
commitment to reform, they tended to withdraw and establish a private
counterculture. The perceived inadequacies in the Japanese school system and the JET Program led them to disengage emotionally from the job of
teaching; their work obligations became a set of hoops through which they
jumped in a perfunctory manner. A British woman, twenty-three,
lamented: "I have one school where they just prepare for exams and they
don't want to deal with me. I read books, write letters, prepare for my private classes, and do all kinds of things. It's easy work. Silly, but easy. I can
easily take it for a year. If they want to pay me 30 man [$2,500] a month to
come and do this, sure, I'll do it. But let's not have any illusions about
changing the system. If they really want to do something, they should give
JTLs a year's leave to study English, and guarantee their pay." These ALTs
channeled their energy into other activities, such as tourism or making
money through private classes on the side.

Mr. Gaijin (Homo sapiens extreme). Distinctive call: "These Japanese are so -ing
rude. All they do is stare."

JTLs were quick to criticize what they perceived as an overly "salaryman-like" approach to the job. They might have used as evidence the exclamation of one ALT: "Stay till five o'clock? Are you kidding? Why stay
around just so the kids can stare at us? If there's something special-like the other day the teacher asked me to help the kids who were preparing for
the English Recitation Contest-I'll stay, but otherwise I usually go home
or back to the office. I'm not gonna hang around just so they can gawk at
me." Such attitudes, of course, only fueled the resentment of JTLs, most of
whom regularly stay at school until 6:oo P.m. or later. Other cynics lashed
out at the system whenever given the chance. Two ALTs in one prefecture
decided to switch schools for an entire day to make the point that they
were being used as human tape recorders and thus were simply interchangeable parts.

The Prowler (Homo sapiens lusty). Distinctive call: "Japanese women really turn
me on."

Conspiracy theories thrive whenever social strains and stresses arise,
and this group of ALTs wasted no time second-guessing Japanese intentions:

In October of my first year I was so unhappy as an ALT that I started
looking for another job. I wanted to teach English but I wasn't getting a
chance to at my school. In classes I had no real role; when I was asked
to do something it was trivial, reading word lists, holding posters for
the Japanese teacher. No one was interested in how I thought English should be taught. I was so discouraged I preferred sitting in the staff
room to going to class. Occasionally, I had to go. A teacher asked me to
help him teach first-year students how to tell time. He gave me a cardboard watch, told me to set the hands and then ask the students what
time was showing. This trivial use of my talents seemed the embodiment of everything I hated about my job. I held up the watch and asked
"What is this?" I said it sarcastically and meant my job, the school, the
town I was living in, the whole ALT experience. Several arms went up
and I picked a girl sitting near the front. She stood, and smiling a smile
as big as Asia said, "It's a crock, Mr. Hicks." I couldn't have agreed
more.14

The Tourist (Homo sapiens burdensome). Distinctive call: "Hi! We met at Tokyo
orientation, and I was just in the area, and I wonder ..."

For the cynics, the gap between the public rhetoric of "internationalization" and the realities of public schooling was so huge that the JET Program could only be explained as a concession to foreign pressure. They became convinced that JET participants were invited to Japan strictly as
"window dressing."

The Partier (Homo sapiens collegian). Distinctive call: "Thish country iza great
playsh."

The Missionaries and the Sensitive Change Agents

The largest group of ALTs (twenty-two of the sixty-five) also perceived inflexibility in the dominant method of teaching English; but unlike the cynics, who tended to withdraw and establish a private culture, these ALTS embraced the larger task of transforming Japanese education and society. This
group's belief system was summed up by an American ALT, age twentyfour: "We don't know what the hell we're here for. I haven't got a clue.
Clearly, we're not here to teach English. So it must be to help them
progress their culture. Recently, there have been two things that might
keep Japan from entering the international community-its lack of defense and its own culture. We can't do anything about the first, but we can
show them how to think critically. That's what it comes down to. There's
no critical thinking. Just follow the pack, the way it's supposed to be done."
They often tried to transform English classes into a forum to foster global
education and awareness. Another ALT put it this way: "The JET Program can be seen as revolutionary as ALTs attempt to rid the classroom of the
stultifying atmosphere in which time is often wasted gathering consensus
answers to rudimentary questions. The radical ideas of free speech and individual thought being encouraged in place of a non-critical, passive response to knowledge passed down from on high is a significant change."15

The Activist (Homo sapiens trendy). Distinctive call: "My school is now a smokefree and paper-free zone that observes the sanctity of Mother Earth. I teach a little
English, too."