Teaching Essay
Every year I have to write a 300-500 word essay about English teaching in Japan. It’s a requirement for my contract renewal. I have to write a new and different one each year. I’m not sure why. My essays are actually read by someone, and if I try to re-submit a previous essay I get caught. I know, because I tried it, and I got caught. I forgot the purpose long ago. Am I supposed to write an essay about my philosophy of education, my philosophy of English education, my thoughts about team-teaching with Japanese teachers, or an explanation of why I want to teach English in Japan? I’m embarrassed to ask the head English teachers at any of my schools to remind me. Over the years I have tried each of these approaches. I’ve gone online to see what other foreign English teachers write on their blogs, and try to glean ideas from them. I’ve procrastinated and put off writing my essays until the last minute, the eleventh hour. Often, I find that if I can just write one, two or three sentences, then I can expand on them into a functional essay fairly easily, and no one bothers me about it. No one pays sufficient attention to what I write to see if I am repeating myself, changing, evolving, or just being a twit. Even I don't do that.
Since an early age I considered teaching as a career because I enjoy school as a work environment - paper, desks, books, reading and writing, companionship, discussion, ideas, factual lessons, abstract concepts, brain exercise. When I was growing up I had no notion of actually living and working in Japan - especially not for the length of time I’ve actually been here. But as it turned out, living and teaching in Japan together are the great adventure of my life. Now, as an adult, I enjoy teaching children, helping them understand the world and concepts and information, and watching them grow. It is a great satisfaction to see their understanding grow by providing information, hints, explanation enhanced by personal anecdotal applications.
Towards that end, first, I pursue functional English. Function is a necessary memory strategy and motivator. I strongly believe that my Japanese students will not remember the English they study if it is not somehow either useful to their lives or relevant to their experience. Some foreign teachers might boast about “diverse, challenging and stimulating” lessons, which is good. However, it is too easy to overshoot Japanese students’ ability, desire, motivation and tolerance, which I do not want to do. As a guest in Japanese schools I need to remember that I am not a Japanese citizen; I am not a Japanese teacher; and, I am not a Japanese homeroom teacher who is closely involved in their lives. I am the Japanese teachers’ assistant.
Second, enjoyment is very important. It is important for me to enjoy what I do and to be happy in my work, and when I am enjoying myself the students will see it and be more disposed to enjoy themselves sitting in an English class that is a mandatory subject for them. I have studied foreign languages and I understand some of their feelings about English lessons. Because I am living my life in Japan, I am a perpetual student of Japanese culture and language, so I understand the locations and solutions to many learning pitfalls. I believe I can build bridges to introduce my Japanese students to English in an enjoyable way.
Third, I think it is important for students to see me interacting with a Japanese teacher, in English, in front of them. Casual conversation between the Japanese teacher and me in class has an important place so that students can see me enjoying myself in their company, and they can see their teachers communicating between themselves in English.
Knowledge of a second language is a fundamental life skill. Whether my students eventually use English in their careers or life travels, simply to have a familiarity with a second language is important because it cultivates their understanding of themselves as well as others. It is a key to opening the world and making oneself a better person.
I am well-organized, engaging and I try to be informative. I always try to establish routine. Students can associate me with my routine so they can quickly form an expectation of who I am, what I am like and what I do. A routine makes my classes reliable, and it is important for young people to be able to rely on the adults in their lives.