Challenges faced in organizing and managing ECAs
Well, our mentors aren't exactly involved with any of the ECAs and other JETs are not completely fluent in English, so I had to go to Tomohisa as a referral for this component. Luckily, Tomohisa has near native level English and he was able to answer my questions. But, according to school regulations, I am not allowed to reveal his face or his identity.
So here are some fragments the transcript of the interview.
Xin Tian: "What do you usually do in Judo?"
Tomohisa: "I practice Judo, once class finishes at 4 or 5, I go straight to Judo, then we practice and practice...for 3 to 4 hours...everyday, everyday, we only have one day off, on Mondays,"
Xin Tian: "Even in weekends?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, there's a place we would go on Saturdays and Sundays. But we don't go there often,"
Xin Tian: "Seeing your schedule, does it make you feel that you are doing the same thing almost "everyday"?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, I get tired sometimes,"
Xin Tian: "Do you sometimes feel like you wanna just focus on one aspect?"
Tomohisa: "I did, I quit Judo back in June, the coach scolded me for it and yea, I came back,"
Xin Tian: "Do you like Judo?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, I do like Judo; it's just that Judo can be a but too much,"
Xin Tian: "Does Judo affect your studies?"
Tomohisa: "I like studying, but I guess I sometimes feel sleepy,"
Xin Tian: "Do you have time for homework?"
Tomohisa: "Yea...like one hour, *chuckles*"
Xin Tian: "Do you have juku?"
Tomohisa: "Yea... but I quit,"
Xin Tian: "*snickers*...Is your Judo coach a regular teacher here or he's from outside?"
Tomohisa: "He's a regular teacher, and he have his own class too,"
Xin Tian: "Okay, so is your coach usually on time?"
Tomohisa: "Sometimes, if it's on Saturdays, he is sometimes late,"
Xin Tian: "Doing Judo everyday, does it actually help you with your studies though?"
Tomohisa: "Not really, cause I do this everyday, we even have training almost every morning- and yea, sometimes, I just think that doing this like participating in competition helps me like for my resume for university,"
Xin Tian: "How do you cope? As in do you find joining Judo too much in the end?"
Tomohisa: "Joining Judo can make me release stress but sometimes, I get stressed from Judo,"
Xin Tian: "How come?"
Tomohisa: "*chuckles* You know, the competition and stuff, sometimes, homework can be too much and I only have an hour to get them done,"
Xin Tian: "Then, how do you manage your stress? How do you manage your life at this point?"
Tomohisa: "I still think school is the most important and bukatsu (club) will be second...I sometimes write in my diary, like what happened, yea, writing them doesn't stress me that much,"
Xin Tian: " What do you think of other clubs? Like the teachers and the students?"
Tomohisa: "...I don't really care about them that much, but I think they are very hardworking- I see a lot of them work really hard,"
Xin Tian: "To you, what is the purpose of bukatsu? How does joining them help you?"
Tomohisa: "It makes you be hardworking, like for clubs like Judo, it gives you discipline, good memory and teamwork,"
Xin Tian: "Do you think that schools from other countries should be like Japan?"
Tomohisa: "...Nah, cause I don't want other countries to be strong *chuckles*,"
Xin Tian: "*chuckles* Alright, that is all, thank you for your time,"
Tomohisa: "Thank you..."
So here are some fragments the transcript of the interview.
Xin Tian: "What do you usually do in Judo?"
Tomohisa: "I practice Judo, once class finishes at 4 or 5, I go straight to Judo, then we practice and practice...for 3 to 4 hours...everyday, everyday, we only have one day off, on Mondays,"
Xin Tian: "Even in weekends?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, there's a place we would go on Saturdays and Sundays. But we don't go there often,"
Xin Tian: "Seeing your schedule, does it make you feel that you are doing the same thing almost "everyday"?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, I get tired sometimes,"
Xin Tian: "Do you sometimes feel like you wanna just focus on one aspect?"
Tomohisa: "I did, I quit Judo back in June, the coach scolded me for it and yea, I came back,"
Xin Tian: "Do you like Judo?"
Tomohisa: "Yea, I do like Judo; it's just that Judo can be a but too much,"
Xin Tian: "Does Judo affect your studies?"
Tomohisa: "I like studying, but I guess I sometimes feel sleepy,"
Xin Tian: "Do you have time for homework?"
Tomohisa: "Yea...like one hour, *chuckles*"
Xin Tian: "Do you have juku?"
Tomohisa: "Yea... but I quit,"
Xin Tian: "*snickers*...Is your Judo coach a regular teacher here or he's from outside?"
Tomohisa: "He's a regular teacher, and he have his own class too,"
Xin Tian: "Okay, so is your coach usually on time?"
Tomohisa: "Sometimes, if it's on Saturdays, he is sometimes late,"
Xin Tian: "Doing Judo everyday, does it actually help you with your studies though?"
Tomohisa: "Not really, cause I do this everyday, we even have training almost every morning- and yea, sometimes, I just think that doing this like participating in competition helps me like for my resume for university,"
Xin Tian: "How do you cope? As in do you find joining Judo too much in the end?"
Tomohisa: "Joining Judo can make me release stress but sometimes, I get stressed from Judo,"
Xin Tian: "How come?"
Tomohisa: "*chuckles* You know, the competition and stuff, sometimes, homework can be too much and I only have an hour to get them done,"
Xin Tian: "Then, how do you manage your stress? How do you manage your life at this point?"
Tomohisa: "I still think school is the most important and bukatsu (club) will be second...I sometimes write in my diary, like what happened, yea, writing them doesn't stress me that much,"
Xin Tian: " What do you think of other clubs? Like the teachers and the students?"
Tomohisa: "...I don't really care about them that much, but I think they are very hardworking- I see a lot of them work really hard,"
Xin Tian: "To you, what is the purpose of bukatsu? How does joining them help you?"
Tomohisa: "It makes you be hardworking, like for clubs like Judo, it gives you discipline, good memory and teamwork,"
Xin Tian: "Do you think that schools from other countries should be like Japan?"
Tomohisa: "...Nah, cause I don't want other countries to be strong *chuckles*,"
Xin Tian: "*chuckles* Alright, that is all, thank you for your time,"
Tomohisa: "Thank you..."
Personal Thoughts
From my observations, the majority of the teachers would immediately set off for their clubs as soon as their class finishes. For Tomohisa's case, he has two coaches in Judo, if the main coach is absent or late, the other would take over to oversee them. Also, from Tomohisa's interview, he has mentioned that his coach would occasionally be late as there are classes on Saturdays. In Japan, students barely had time for themselves, they at least have 6 days of school; occasionally, they even have homework during the break. Another student told me that they would also have to be present for their club in preparation of competition and sometimes, the JETs would have to come to school to work such as teaching extra classes. The students and teachers share almost the same burden when it comes to school. The biggest challenge I feel, just like what Tomohisa has said, the activities and school work may be too overwhelming for an average student and even teacher- they had to dedicate themselves to both and despite it proves as a increase in time management, it can be slightly packed in an average person's life. Despite the job as a teacher may not be as overloading or stressful as the typical office work, it can truly take up a lot of time and energy.
The term karoshi means working to death, has been a widespread problem in Japan. Employees work over 100 hours in a month in average and stress is one of the contributing factors to this work mortality rate. Despite that student life and teacher working hours may not be as stressful as a typical office work; it is an overshadow that the working culture in Japan reveals a much more critical problem in their work ethics.
The term karoshi means working to death, has been a widespread problem in Japan. Employees work over 100 hours in a month in average and stress is one of the contributing factors to this work mortality rate. Despite that student life and teacher working hours may not be as stressful as a typical office work; it is an overshadow that the working culture in Japan reveals a much more critical problem in their work ethics.
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