ALT Communities and Resources

 Gather round, we've got info! Photo, RageZ 

On a discussion website recently, a newly hired Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) asked if it’s normal to receive essentially no training before placement. On a Facebook forum I frequent, English teachers ask how to teach or review grammar points. Yet more ALTs ask questions on social media and notice boards about working conditions. So, exactly what resources can ALTs draw on to address everything from labor issues to networking with fellow teachers to classroom practices?

So, I collected the best sources I could find that are of immediate use to ALTs.

Rights as a worker, obligations as a resident

When you engage in work and sign a contract anywhere, you need to know your rights as a worker and your obligations as a tax-payer and resident. The good news is that there are many resources, easily accessible.

The Ministry of Justice has a comprehensive website with translations of legislation. You can read the entire Labor Standards Act in Japanese and English. Sure, it’s a lot of information to read, but notice the contents list.

An issue that comes up time and again is paid leave. This Japan Times article provides concrete examples of paid leave situations.

Don’t get caught out not paying your national pension premiums, kokumin nenkin - read more from this City-Cost blogger. Some employers will claim you don't have to join. The reality is all residents of Japan between the ages of 20 and 59 are required by law to enroll in the pension system. There are three categories of pension and the conditions are described in this succinct document from the Japan Pension Service.

Teaching and Community Resources

Twenty years ago when I participated in the JET Program, there were only a handful of resources for ALTs - the initial JET Program training, some internet forums, and JALT publications. I was fortunate to have a handful of Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) to teach and learn with. These days, everything is at your fingertips on social media and websites. Through many grassroots projects and forums, ALTs and academics lend their knowledge and skills to help ALTs professionally and socially.

ALT Training Online is a comprehensive resource that provides free, online open-access training to all ALTs. As anyone serving as an ALT with the JET Program, through a dispatch company, or as a direct employee of a board of education or institution, training for ALTs is not systematic or regulated. Few dispatch companies have comprehensive training or professional development support.

ALTTO is a remedy, providing ALT course modules on topics such as the ALT context, approaches to language teaching, and courses on teaching specific skills such as vocabulary and listening. ALLTO hosts a monthly free webinar for ALTs, ALT Agora with topics driven by participants.

When the pandemic closed schools and pushed instruction at universities online, teachers snapped into action and pooled their knowledge and resources via Online Teaching Japan. The OTJ Facebook group became a vital lifeline for educators from primary to tertiary to get tips and commiserate during campus closures.

Many ALTs I talked to were sidelined when school was closed and have since returned to face-to-face teaching. Nevertheless, the digital teaching knowledge gathered and shared by OTJ members is invaluable for ALTs whose schools have implemented technology in the classrooms. This summer, OTJ aims to provide MOOSes, Massively Open Online Sessions, welcoming teachers from any segment of the teaching field. These are sessions, not seminars, so the social element, especially with the pandemic conditions, is a big part of the MOOSes.

Rest assured, no matter your teaching situation and the ongoing pandemic, there is a community of fellow ALTs and educators out there to help you.