After
my first article in the Japan Times, I received a lot of positive
responses and a few negative ones:
The
negatives seemed to hinge on the argument that if teachers don't like
the job they have they can always get another. This is true. However
the scope and availability for foreigners to take on other jobs in
Japan - even if they have perfect Japanese – are very limited.
Likewise
the option of getting a solid body of private clients as a freelance
teacher or starting your own school. we can't all be independent
business owners because the market isn't that big. One of the core
reasons teachers stay in eikaiwa or in dispatch is because finding
other work is difficult and not always a guarantee of success, yet
for various reasons – family, etc, they must stay in Japan and work
somewhere. Employers exploit this need.
While
bettering oneself by improving employment prospects is a noble goal
in itself, surely it is just as noble to improve the place where you
already work and the behavior of your employer so that everyone
benefits: teachers, students and despite itself, the company.
We
see more and more articles each month about the shady practices of
Big Eikaiwa: wage discrimination, sexual harassment, draconian
discipline and just plain prejudice. Free marketeers will tell you
that's just the market or the privilege of employers. It is not.
There are laws that govern these things, and as explained in English
to Go, employers routinely break these laws. In Japan where
enforcement is comparatively weak, it falls on the teachers, and
teachers' unions to make sure their companies toe the line.
So
yes you can always try to get a 'better job', but remember we have an
equal duty to our friends and coworkers to make the jobs themselves
better, whether the bosses like it or not.
The negatives seemed to hinge on the argument that if teachers don't like the job they have they can always get another. This is true. However the scope and availability for foreigners to take on other jobs in Japan - even if they have perfect Japanese – are very limited.
Likewise the option of getting a solid body of private clients as a freelance teacher or starting your own school. we can't all be independent business owners because the market isn't that big. One of the core reasons teachers stay in eikaiwa or in dispatch is because finding other work is difficult and not always a guarantee of success, yet for various reasons – family, etc, they must stay in Japan and work somewhere. Employers exploit this need.
While bettering oneself by improving employment prospects is a noble goal in itself, surely it is just as noble to improve the place where you already work and the behavior of your employer so that everyone benefits: teachers, students and despite itself, the company.
We see more and more articles each month about the shady practices of Big Eikaiwa: wage discrimination, sexual harassment, draconian discipline and just plain prejudice. Free marketeers will tell you that's just the market or the privilege of employers. It is not. There are laws that govern these things, and as explained in English to Go, employers routinely break these laws. In Japan where enforcement is comparatively weak, it falls on the teachers, and teachers' unions to make sure their companies toe the line.
So yes you can always try to get a 'better job', but remember we have an equal duty to our friends and coworkers to make the jobs themselves better, whether the bosses like it or not.
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