"We don' need no ed-u-ca-tion..."

[Taro Toporific]

"....we don't need no thought control, no dark sarcasm in the classroom -- teachers leave them kids alone"
Reluctant teachers: 'Why should English be studied?'
(Japan Times / Dec 09 )
Study showed early English education useless
(Kyodo / Dec 09 )

[puargs]

At the Osaka meeting, one teacher asked: "Fundamental study skills are declining. Why should English be studied?"

You know, my study skills are declining. Why should I study Japanese? EVEN IF IT'S HARD, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DO IT. Suck it up!

"You don't need to read the answers. All you have to do is point to the pictures," English teacher Mitsuhiro Arimoto, 39, told his pupils.

This method has obviously been proven to be totally effective. If someone tells me to point to my favorite in german or spanish, I could probably figure it out without EVER learning a single word. Ridiculous.

[omae mona]

At the Osaka meeting, one teacher asked: "Fundamental study skills are declining. Why should English be studied?"

I found out why when Mrs. Omae Mona emptied out the shopping bag today.

[Neo-Rio]

You know, my study skills are declining. Why should I study Japanese? EVEN IF IT'S HARD, SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DO IT. Suck it up!

You got it in one.

English teachers aren't being paid to teach. They are being paid to do the learning for all these lazy (but rich) students, and then the student wonders why after all this "study" he can't remember anything.

And that quote from the article is just classic. At the Osaka meeting, one teacher asked: "Fundamental study skills are declining. Why should English be studied?"

As for English in Japan, I am sick of:-

* English limited to being a status symbol in Japan.
* Japanese co-workers talking about wanting to learn English, but never practicing a damn word (with me sitting right next to them).
* Then having to watch them get into the "Eigo muri" denial phase.
* Being asked to speak in English only so the Japanese superiors can try and "correct" it mid-sentence to show off.
* Letting said superiors make an ass of themselves in the above situation, getting the blame, and being drawn out into conflict with him over his stupid Eigo insecurities.
* Having to modify the English language in places so that Japanese people can understand it too... even though the English in question is directed at native English speakers. To make matters worse, the "modifications" I am asked to do aren't even gramattically correct.

I quit English teaching to escape this shit, and it follows me everywhere I go.....

[puargs]

The problem is, I can see this sort of shit happening in America, too. It's not necessarily limited to Japan. The kids here at uiowa are ALWAYS bitching about how hard their work is, how their work isn't being appreciated, and how sad they are that their grading system doesn't give them an automatic A for effort.

Well fuck you kids. If everyone got good grades, no one would work for them. I'd rather put up with your bitching about NOT getting good grades than your good grades ruining everyone else's education.

[Charles]

The problem is, I can see this sort of shit happening in America, too. It's not necessarily limited to Japan. The kids here at uiowa are ALWAYS bitching about how hard their work is, how their work isn't being appreciated, and how sad they are that their grading system doesn't give them an automatic A for effort.

Hey, if it was easy, anyone could do it.

I should tell you a story about my J Lit final. It was an essay exam and as the teacher handed out the questions, he said that if anyone thought they should get a better grade, they could make their argument at the end of the essay, but realize that it would take time away from writing the answers to the essay questions.
As I started to write, one of the students freaked, stood up and ran from the room, abandoning his test unfinished. Hell, he left the test unSTARTED. I'd talked to him before, he said this was the only class he needed to finish his degree. If he'd have scribbled even unintelligent answers for the hour, he would have at least got a D+, but now he'd get an F for the course and have to repeat it.
I sat down and ripped through the essay, doing worse than I'd expected, and I had enough time to write a short argument. I said I was the only student who read EVERY assignment before class, and I'd always been prepared to discuss EVERY assignment in class, so I deserved an A for effort.
I got an A- in the course. A couple years later, I saw the student who bailed from the final, he was on his way to work, wearing a McDonalds uniform. I asked him if he' d graduated, he said, "not yet."

Hell, I suppose the world needs burger-flippers more than it needs Japanese Literature connoisseurs..

[plaid_knight]

Yeah, I get that a lot in my current teaching job as well.

"I don't understand this! Can you explain it?"

I already went over the instructions twice, and I am finished
explaining how to do them. I have illustrated instructions on
the page itself. Read those and do the assignment.

"I still don't understand!"

And that's my problem because ...?

They also get surprised when I give them marks for
misbehaving.

"Are you going to give us a chance to get our points back?"

No. You are smart enough to know what not to do. Try to
do better in the future.

"But I'm going to get a bad grade in conduct!"

No! You don't just GET things. You earn them. That
grade is one that you earned. Enjoy it.