How do you discipline Japanese school kids when you don't speak thier language?
I may be working at the public schools in Japan but I do not know any Japanese at all. I have heard from my b/f accounts that some kids can be pretty rebelious and resistant to the teacher. I am a public school teacher in the USA and what usually works is taking them outside and talking to them. But what other methods are there since probably the children won't speak English and I don't speak Japanese at all? Any former JET teachers can help?
Japan - 9 Answers
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1 :
I'm sure the school you will be working at will have thier own rules as to disciplne. http://www.takemetojapan
2 :
Just chide at them in English, they will understand your tone of voice body language even if they do not understand the words. At any rate, they should understand more English than it seems.
3 :
JAPANESE CHILDREN (UNLIKE AMERICAN BRATS) ARE INSTILLED WITH MANNERS AT HOME. I.E. TO RESPECT YOUR ELDERS ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO TEACH. YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM. BUT DO ATTEMPT TO GET SOME BASIC LANGUAGE SKILLS UNDER YOUR BELT, AND DON'T WORRY IF YOU SPEAK AWKWARDLY AT FIRST YOU'LL SIMPLY CREATE A FEW GOOD CHUCKLES AND A LOT MORE RESPECT FOR TRYING.
4 :
Well, unlike America, Japanese students don't usually have a gun. But they might have a knife in their school bag. My brother's classmate actually had a knife and he cut his friend's face and everyone got really freaked out. The school teachers thought that my brother did it. But he didn't...anyways, it happened when my brother was in elementary school. So you shouldn't think that Japan is the safest place because it's not. But compared to America, generally, it's safer. And it is true that some Japanese students behave so badly. When I was in a middle school, 5 male students behaved so badly and one male teacher actually took them to the back of a gym and beat them up. Once a month, teachers and students had a meeting at the gym and the 5 students always behaved so badly so the male teacher couldn't stand them so he beat them up....I could hear the sound of him hitting the students. And it was awful to see the students' face later on. Their face was so red and swollen. Well, you might be surprised to hear that teachers could beat students up. But in Japan, it's not really surprised to see especially male teachers are "disciplining" bad students. I have seen that in elementary school and middle school. It was vey common to see male teachers disciplining the kind of students. But I didn't see that in high school because I went to a high school just for girls. And usually girls aren't beaten up by teachers even though they beahve badly. But when I was in middle school, I was slapped by my homeroom teacher who was male because I skipped one class.... But anyways, usually male teachers will handle the kind of kids so you don't need to worry about that. Besides, you will probably be teamed up with a Japanese English teacher to teach English. So if you see some students who are out of control, the Japanese English teacher will have to handle that, not you. And even if you learn some Japanese language with American accent, the students will probably just pick on you by immitating your accent. But if you can't tolerate them, just speak English rather than Japanese. But usually Japanese kids don't really pick on American English teachers. I haven't seen that. But they are usually liked by many Japanese students. But if you are teaching English at school just for boys or school dominated by boys, you should be careful. I hope the Japanese English teacher you will team up with a male teacher....
5 :
This is a really tricky question. As a JET instructor, I was told (repeatedly) that I was not responsible for discipling students--yet I saw the chaos and problems that some students caused and I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I should say right off the bat, though, that 99% of the students I taught were attentive and well-behaved, if not entirely interested in English. :-) I should say here that I worked with a Japanese teacher in all the JHS classes I taught. A lot of them had their own discipline strategies, and often I tried to act as backup (for example, when they were teaching, I would walk around the classroom and break up the little conversations that popped up.) But some teachers had nothing, no strategy at all, and the students knew this and acted badly. I tried talking to a lot of these teachers--some of them were receptive to my methods, some of them weren't. Every school was different. Some teachers would lecture the students on the ways to behave, others would yell, but most of them used their natural authority to control the classroom. However, when I found myself in the classroom by myself, in a bad situation, I used my tone of voice to get their attention. I tried to cultivate the image of tough-but-fair and would praise the students who were behaving well. In the case of talking, I would wait for the entire class to stop talking, pointedly looking at those who were ignoring me until the chatter died down. The long story made short: every school situation is different. Do not be afraid to ask for help from your Japanese colleagues, and be as flexible as possible--some students are allowed great freedom to do what they like. Good luck and have a wonderful time!
6 :
on the whole, most japanese students are well-behaved and taught to respect their elders - even other students in the grade above are treated with respect. don't worry too much about the discipline thing - if they do misbehave you can simply cross your arms in an "X" shape (this means no or stop to the Japanese). If that doesn't work, seperate the trouble-maker from other students and speak to them quietly in english - they won't understand you but they'll know something is wrong and it freaks them out to hear someone speak English directly to them for any length of time. Other things that you could try would be a "points" system (depending on the age, this works best for the 7-11year olds) whereby everyone is put into two teams and awarded points for good behaviour and lose points for bad behaviour. hope this helps!
7 :
The idea that kids are taught respect and discipline at home is a load of crap. Parents in Japan expect TEACHERS to discipline their children so unfortunately you'll see a lot of passive parenting going on. My personal theory is that the parents let the kids run around crazy while they're still young because when they get to high school, they'll be devoting their lives to studying for the college entrance exams. Most schools in Japan prefer that you use English at all times anyway so it's perfectly acceptable to scold or punish in English. I do agree that they will understand your facial expressions and body language and know when you're being serious or upset. I don't know how your school will feel about this, but one thing I used to do is just kick the bad kid out. They HATE being left out! They'll be begging to come back in and behave. I don't think it's as bad as some people have written but if I were you I wouldn't go in thinking that kids are more well-behaved than in the USA. Use the same techniques and common sense and as you work more, you'll learn some good Japanese phrases you can use for those situations. I taught kids for six months (conversation school, not public) and it was so much fun! I'm sure you'll have a great experience no matter where you end up.
8 :
What curious wife said it true. The kids DONT learn the disipline at home, because that is the "Teachers job". Most parents dont have A CLUE what their kids are getting up to in their day to day life. If they misbehave in class you can do the "batsu " sign (make a cross with your arms) it may seem like a weird thing to do, but its simply stop, or dont do that. Get the kids to like you, but dont let them walk all over you. Be their friend and dont be freaked out to talk to and approach them. many teachers themselves are pathetic friendless weaklings who were the geeks of the school when they were younger, and so take it out on the students who misbehave. Most teachers have more of a parents/child realtionship with the students than the kids do with their own parents. So if they misbehave it means that they are used to you. Be kind yet strict. Good luck. We think getting a beating with the cane is something from the olden days but stuff like that still happens here.
9 :
I have been teaching in Japan for over 15 years. I have taught at all levels from nursery school, to college level, to senior citizens. Stereotypically, Japanese students don't like to be embarrased, so there are about three of four steps I take before my final grasp effort at discipline. 1. I stop talking and stare at the trouble-maker until they notice me staring at them. That usually stops them for a few minutes. 2. Walk over to the trouble-maker while speaking to the class and stand right next to them. 3. Call them by name and ask them politely to stop the disruptive actions. 4. In a stern voice, I tell them I tried three times to stop them from disrupting the class. No more chances. The next time they disrupt the class, they will leave the classroom. FINALLY. If they persist in disruptive behavior. I ask them to leave the class for 5 minutes. I do not proceed with the class until they leave. I make sure they leave their books and bags, etc. I have never had to go beyond that. In elementary school I ask the Japanese teacher to go with them. I have been teaching at the college level now for 10 years. Now, the only discipline I need is to tell my students at the beginning of the semester that I will not discipline them, but that their grade will be greatly affected by a bad attitude in class. In the past, Japanese students have been very good. but over the years, I have noticed a trend towards more rebellious behavior. I would also advise you to be confident and not to step back from a trouble-maker. One step back will open the door for the trouble maker to make more trouble. Take charge from the beginning. Make your classes interesting enough so as not to give any student a chance to think about making trouble. Good luck to you.
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