Teaching in a Japanese Vocational School

Basical1y, there are 4 types of Vocational High Schools (VHS) that you’ll come across:

Technical (kougyou)

Commercial (shougyou)

Agricultural (nougyou)

Fisheries (suisan)

Miyagi has a11 of these, with the Technical schools the most common. While the students study a vast range of subjects within these schools, there are many observations that hold true for most of them.

The idea behind these schools is to equip less academically gifted students with the tools to get jobs in industry. An enormous amount of money is ploughed into these schools to facilitate this, and often these schools will have stunning facilities - one of the advantages that I’ll talk about later.

Vocational schools differ from usual high schools in a number of ways. Students spend less time on the usual subjects (Maths,  Japanese and I’m afraid – English) in favour of the technical subjects the students have chosen. A VHS will be split into different courses through the grades. Courses may include not just Engineering, Agriculture and Fishing, but also Cooking, Architecture, Business or Graphics.

You may have heard stories about how difficult it is to teach in VHS type schools , but as someone who has taught in both styles of schools, vocational schools do offer considerable advantages. Firstly, there is FREEDOM. It is the norm not to use textbooks in favour of the ALT’s own ideas. Even if this is not the case, the relaxed atmosphere that generally prevails at these schools will mean that suggestions will be more readily taken in. This relaxed attitude also means that you may be given lessons to teach by yourself often, and that in your lessons ANYTHING goes!

Admittedly, the kids at these schools won’t be the brightest, and the schools often have the reputation of harbouring the local troublemakers, but what the kids lack in brain cells they make up for in candour, humour and maturity. Attempts to communicate will be richly rewarded, as will efforts to teach relevant topics the kids find interesting, instead of the stale stuff academic students have to cram for university entrance exams.

Last but not least, it has to be said that a big advantage of teaching in vocational schools is the time off. Again, the relaxed atmosphere makes for a somewhat sparse teaching schedule. Take advantage of this, for your benefit as well as the students. The lack of time in the staff room can be made up after school in club activities. The students love you to go along, both to sports and cultural clubs, and your presence will magically elicit attempts at English even when you don’t ask for them.

During the day, fill the time by studying, lesson planning, talking to other free teachers, etc. If you’re bored, it's up to you to do something. Make something happen if you have to by planning an event at the school. Such ideas will be more welcome at these schools than anywhere else.

Finally, if you’re told you can go home or that you don't need to go to school for a couple of weeks, don’t feel guilty. Go! This is simply how these schools are, and if your junior high school friend gives you grief, try some tact. It’s the luck of the draw that you get loads of time off, so it’s best not to crow about it!

All these schools are different in the level and type of English taught, so if you’re worried what to teach after the inevitable “Introducing Myself” lessons, here’s a simple guide (sort of):

V is for Vice - interest levels will wane, so don’t be afraid to court controversial topics – sex, drink and drug habits of Westerners are endlessly fascinating for students and after initial coyness they’ll talk about girlfriends/boyfriends, etc. N.B. Obviously, educate rather than condone these topics or you’ll be out of a job!

H is for Handouts – You’ll probably be allowed to set and mark your own tests. So think at the start what topics are good for listening tests - e.g. directions, spatial descriptions, numbers, telephones and prepare handouts that the kids can study from. Top tip: Get hold of a word processor (all the teachers have them) and print loads of handouts (purinto) as the kids invariably lose them.

S is for Speaking - Speak, speak and speak all the time, and only let your JTE speak Japanese in emergencies. The kids must learn to listen and concentrate on you. Listening exercises, comprehensions and tests are dead good, and 1-1 interviews, if you have time, are priceless.

by Simon Linacre