The Work Situation

After sharing my problems with the JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English), they suggested the idea of exchanging places with a recently returned teacher and sit with the part-time teachers instead.

I readily agreed to it, either way, wherever I sit, the situation would surely be the same. What kind of upset me was the fact that no-one from the group tried to persuade me out of it, no "let's sit down and talk about it" or "let's work it out and see how we can improve the situation". Two teachers came and apologised, whilst everyone else in the group continued as if nothing had happened, I suppose they thought that they had finally washed their hands off the useless extra and benchwarmer. It would be easier for them not to say 'good morning', and they can freely give snacks to my Japanese replacement. For those who don't know, it is common practice for teachers to give out snacks to everyone in their team as a way of encouragement or to show appreciation for each others' hardwork. I didn't care about the snacks, but it upset me that I was openly left out. I want to help, I'm willing to help, but no-one asks and cares to explain to me what's going on, so instead I work on assisting the JTEs and working on English projects which is basically my job, and yet for what reason am I being left out?

I'm actually happier with my new seating, but it's not a solution to the problem. Previously ALTs have talked about the same feeling of isolation. For appearances, it obviously wasn't good, especially with 2 months left of this academic year, but I was beyond feeling. Any case, both sides had gotten a better deal, I'm happier with the new seat change, and the team now have a Japanese teacher who can assist them. The JTEs I talked to have been dears, and have changed their own seatings in order to sit closer to me, we have a little 'English Street' going on. I definitely caused a lot of bother, but the JTEs were so insistent that they were fine with it. I feel lucky to have their support which my predecessors weren't fortunate to have.