Skills Development Conference 2024

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The 2024 Skills Development Conference (外国語指導助手の指導力等向上研修; Gaikokugo Shidō Joshu no Shidōryoku-tō Kōjō Kenshū) was held on November 1st, 2024 at both the Prefectural Education Center and the Personnel Training Center in Tenno.

Details

  • The scheduled check-in:
    9:30 AM - 9:55 AM

Meals

Due to budget cuts, the cafeteria at the Education Center was closed for use. However, this year, we worked with the Hotto Motto bento chain to pre-order meals for attending participants.

Opening Ceremony

Welcome to SDC 2024! Do you have the charisma and creativity to be a Team Teacher? Join Team Teaching today for a better tomorrow! 

SDC 2024 opening video

Keynote Speech

Beyond Teaching: Cultivating Impactful Educators in Japan's Schools

By Dr. Ian Hurley

Abstract

Educators in Japan's schools face unique challenges that require an awareness of the ongoing shift from traditional teaching roles to becoming impactful figures in their students' learning journeys. Reflecting on and developing a personal teaching philosophy is essential to resonate with students and effectively operate within the parameters of the Japanese educational system. The strengths of modern education paradigms lie in their recognition of the importance of learner-centered instruction that can leverage motivation and learner autonomy and recognize the reality of how modern students learn. By integrating technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge, educators can enhance their instructional approaches and better connect with students. This presentation offers practical resources and strategies, including digital tools and pedagogical methods that support professional development. Attendees are encouraged to critically assess and refine their teaching styles to develop a philosophy that fosters deeper engagement with learners and a more profound educational impact. 

日本の学校の教育者は、伝統的な教師の役割から、生徒の学びの旅路において影響力のある人物へと変化し続けていることを意識する必要がある、ユニークな課題に直面している。生徒の心に響き、日本の教育システムの中で効果的に活動するためには、個人的な教育哲学を振り返り、発展させることが不可欠である。現代の教育パラダイムの強みは、動機づけと学習者の自主性を活用できる学習者中心の指導の重要性を認識し、現代の生徒の学習方法の現実を認識することにある。技術的、教育学的、内容的な知識を統合することで、教育者は指導アプローチを強化し、生徒とのつながりを深めることができる。このプレゼンテーションでは、専門的な能力開発をサポートするデジタルツールや教育学的方法など、実践的なリソースや戦略を提供します。参加者は、学習者とのより深い関わりと、より深い教育効果を育む哲学を開発するために、自分の指導スタイルを批判的に評価し、洗練させることが奨励されます。

Links

This is a list of links which Dr. Hurley included in his presentation.

Word lists

Repetition apps

Vocabulary resources

  • Semantris (Word association game powered by machine learning)
  • Visuwords (Graphical dictionary and visual thesaurus)
  • Skell (Explore vocabulary within a corpus)

AI (Misc.)

  • roshi.ai (AI lesson planner)
  • OpenArt (AI images) (Though in his slide the link was labeled "Free DALL-E 3")

AI (Personal Knowledge Management; PKM)

  • Obsidian
  • He referenced a second one, "Notion," but the link pointed to the same URL as Obsidian.
  • Notebook LM

Interactive websites

Grammar resources

  • Guide to Grammar website (it wasn't a link; a Google search suggests this website)

Recommended reading

  • Swan, M. (2001). Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and Other Problems. Cambridge University Press. (Has a chapter on Japanese speakers and their difficulties pronouncing English)

Teaching philosophy

References (duplicates omitted)

Workshops

Workshop 1 Part 1: Team Teaching Observation Lesson

ALTs were divided and attended one of three teaching demonstrations given by a team of one JTE and one ALT. Attendees were asked to observe and analyze the lessons. The demonstrations were split into ES, JHS, and SHS levels. Due to BoE policy on student privacy, videos will not be uploaded to the wiki or the internet.

Workshop 1 Part 2: Teaching Observation Discussion

Workshop 2: ALT Prestations

How to Bring Interactive and Energetic Work to the Classroom

By Alexandra (Cat) Catlin

The best way to learn is by doing. Drama-based activities get students out of their chairs and significantly more engaged in class. My goal is to introduce active and expressive games interactively, with some audience participation, of course! I will show what it feels like to be in the students' shoes while giving fan-favorite examples of a few energetic and movement-based warm-ups, vocabulary, and storytelling activities.

Communication Context

By Jojo George

Japanese and English function differently and shape our perspectives and paradigms within and outside our culture. English is a low-context language that requires much more description and directness to get the point across. Japanese follows the opposite. How can we, as ALTs and JTEs, overcome these communication differences when working together? Come to this workshop to find out!

Language Teaching Strategies

By Steven Basquez

This workshop is intended for first-year ALTs or people who have little experience teaching foreign languages. In it, I will give you a brief glimpse into the world of teaching techniques. There is an element of participation, so you have been warned. Also, if you came to this last year, it's basically the same thing.

The Educational Power of Goal Setting

By Benjamin Stremer

Goal setting is a powerful tool for student growth in the classroom that can often feel underused or unimportant. Beyond daily goals, educators should consider how unit, interpersonal, and individual goal setting helps create positive student learning outcomes. Setting clear and achievable goals for various levels shows students the connections among key educational points, gives educators a set of aims to benchmark students' progress, and establishes clear learning targets in the classroom.

Integrating Team Teaching and Debate

By William Heins

This presentation will be aimed at establishing better team-teaching experience when doing lessons related to debate. To demonstrate this, I plan to focus on communication between the ALT and the JTE or the T1 and the T2 before and after the lesson.

Lesson Plan Communication

By Dalen Wuest

This presentation will explore using lesson plans as a communicative tool in team teaching. Various lesson plans from multiple collaborating teachers will be shown and dissected. Verbal lesson plans, supplementary directions given in class, and techniques for translating lesson plans written in Japanese will also be discussed.

Workshop 3: Team Teaching Case Studies

In groups, JTEs and ALTs read over the following case studies and then expressed their opinions and discussed what they thought will better the situation. The groups had 10 minutes to analyze each topic. These topics included situations both inside and outside the classroom. The goal was to have JTEs and ALTs communicate their personal experiences and opinions while working together to arrive at an agreeable solution.

Case Study 1: Lesson Preparation

JTE Perspective
Being a JTE often involves other responsibilities outside of teaching English classes. One may be a homeroom teacher or the supervisor for a club activity. Depending on the day, there are times where it is not possible to meet with the ALT to discuss class plans. Nevertheless, the expectation is that the class will continue with the ALT's participation. However, the ALT recently expressed that they are unhappy with the lack of preparation time and would like to meet before class more often. The JTE understands this but cannot make time for it because they are busy. They also notice that the ALT is frequently at other schools, further cutting away at potential meeting times. They have asked the ALT to try their best to adapt for now, which has upset them even more. The JTE is frustrated that the ALT cannot cope with this demand, citing that previous ALTs have been able to manage without meetings.

ALT Perspective
Lesson planning, preparing activities, and participating during class under their JTE's guidance are the standard expectations of all ALTs. However, an ALT has found these tasks difficult as they are often asked to prepare something at the last minute. Sometimes, they are not made aware of class plans until just before the class starts, but they are still expected to contribute despite this and are left "winging it" for most of the lesson./ Unlike their JTE, who may teach at one school, the ALT is responsible for visiting multiple schools throughout the week. They have more classes, different grade levels, and other teachers that they work with. They find it challenging to meet their JTE's demands when they are given little to no time to prepare. They want to meet and discuss lessons beforehand, but the JTE is busy and cannot make much time for them. They are being asked to adapt and to try their best. This has left the ALT feeling frustrated and unsupported.

Question: How could the JTE and ALT schedule time to discuss class plans? What can be done to ensure smooth communication in the future?

Case Study 2: Overtime

JTE Perspective
A JTE viewed working overtime without extra pay as an expected part of the job. When an ALT requested to adjust their schedule to compensate for extra hours - either by leaving early or arriving late on another day - the JTE felt a mix of frustration and disappointment. It seemed the ALT was strictly adhering to the contract, while the JTE and Japanese colleagues routinely put in additional hours without question. Recalling a previous ALT who never raised issues about staying late or helping beyond the scheduled hours, the JTE found the contrast challenging. while understanding that the ALT valued personal time, there was a wish for more recognition of the sacrifices everyone made. It felt like the ALT's reluctance added extra strain on the rest of the staff, especially when everyone was working hard to provide the best education possible.

ALT Perspective
An ALT valued maintaining a clear balance between work and personal life. When asked to work beyond scheduled hours, it seemed reasonable to adjust their time by leaving early, coming in later on another day, or accumulating this overtime hours to use as days off during less busy times. However, upon bringing this up with their supervisor, the ALT was met with resistance. The supervisor tried to explain why this wasn't possible. Still, the ALT couldn't fully understand the reasoning due to the language barrier, leaving them anxious and unsure about how to proceed. Understanding that Japanese colleagues often worked overtime without additional compensation, the ALT felt out of place, as respecting contractual work hours was essential to their well-being and job satisfaction. Despite these differences, the ALT believed that finding a way to communicate effectively could help bridge the gap in understanding so that their needs and the school's expectations were respected.

Question: How should the ALT and the JTE move forward to resolve this issue? How can a situation like this be avoided in the future?

Case Study 3: Work Life Balance

JTE Perspective
An ALT has become increasingly demanding about needing help with non-work related activities such as apartment hunting, going to the doctor, paying bills, etc. The JTE feels terrible for them and wants to help them, but because of this, they have less time to complete their school-related activities. They were hired as a teacher and often already had to work overtime to complete school-related tasks, but now they have somehow found themselves acting as the ALT's translator in their time. In addition, the JTE feels that some of these issues are too personal, and the ALT would be better off asking a friend for help. If they don't ask them, they're worried this may strain their relationship. They've asked the ALT if there's anyone else they can ask for help, but there doesn't seem to be anyone, at least not anyone the ALT is comfortable asking. This has caused a strain on the JTE's mental health, and they are worried they won't be able to complete all their work or teach as effectively due to the lack of free time to relax and recover.

ALT Perspective
An ALT is having a difficult time in their everyday life. They've recently had some medical issues that require multiple trips to the doctor, and their medical Japanese is not good enough to feel comfortable going alone. They also have problems with a neighbor and want to move to a new apartment. In addition, they're having issues with their bank account, requiring someone to go with them to the bank. After asking their BOE for help, they were able to fic the problems with their bank account, but were given vague responses regarding the other issues. After complaining to their JTE, the JTE offers to come along to one of the ALT's doctor's appointments to help. The ALT gratefully accepts. The ALT assumes this means the JTE could also help them with any follow-up appointments. Furthermore, the ALT realizes that since the JTE lives in their town, the JTE might have some suggestions on where to find a new apartment and how to rent one. Before long, the JTE becomes the first person the ALT turns to when they have a questions of a problem related to everyday life.

Question: As an ALT, it's unlikely to run into all these issues requiring help at once, but where should the line be? Are there people you should ask for help before the JTE? How many times is it acceptable to ask a JTE for help? What are some solutions in instances like this so the JTE does not feel overwhelmed and the ALT still gets the help they need?

See Also

Skills Development Conference
V • T
Mid-Year Conference 2008 • 2009 • 2010
Skills Development Conference 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
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