This spring, the Fukuoka Board of Education suddenly informed the 120 « guest teachers » responsible for its elementary school English classes that they were no longer welcome.
This spring, the Fukuoka Board of Education suddenly informed the 120 « guest teachers » responsible for its elementary school English classes that they were no longer welcome.
According to a Fukuoka BOE spokesperson, with English becoming a required class in grades five and six throughout Japan by 2020, the city was switching to what it calls « native speaker » teachers (NTs) « for the purpose of enriching the classes and improving the teaching ability of teachers. »
« Daniel, » a 10-year veteran guest teacher (GT) at several Fukuoka elementary schools, says he didn’t find out about losing his classes until about a month before the end of the academic year. Daniel didn’t want his real name used because he still teaches a small number of classes in grades three and four.
Under the GT system, Fukuoka elementary schools directly hired their English teachers.
