Being a Direct Hire ALT with other Dispatch ALTs

I don't think many people are in this situation at all, but I happen to be an ALT that is directly hired at my school working with some "part-time" ALTs who are outsourced and managed by a dispatch company. There was no REAL reason given as to why they couldn't just directly hire someone just like me but part-time, but I can tell you the reason is always money-related and not wanting the responsibility to deal with foreign teachers.

Because I'm sort of still in this unique situation for a little while, I want to talk about it a little. What it kind of means, and my advice to other direct hires who have dispatch ALTs at your school.

My Situation

Since my school is a private school, we have a junior high school (JHS) section and a high school (HS) section attached. This is usually quite common, at least in the area I work around. Our JHS communication classes are usually taught by two foreign teachers - a class is split into two so one foreign teacher gets about 20 kids, the other gets another 20.

These classes are outsourced to a dispatch company.

Now you might be asking... ALTs aren't teachers, is this legal?

Well, in JHS - it (sort of?) is legal. It's a bit of a gray area, but it's not illegal. As long as the students aren't graded and the classes aren't counted as a separate subject that goes on the record officially, it's technically ok to have ALTs run these kind of once a week classes on their own.

It's only when you get to high school that it's completely NOT ok unless you have a Japanese teacher's license (which I have and can be left alone to run classes whenever). Classes count for credits in high school and if an unlicensed person like an ALT runs a class alone, the school can get in trouble and the credit for students gone if the authorities find out.

Now... if you didn't know this, and you're solo teaching in a high school at the moment...

well...

...it's either your school is trying to get away with it, or your school is trying to act like they don't really know. The moral thing is obviously to say something to fix the problem, but I can sort of understand that it might not be your issue to deal with (as you can be labelled a snitch and there goes your relationship with your school)... so it's best if you don't brag about this to your friends any time soon.

The Logistics

Direct hires obey the chain of command from the school, dispatch ALTs obey from the dispatch who gets information from the school.

So basically, if you've ever worked in dispatch - you know the drill. Every command and your paystub is from your dispatch company. If you are the dispatch ALT.

School is closed? Well, you might have heard it from the school yourself, but you ain't getting that day off unless your dispatch company says ok. Will you get paid? Who knows, ask your dispatch company.

What I Learned

I used to be a dispatch ALT (and I might go back to being one soon), and I used to think why schools always forget to tell us things. Some are very good at telling me directly, while others are just... terrible. Or a lot of schools think they just it tell to be directly, and then it's a done deal (no, school - please tell my DISPATCH).

It's really easy to internalize the little things, and sort of blame it them discriminating against foreigners... or that they just hate you, and that's why they don't tell you.

But...

As a direct hire, I realized first hand that a lot of temporary staff directly hired by the school are treated pretty shit as well. I mean, if they're not telling you things, chances are high that they aren't telling other part-time Japanese staff the same information they need know. I'm not excusing the behaviour. I absolutely think these kinds of schools need to do better and treat everyone - full-time, foreign and part-time - the same. For example, like designating a full-time staff to be the person who trickles information down to all the other staff and teachers. Our school definitely doesn't have one, and god knows why that is...

Because of this, I really try my best to get information I find out from the school to the dispatch teachers ASAP. Maybe they see me as a bit of a busybody, but I certainly would appreciate it if someone remembered me enough to tell me things. Or photocopied the newsletters they gave out to every single full-time teacher but NOT ME.

As someone who as the "privilege", I don't want to abuse the privilege in any way by being bossy or nosy, but I want to "share the wealth" so to speak.

A little kindness goes a long way, especially during these times...