Teaching English in Japan “after” the Coronavirus Outbreak
With the exception of one week in April - all schools were closed where I live in rural Japan between the months of March 2020 and May 2020 due to the widespread of the Coronavirus.
Towards the end of May, the Japanese government decided to first lift the state of emergency in regions that were least affected by the virus. However, it was clear that precautions would need to be taken to prevent a possible second wave of infections across the country.
Like many industries, a phased return was implemented for schools and in my village in Fukushima, it was decided to first reopen our junior high school; but with one change. For the first week, we would only have half of each class in attendance at any one time.
Returning to junior high school
In my junior high school, there are 3 year groups - each with 3 separate classes of around 30 students. This meant that for the first week back, teachers needed to teach the same lesson 6 times instead of the usual 3. Reading this back now, it seems like teaching this many classes was a tall order, but under the circumstances, none of the teachers had any issue with this at all. In reality, all of us teachers were happier to teach a smaller class as it gave us much more time to focus on each student.
For the first day of classes, I turned up at school wearing a face mask which provided all of the students an unexpected surprise as they had never seen me wear a face mask before.
As I entered my first class, the students all cheered “Ya-taa!” which is something that they usually say when they have won something, got an answer to a question right or when something has gone their way. Hearing this one phrase “Ya-taa!” made me realise how much I had missed the students and how happy I was to be back in the classroom.
In an effort to get all of the students used to hearing and talking in English again, I started the class by telling them what I did during the extended Spring vacation and then asked them what they got up to.
One of the students told me that he spent all his time at home studying, so I asked him “what subjects did you study?”. He paused for a moment, then replied confidently “Social Distance!” which resulted in the whole class (including me) erupting with laughter. I’m still not sure if he meant to say social studies or if he was aware of how funny his joke would be. Regardless, he certainly earned cool points from the class as well as help to lighten the mood for everyone on that tense first day back.
The rest of my classes at junior high school were fairly normal and at the end of each class, the students would come over to have a quick conversation with me before I left the classroom. After the first day back, I remember thinking to myself that no matter how much I personally enjoyed my extended Spring vacation, it paled in comparison to the energy that I get from being a teacher in the classroom.
Shielded at elementary school
The following week I returned to elementary school where everything was seemingly normal but for a few exceptions. Face masks were now compulsory, and arrows were now placed on every corridor floor to ensure that the students all walked in the same direction. I also had to adapt my classroom activities to ensure social distancing and to prevent cross contamination with handouts in the classroom.
Two weeks after returning however, I walked into one of my classes as normal only to be presented with a face shield so that I could teach without wearing a face mask covering my mouth. I was a little caught off guard by this and it was certainly the first time I had ever worn anything like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The face shield was given to me in front of the class so naturally the method actor deep within me decided to put the mask on in the most dramatic way possible to entertain the students. First, I made a joke about it being a Halloween mask, then I started moving like a robot and called myself “Robo Sensei” which made all of the students laugh.
For the rest of the day, the principal of the elementary school came to each of my classes to take pictures of me teaching with the face shield on - which I am sure will be included in the school’s weekly newsletter. Despite standing out a little more than usual, I didn’t mind teaching with the face shield on and I have to admit, it was much easier than teaching with a face mask - even if I now looked like a metal welder.
Keeping distance at Kindergarten
At Kindergarten I teach 4-6 year olds and because of the age of the children, I really couldn’t imagine how any form of social distance could be enforced with children this young. The children were told to avoid physical contact with one another, but I could tell that some couldn’t understand why. All of the children had to wear face masks, with most featuring pretty cool designs along with cartoon characters all over them.
In terms of my lessons with the children, they certainly found it strange that the usual “high five” that I start my kindergarten classes with were no longer possible. The rest of the lessons went ahead as usual, but lunchtime was where I found there to be the most change.
During lunchtimes in kindergarten, the class sit at tables in groups of around 5 and when I am there, I will join them at one of their tables. This time however, I was asked to sit on a separate table further away from them.
When it was time to eat, the children were reminded not to speak to each other while our masks were off as a precaution from spreading the virus. During lunchtimes, the children usually ask me how to say different words in English and point out life changing observations to me such as “Santa’s beard is white, but your beard is black” but this time, it was not to be.
There was one girl however, who was not going to be beaten by the rules. She thought that if she couldn’t talk to me, then she would communicate by copying my movements. Under normal circumstances, I would usually play along with this, but I knew that it would get the other children laughing. I didn’t want to serve as a distraction so sadly, I tried to keep my head down as much as possible. I had to remember that this was all for their protection.
Reunited with my teaching colleagues
Returning to school to see the teachers was another nice moment and as I discovered, absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. This was the most time that I had been away from school since arriving in Japan almost 2 years ago and the absence made me realise what I am going to miss when I leave Japan this September.
In each of the 8 schools that I have returned to, I have been greeted back with a very warm welcome. Virtually every break time since, different teachers have asked me what I did during my Spring vacation and my answer has always been the same - I used the time to focus on getting fit and improving my Japanese.
The funny thing is that the response to me getting fit by each teacher, regardless of school has also been exactly the same. They all responded by jokingly saying that while I have lost weight, they have gained it and then we all burst into laughter. This same joke was delivered with varying degrees of English; however, I can safely say that weight jokes truly require no translation from any language - even Japanese.
Final thoughts
2020 has certainly been a strange year thus far. Nevertheless, it is certainly more helpful to focus on what we have gained rather than what we have lost in terms of time. As a teacher, I feel that both students and teachers alike have gained a far deeper appreciation of each other. I can sense that we are all thankful for being back at school and perhaps for the first time we all have an understanding of how short our time together really is.
For the rest of this school year, it is now time for us teachers to turn our attentions to making up for lost lesson time as we return to some kind of normality in the days and weeks ahead.