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Post by songbanana on Jul 3, 2015 9:58:54 GMT 9
Hi CIR hulemdos, I feel like this topic may have been beaten to death but it is my duty to struggle with this every year...
What kind of 研修 activities would have been useful for you when you first arrived?
I'm planning my pref's 1st year orientation and ALTs are going to have this awesome 充実d session and I don't want CIRs to just be talked at, or handed a list of links and told to figure it out. But thinking back to Mid-Year Chaos, I don't know if I've done a 研修 activity where I thought "now THAT was useful!" I didn't come in as a CIR so I have no idea what is covered at Tokyo Orientation. Also CIR jobs vary a lot but there's got to be something that would be helpful to most people, or we wouldn't all be on these forums.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated--even "don't do this that sucked" type suggestions. Thank you!
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Post by ザ・penguin54 on Jul 3, 2015 11:08:00 GMT 9
If there is something you are dissatisfied with about your position and wish you could do more, speak up and be persistent. You may be told "sorry, no 予算 for that" but it's better to be proactive than just to sit back and twiddle your thumbs. Don't worry excessively about being thought of as overly idealistic or annoying.
Be mindful of 上下関係, including both people who have been there longer than you and (in some cases) people who are older than you. This isn't important in all cases, but it's easiest to think of that as the standard.
The phone's not as spoopy as you think it is.
It won't be for a while after you come, but 人事異動 can make or break your work experience.
(more to come...maybe)
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Post by rhfs on Jul 3, 2015 11:15:03 GMT 9
I was the only new CIR in my prefecture so my orientation consisted of attending almost every ALT session (day in the life of an ALT, how to be a good ALT, student-teacher relations, how do navigate the schools when you don't understand Japanese, etc etc) except for one where I sat in a room with the other 英語圏 CIR and talked for like an hour.
The whole thing was basically pointless. The only good info was stuff that was not related to the job itself, like driving in Japan and introduction to different regions of Mikan Land.
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Post by songbanana on Jul 3, 2015 11:32:44 GMT 9
I was the only new CIR in my prefecture so my orientation consisted of attending almost every ALT session (day in the life of an ALT, how to be a good ALT, student-teacher relations, how do navigate the schools when you don't understand Japanese, etc etc) except for one where I sat in a room with the other 英語圏 CIR and talked for like an hour. The whole thing was basically pointless. The only good info was stuff that was not related to the job itself, like driving in Japan and introduction to different regions of Mikan Land. This is the thing I am trying to avoid!!! We have sessions on life in Chiba that everyone attends, and we talk about the 行政 and general structure of how JET stuff works, and we have lifestyle workshops that should be useful to everyone in principle. I try to keep the ALT specific stuff to just the ALT session, but it's hard because they need the time for the bigger group, whereas 1-on-1 sessions don't need that much time... So what could be done with that hour with the other 英語圏 CIR that would be job-related and productive?? |
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Post by Sparkles on Jul 3, 2015 11:35:48 GMT 9
I'm not sure what the Thousand Leaves CIRs do on a regular basis, but maybe try some of these.... Practical stuff -- practicing answering the phone after you introduce a standard phone conversation flow. If you can get a couple of Japanese coworkers to volunteer to help with this, that would be great. (Maybe one Japanese coworker who plays the role of the KENMIN or someone else in the KENCHO or whatever your office setup is, with 2 CIRs -- one observing, one practicing.) Basically roleplay various phone conversations -- someone who wants to speak with your SHUSA, someone who called with the wrong number, someone who is neither native speaker of English nor Japanese who needs help, someone asking questions you don't know the answer to and you have to ask them to wait while you look something up, etc. Do the same with emails? Like give each CIR an assignment in English, something like "Tanaka-sensei has requested a school visit for you to talk about 食文化 in your home country/state/region. Write a short email to him with one suggestion and propose a date/time," "Suzuki-san in the Tourism Division wants to know how to write おもてなし ～日本の心～ in English as a catchy tag line. Write an email with a proposed translation and explain why you did what you did -- also ask any questions you may have," or "You need to rent a room in the SHIMINKAIKAN for an event. You're not sure who the TANTOU is but you have 代表 email address. Send an initial inquiry about this that includes who you are and why you want to rent the room." Give each of the new CIRs 10 minutes to write a sample email. Then have them share their emails with the group and you/a Japanese colleague can offer feedback, advice, and sample emails you would have written for these situations. Practice basic AISATSU and AISATSU interpretation. It can't hurt to know more AISATSU and be able to give them in Japanese and English at the drop of a hat. Use different scenarios, with one new CIR/you/a Japanese colleague giving AISATSU and waiting for interpretation done by a new CIR, or a scenario like a new CIR suddenly being presented to the mayor. Explain the bureaucratic structure of GYOUSEI, using your own division as an example. Show them what a KAIRAN and a KIAN look like. Explain the chain of command. Practice HOURENSOU. Troubleshooting in the workplace -- basically PA roleplays minus the PA. ・ "My supervisor hates me" vs "I don't know how to interact with my new GAIKOKUJIN coworker help!" ・ Sitting next to that one person at ENKAIs...you know the one. ・ "Why are all my events shot down with just a 'nope, sorry you can't do that'? They don't want me to do anything..." vs "We have no budget and I'm super busy/not that interested in KOKUSAIKOURYUU but I got shoved in here because of JINJI IDOU" ・ "I want to introduce my home country's culture in Japanese at this school visit" vs "NARUBEKU use YEIGO and be an ALT for an hour!" ・ "I have bronchitis and the doctor says I need to stay home because I am contagious and not fit to work; I want 病休" vs "Even though I accompanied you to the doctor's office and told you there you didn't need a 診断書, I'm in charge of vacation time and the budget and I say no you need to take 年休 anyway hue" (...this happened to me a month into my position. Take a wild guess at what happened there.) And then maybe have a short session where you can talk about expectations of the new CIR jobs, how work might be different than those expectations, and resources/strategies to cope with that. (You could even plug the CIRHP if you wanted to.  ) Good luck!! |
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Post by telly on Jul 3, 2015 11:55:42 GMT 9
If they are replacing someone, maybe you can find out from those CIRs leaving what they usually do, so as to make some activity or presentation aimed specifically at them.
Also, it might be a good idea to find out what will be handled at Tokyo Orientation this year. I know that there will be some presentations about how to handle projects, how to develop events, how to make a language class or how to prepare for school visits, for example.
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Post by songbanana on Jul 3, 2015 13:21:09 GMT 9
Thank you Sparkles, you are a sparkly hero!
Sapenguin I'm combining your advice with some of the other threads here and making a list.
Telly good idea. I'm going to be allowed to sit in on stuff at Tokyo Orientation so maybe I'll do some scouting!
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Post by telly on Jul 3, 2015 13:23:25 GMT 9
Thank you Sparkles, you are a sparkly hero! Sapenguin I'm combining your advice with some of the other threads here and making a list. Telly good idea. I'm going to be allowed to sit in on stuff at Tokyo Orientation so maybe I'll do some scouting! I was asked to give one presentation, so please do not come to that |
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Post by Sparkles on Jul 3, 2015 13:50:15 GMT 9
Fellow CIR is doing a presentation for Group A and mattbox is on the panel discussion for Group B iirc. You can ask either of them about what they're doing (or I can get info from them and PM you). Either way, whatever's presented at Tokyo Ori is, by necessity, vague and broad given that they have to try to be relevant to all the different positions/jobs CIRs actually do across the country -- but I think your pref orientation can get specific and take time to actually practice and reinforce these skills multiple times given the smaller number of participants and your own knowledge of the variations/specifics of your pref's CIR positions. Even if there is some overlap, it can be good review.
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Post by telly on Jul 3, 2015 14:05:41 GMT 9
Something that just came to mind that I personally think is very important: Talk to them about what kind of international exchange is happening in your area or has happened over the years. I like to read up about what other people do in my area and look through the files from years or decades ago.
Sometimes it can be helpful, sometimes it's just nice to have certain information.
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