ex-FEN staff
- 2015-03-06
I do not have any idea about the current conditions at FEN because so much time has passed since I worked there, but then again, they are Japanese so I doubt they have changed much. My advice for anyone is FEN isn`t bad- it isn`t hell- but it is probably one of the worst choices of your available options. You will have much better conditions as an ALT somewhere, or even ANY OTHER Eikaiwa. They used to pay a little better than average , but I believe they don`t anymore. Being an ALT might not seem attractive but having done both, I think the ALT route is much better. After some ALT work, you can probably get a job at a private junior or senior high school, or a University, which is much better in almost every regard.
I have worked in Japan for about 15 years in total, and in that time taught at many schools and Eikaiwas, and and FEN clearly had the worst conditions of any of them- by a mile. It is the only place that I have worked at in Japan that I would not recommend. There are a couple of nice people there, but that can`t make up for the whole management system they have going. A couple of examples of bad conditions:
1. `PAID HOLIDAYS` were not holidays at all really, because in addition to negotiating with other teachers to cover your classes so that you could have your "paid holidays", when they went on holiday you would cover their classes- so all that really happened was that you swapped classes, and certainly didn`t get any extra pay. Of course, that was better than nothing, but hardly a paid holiday in the normal sense, because whilst you did get a holiday, you had to do all the work you were missing at another time.
2. Teachers were told that they would work from 2-10pm but after beginning they were told that this time did not include any breaks at all. Seriously- Who has worked at a place even in Japan where you are expected to work for 8 hours straight?- They certainly did say you could buy something at the convini and eat it at your desk, "while working" if you were hungry.
3. The workload is quite high. Apart from having to be there 8 hours staff have numerous other duties in addition to their 4-5 classes a day which make you much busier than you are at most schools. You might think you have an hour or two free but seriously it is hard to find 20 minutes to plan for your lessons sometimes. It For example, if you have a ten minute break between classes, you will likely have to spend that time listening to students read- which is a good system except for the fact that it is not reasonable to ask teachers to do that in their 10 minute break between classes. I don`t think anyone is using the internet `all day`- in fact, after I left the new head teacher proudly told me how he disconnected the internet because he felt the staff were using it too much! So, be prepared to do your 8 hours without a break, and don`t you DARE check your email. That is clearly not normal.
There were numerous staff and management issues at FEN, but I imagine that there is a whole new team there now, so i have no idea how things are- better I expect. I was there at a difficult time, but I have focused on the standard working conditions, so you know what you will get.
In response to the random accusations, I don`t have any problem working with, or taking direction from women. Like most people who have taught in Japan for a while, I think I am pretty flexible and work with women every day- some of them even somehow made it to positions above me. I did raise the issue of scheduled breaks for staff at a staff meeting. I saw it as part of my role as head teacher to try and create an environment which was conducive to staff retention, and also just to prevent the staff getting raped by management.
I had a good relationship with the daughter, we never `rowed` and she even gave me a "lovely" goodbye present on my last day which was a memorable experience. If you heard any `gossip`, I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly shared a couple of fine stories with my friends, and continue to do so- they are just so good!
Any current or past staff, please let the readers know if what I am saying about the conditions is incorrect. Maybe the conditions have changed?
higgsboson
- 2015-03-06
I worked for FEN too for a number of years and know who wrote the original 2011 posts and his reasons behind it. He was employed as an assistant headteacher at the time and had a real problem with the foreign headteacher who was a woman. His problem basically stemmed from the fact he didn't like being told what to do by a woman and someone didn't have an educational background like him. He spent most of his day using the internet and when he was pulled up about it he started to create problems in the office over working hours. He attempted to coral other members of staff to change the system of working hours so as to include a break and tried to rally support at meetings. When people refused to follow him, as the system wasn't a problem for us, he became angry and insulted us (usually behind our backs and in my case to my face). He then dramatically resigned from his post as assistant headteacher to become a regular teacher.
As for the family drama he has decided to leave out the part where he had a casual relationship with the daughter of the owner in his "nice" apartment just across the road from the family house, re-read his quote about "separate work and family" with this in mind, as he rowed with the daughter and spread malicious gossip about her throughout his time left with the company.
FEN was a good company to work for they did a lot to help me and my family and I never had any problems with anyone there. I liked working in a family based eikaiwa because you can connect with the manager whereas other large schools are about money more than anything. The owners here generally care about the students and the "shacho" always talked to me and I am not blonde or russian.
A Different Past Teacher
- 2014-03-24
I was a teacher around that time and believe this teacher to be biased. I don’t have a reason as to why. I enjoyed my time there and felt the foreign teachers were treated very well. I taught there for 2 years from 2009 to 2011, so I don’t know if anything changed since then. But would like to respond to this post made in 2011. It really bugs me that this post is the 3rd google result when I google the school.
The 250000 – 270000 is quite nice to be honest. I was personally able to comfortably save between 15,000 – 20,000 USD teaching there for 2 years. And depending on who you are you might like this much better than being an ALT. You head your own classes of size 1 to 6 and plan the structure, games, and activities of the classes as you see fit. You also have many school events and friendship days that are quite fun. These are usually done when normal classes aren’t scheduled and are a nice change of pace.
1. The 2pm to 10pm schedule actually is quite nice. 20 classes a week means there is a lot of downtime. Myself and every other teacher there had plenty of time to take a step out and grab something to eat from a convenience store or fast food place. Of course we needed to bring it back and eat it at our desk, but this was gladly done because we only had to work from 2 to 10. There wasn’t any deception by FEN.
2. It’s understood that at the busy times of the day from maybe 5pm to 9pm, you might have to help with things between classes. Every teacher knows this and has their lessons planned and prepared before this time. Most of the time, out of 4 teachers, 2 would have to help with the homework books, while the others could straighten out their materials or go to the bathroom. No one ever had a problem with this. There really isn’t any office work they wanted us to frequently do, so 2pm to 5pm was the usual class planning and preparation period. And that was always more than enough time.
3. We did have ‘paid holidays’ and they were nice. Eikaiwa classes ran in similar terms as the normal schools. So if the normal schools had a holiday or term break, so would the Eikaiwa. This gave all the teachers plenty of days around to plan vacations. I was able to take close to 3 weeks vacation for Christmas/New Year (paid) and also another week during the summer in August or September I think. If you did have to take time off when you were scheduled for classes, you can imagine it might be a little difficult considering there are only 5 or so teachers, many of which have classes at the same time. But it could be worked out. It’s a job, so you really only would want to do that for special occasion like a wedding or something.
4. Yeah, the management is actually really nice and generally let us be as long as there weren’t any problems and we were doing our classes well. There is a difference between checking your email a few times a day vs. being on your email or surfing websites all the time. One is normal, the other is something you should not be doing at a job.
5. The family drama is not much to talk about. Yes, the mother is really nice and really professional and will help you with whatever you need. She and the head Eikaiwa teachers were the only ones the other teachers ever really needed to talk to or interact with. The teachers’ room is not overcrowded and I believe they moved into a brand new building a couple years ago after I left. They do provide opportunities for housing if needed, and sponsor visas as the poster says. The rest of the points here are pretty irrelevant, inappropriate, and ill-intentioned.
I would recommend this school and would not recommend you take advice from the original poster.
First, FEN is a small family-run Eikaiwa, with an attached Juku.
Although it has been around for a long time, FEN is pretty unstable and often chnages head teachers, teachers, and rules. In general, the changes over the last 5 years have been to decrease salaries, increase workload, and tighten up on the rules.
The first thing I would say is if you are going to get paid 250000 - 270000 as they advertise, you are better off going and working as an ALT.
The reasons for this are many:
1. Most teachers generally teach around 20 classes a week between 2-10pm. It doesn`t sound too bad, until they tell you a few months in that you actually offically have no breaks at all but they will very kindly let you pop down to the convinience store and bring something back to your desk to eat. It will probably depend on the head teacher, but in for many years FEN has deceived teachers by telling them that they they had a 2pm-10pm schedule and then adding after a few months that if you would like a break, please start at 1pm- because there are actually no breaks from 2-10pm.
2. Why would they care if you took a break? Because they want you to do a range of other office work. So much of it that it actually became near impossible to spend 10 minutes preparing for each lesson. You don`t even generally get a 10-minute `break` between lessons because the school encourages kids to read from a set homework book in the breaks and you are often forced to go and listen to the kids read instead of preparing or having a break of any kind between lessons.
3. There are `paid holidays` which are rare, as at most schools, but at FEN you need to arrange them yourself by asking other teachers to teach for you, and also teach the other teachers classes when they are on holiday. So, in addition to the hassle of having to arrange the holiday, you are actually only swapping lessons- hardly what i call a paid holiday.
4. Don`t plan to check your email in a break. Remember, there are no breaks. The management is always trying to squeeze a little more out of the staff and 10 minutes spent online is 10 minutes you could have been producing a new curriculum for the local elementary school . FEN has always had dreams of expanding but has never really been successful due to their inability to manage the school, and retain good teachers.
5. Family drama is ridiculous. I would watch it religiously if it were on TV. The mother is lovely but still is the main driving force behind overworking the teachers which results in poor retention. She sits at reception, which is about 3 meters from the teachers room which is overcrowded. The daughters which are trying to take management roles are inept and, as is the case in most family businesses, unprofessional due to their inability to seperate work and family. The father is the shacho. He doesn`t associate with foreigners unless they are blond and russian, in which case he will provide them with a nice apartment. The company does `help` the staff finid apartments whic are generally private (not shared) and cost around 50000 a month. They also sponsor visas.
In general, avoid Eikaiwas, especially family run ones.