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A NOVA Paper Chase
Many thanks to our Deep Throat for providing these documents. She tells me that these attendance sheets are nothing but a headache for managers when a student asks to see them. They are something that she would never show to a high level student and would use every excuse in the book to keep them from being read. For low level students, she would cover and read them, making up a BS story the whole time. Read them. They speak for themself.
Look at all the volumes of information Nova wants the teachers to give after each lesson. Each lesson is usually once a week? How much change can there possibly be in one week? No wonder the teachers at this school write in the number 3 with an arrow through all the points. When I was a teacher at Toza, I had a mountain of student files to fill in by the end of the day. It was very tempting to look back at what the other teachers said and copy it. Doing that also helped keep the heat off me because by copying them, I never had to defend my opinions in front of a school or area leader. I could also catch my train and go home. Two birds with one stone.
Look at the scribbles the teachers made for notes. I'm not a handwriting expert but I sense a certain, how should I say it? "I don't give a fuck" quality about them. Could it be true? It sure looks like it despite this nugget taken from NOVA's Teach in Japan web site:
"Nova's training program is thorough and specifically geared to our specialized teaching approach. It begins with a full-day orientation covering life in Japan, the working environment, the Nova system and TEFL in particular. Like our students, you'll learn by doing. Observing teachers. Preparing activities. Team teaching. And, most importantly, solo teaching, initially under the supervision of a veteran teacher. All the while you'll receive continual feedback, advice and encouragement from the training personnel.The training team at your home branch will also provide you with on-going support and guidance throughout your time at Nova. Among other things, they help instructors implement new material and classroom ideas. Specialized training is also provided for unique and challenging programs such as Nova Kids, Voice Room, Business or Travel courses and TOEFL/TOEIC instruction."
What a pile of horsehit.
Every teacher at Toza had a collection of stock comments, some of them more elaborate than others but all basically the same in their vagueness. The comments would be jotted down and inspected every night by the school leader, a senior teacher at the school. If the school leader liked the comments, nothing would be said. If the comments weren't up to snuff, the school leader would use a red pen to criticize your precious comments right there on the student's file for all to see.
Note: The names of the teachers have not been changed to protect them since half the stuff on the pages is illegible anyway.
Click on the links below to view the sheets(opens a new window).
Chris
Legend for the pages:
T/S: Target Structure
S/S: Sentence Structure
N/S: No show
Comments
Re the Nova Paper Chase
Just two comments here. Check the dates on the sheets. And isn't this a from of industrial theft?
You're right
Yes, the sheets are old. Getting new ones was virtually impossible. I asked and that was the best my "mole" could do for me. As for industrial theft, that assumes that something of value was stolen. That's clearly not the case with the chicken scratch comments here. As was mentioned in the story, these records are something that the staff could never and would never show the students.
When you think about it, this is something METI could have busted Nova for--really crappy record keeping and denying (or lying to) students the contents of their personal records.
The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. -Albert Einstein
Shawn
Chicken scratch...
They all look like my doctor's handwriting.
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