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ETJ is a free association for English teachers in Japan that
encourages the exchange of information and teaching ideas, provides
opportunities for training and professional development, and obtains
benefits and discounts for members.
ETJ is a grass-roots organization for teachers around Japan
that is dependent on a lot of individual teachers putting in a
little time in many different ways. In fact, it is primarily aimed
at the classroom teacher who is only able or prepared to put a
limited amount of time into ETJ.
ETJ was originally set up by David English House in 1999 in
order to provide a general association for the busy classroom
teacher, and it is still heavily subsidised by David English House.
Oxford University Press is also a general sponsor and shares much
of the financial burden. One of the roles of the general sponsors
is to develop stratetic relationships with other respected educational
businesses and institutions in order to widen the range of services
and benefits ETJ can provide to members, and become known to a
wider range of teachers. This sponsorship also allows membership
of ETJ to remain free.
Most ETJ projects are run independently by volunteers. This
applies to everything from regional groups to publications. Most
of these projects are set up with the encouragement of David English
House, and supported until they are able to take care of themselves.
A big thank you!
Mark McBennett, Editor of
ELT
News, and the designer of this ETJ website, deserves a tremendous
THANK YOU for all his volunteer work under very severe time constraints.
All members of ETJ are very grateful for this invaluable contribution
to the development of ETJ.
Management
Decision-making within ETJ is generally decentralized. The leaders
of each ETJ project are encouraged to run projects independently
and to be responsive to the members of their groups.
Project leaders are also members of the ETJ-Coordinators group
which, although it generally acts in an advisory capacity, is
the ultimate decison-making body for all aspects of ETJ except
the areas for which David English House has responsibility (see
below). The ETJ-Coordinators group has the authority to make general
ETJ policies, approve new ETJ projects, and get involved in the
internal affairs of each ETJ project, especially when asked to
do so by the project leader or members of the project, or when
it considers that a special situation has arisen.
David English House is responsible for sponsoring ETJ and deciding
on arrangements with other sponsors, for the general administration
of ETJ, for mailings and nationwide marketing, and for protecting
and keeping membership data. All other aspects of ETJ are under
the authority of the ETJ Coordinators group.
The systems by which an ETJ member becomes a member of the
ETJ-Coordinators group are decided on by the Coordinators group.
This includes the allocation of the number of representatives
for each project.
The current members are as follows:
Ailsa Nomiyama (Osaka)
Andrea Kamidozono (Ibaraki)
Anitia Kennedy (Sendai)
Bill Jarvis (Kumamoto)
Carl Zeman (Hiroshima)
Carla Wilson (Hiroshima, Snakes and Ladders)
Catherine Oki (Kyoto)
Chris Wolf (Ehime)
Chuck Kayser (Kyoto)
Colin Bethell (Sponsor)
David Harrington (Kanagawa)
David Lee (ETJ Journal)
David Lisgo (Kagoshima)
David Paul (ETJ list, Owners list, sponsor)
Doug Young (Ibaraki)
Glen Melrose (Ehime)
Grace Tomita (Fukuoka)
Graham Finch (Saitama)
Gordon Olsen (Fukuoka)
Janina Tubby (Kobe)
John Wiltshier (invited)
Jon Dujmovich (Shizuoka)
Joshua Myerson (Aichi)
Jun Magno (Niigata)
Kaj Schwermer (Osaka)
Kate Sato (Hokkaido)
Kyoko Hori (office)
Marc Helgesen (JALT liason)
Mari Nakamura (Ishikawa)
Mark de Boer (Iwate)
Mary Yasuda (Okayama)
Michael Guest (Life in Japan list)
Mikey Kelly (Kobe)
Minako Tomomori (Yamaguchi)
Naomi Yonemoto (Kumamoto)
Nicolas Cueto (materials and services)
Oliver Bayley (sponsor)
Paul Riley (sponsor)
Peter Schinckel (Hokkaido)
Renae Ivany (Yamaguchi)
Rhonda Tezuka (Yamanashi)
Robert Murphy (Kitakyushu)
Sayed Mohamed (Miyazaki)
Shaun Leyland (wesbite)
Simon Weedon (Oita)
Ted Ekering (Okayama)
Terry Stone (Toyama)
Terry Yearley (Tokyo)
Theron Muller (Nagano)
Tina Koyama (Niigata)
Yuco Kikuchi (Chiba)
William Percy (Activities list)
Guidelines/Policies
1. Differentiation between guidelines and policies
1.1 - Guidelines
The ETJ-Coordinators group generally establishes guidelines for
regional groups of other ETJ projects. These guidelines are intended
to help a new group/project get off the ground or support a group/project
that is having difficulty finding a successful format. Groups/projects
have the freedom to choose whether or not to follow these guidelines.
1.2 - Policies
The ETJ-Coordinators group may occasionally decide on policies
within its area of authority as defined in the 'Managment' section
of this website. Policies are established when issues arise that
have a fundamental effect on ETJ as a whole. In order to be a
part of ETJ, a group/project needs to follow these policies.
2. Guidelines for new regional groups and those groups looking
for a successful format
2.1 - The format of a meeting ETJ regional groups generally have
workshops about once every two months on Sundays, and the workshops
normally last about 2 1/2 hours. There is likely to be one or
more short presentations followed by opportunities for members
to exchange ideas.
2.2 - A grass-roots style A typical ETJ regional group meeting
encourages the sharing of ideas among teachers. The emphasis is
on grass-roots participation - short presentations and input by
as wide a range of members as possible are encouraged.
2.3 - Building a committee In order to make it easier to find
presenters, increase attendance at meetings, and make it more
likely that the group continues even when coordinators change,
it is best to focus on building up a committee that contains teachers
from a variety of teaching situations. There is likely to be a
direct correlation between how broadly-based the committee is
and whether it is possible to hold successful grass-roots style
meetings over a period of time.
2.4 - General advice (longer version) Find one or more presenters
for a meeting or, occasionally, just have a workshop based around
a theme. Even when there are presenters, it is best to encourage
an interactive workshop style rather than a lecture, and when
there is more than one presenter, it is usually helpful if the
presentations relate to a common theme.
It is generally a good idea to encourage short presentations
and avoid long ones. This is partly because when you are trying
to find presenters for future meetings it will be easier to find
teachers who are prepared to speak for a short time, but who may
be intimidated if they feel they will be expected to give a long
presentation. Another advantage of having shorter presentations
is that it allows more time for all members to exchange ideas.
The presentations could be followed by an open discussion if
the group is small, or by teachers working on ideas in pairs or
groups and then reporting their main suggestions to the other
pairs/groups. When possible, successful ideas and activities can
be recorded and posted to the 'Activities' list or submitted for
publication in 'Snakes and Ladders' or the 'ELT Journal'.
3. Relationships with publishers and commercial interests
3.1 - Regional ETJ groups and publishers/commercial interests
There should be no direct or indirect relationship with publishers
or commercial interests.
3.2. - How to advertise to ETJ members
Publishers and other businesses that wish to advertise to members
of ETJ should be encouraged to attend the Expos and advertise
in the ETJ publications and in the ETJ Classfieds.
3.3 - Special events
If a regional group or another ETJ project would like to organise
a special event which publishers can attend, this should be done
with the agreement of the general sponsors.
4. Policies on the national e-mail lists
4.1 - There is currently an understanding among publishers not
to promote books to the lists. It is in the best interests of
the lists to ensure that this understanding continues and applies
equally to all publishers and commercial interests.
4.2 - Spam and overtly commercial messages should not be allowed
on the lists. Recommendations of books and commercial services
by members with no commercial interest in these materials/services
should be encouraged.
5. Guidelines for posting non-ETJ events to the national
e-mail lists
5.1 - Non-ETJ events should be posted to the ETJ list, not to
the other national lists.
5.2 - Organisations that are allowed to post announcements of
events to the ETJ list should be approved by the 'ETJ-events'
working group. Once an organisation has received this approval,
they can post events until such a time that the 'ETJ-events' working
group or the 'ETJ-coordinators' list consider this privilege to
have been abused. Organisations will be approved if they are making
a positive contribution to English language teaching in Japan,
are organising events that are essentially educational rather
than commercial in nature, and if their postings are unlikely
to set off a reaction among publishers or other commercial interests.
Consideration will also be given to organisations that give benefits
to ETJ members. A list of approved organisations will be built
up over a period of time and voted on by the 'ETJ-events' working
group.
The current approved organisations are:
The British Council
David English House
JALT
5.3 - Approved organisations can only post events that are consistent
with policies for ETJ regional groups. For example, this means
events where a presenter is promoting commercial materials cannot
be posted. Approved organisations are also requested to help promote
ETJ events.
5.4 Individual events that are not arranged by approved organisations
may be posted to the ETJ list at the discretion of the moderator
of the list. These events should be non-commercial and of relevance
to teachers. If the ETJ list moderator is unsure whether an event
should be posted, the 'ETJ-events' working group can be asked
to decide.
5.5 The ETJ-Events working group currently consists of:
Bradley Yaxley
David Paul
Kaj Schermer
Sayed Mohamed
William Percy
Any ETJ Coordinator may join this group.
6. Policy on presentations at the Expos
6.1 - There are three kinds of presentations at the Expos, 'Sponsored', 'Local' and 'Guest'
6.2 - Sponsored presentations are by publishers and other companies that have displays at the Expos. Companies wishing to have a sponsored presentation should apply by e-mail to
David@DavidEnglishHouse.com. These presentations are decided on by David English House as stated in the 'Management' section of this website following guidelines established through discussions with potential sponsors and ETJ Coordinators.
6.3 - Local presentations are decided on by each Expo organising committee. These are for local teachers. A teacher should present at the Expo nearest where they live/work . The aim is to gradually deepen each Expo's role in the local community and build up grass-roots support and involvement. Local presenters should have no connection with a commercial organisation, particularly with a publisher. The main reason for this is to ensure that all sponsors are treated fairly . After exhausting all avenues for finding local presenters, EXPO organisers can invite presenters from other regions to fill vacant local presentation slots. Applications to make local presentations should be made by e-mail to the regional ETJ group organising the Expo.
6.4 - Guest presentations are by presenters that local teachers usually have no chance to see. A guest presenter is normally be decided on by the Expo organising committee and is funded by the regional group(s). 'Guest' presenters, in contrast to local presenters, are normally be from another area of Japan. There should be a maximum number of two guest speakers at an Expo so that the number of presentation slots available for local presentations is not affected too much.
It is possible under some circumstances for regional Expo committees to invite a guest speaker who has a connection with a publisher. If a proposed guest speaker does have a connection with a publisher,the regional Expo coordinators should get the approval of the members of the ETJ-Coordinators list before inviting the speaker. The coordinators will consider whether the invitation will be considered fair by other sponsors, and may check with sponsors.
Aims
The overall aim is to give more power to learners and teachers
in Japan. The intention is to complement and support existing
teachers' associations, so it is possible to be an active member
of ETJ as well as other associations. More detailed aims are:
- To encourage the general professional development of ELT in
Japan through meetings, discussions, training workshops and
courses, publications, and by encouraging the development and
availability of relevant resource mataerial.
- To encourage all kinds of approaches and methodologies that
empower Japanese learners to develop themselves both linguistically,
personally and in their awareness of the global community and
environment.
- To encourage individual classroom teachers to develop ideas
and materials, and empower these teachers to share their ideas
and materials with other teachers.
- To encourage a positive and mutually beneficial relationship
between teachers and ELT-related businesses.
- To provide value for money to members by keeping membership
free, fees for events low, and arranging financial advantages
and discounts.
How to Join
Joining ETJ is easy. Just fill in the form and submit it. You
will then be a member of ETJ, and be sent a membership card. Please
note that ETJ is only open to English teachers living in Japan.
Join now
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