JAPANESE UNIVERSITY BLACKLIST
KEIWA COLLEGE (KEIWA GAKUEN) JOB LISTING
Courtesy http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/jobs/
#0021 - Niigata-ken
Job Description: Keiwa College, a four-year co-educational Liberal Arts college with
departments
in English and International Cultural Studies, is seeking a full-time
visiting instructor beginning April, 2003 for a one-year contract, renewable up to
3 years - 2 year commitment preferred.
Job Details: Qualifications: MA TESL or related field, or Certificate in TESL/ESL.
Teaching
experience in intensive programs or at high school/college level a plus. This is
an ideal position for
those relatively new to the field and eager to expand on their teaching experiences.
Duties: Teach
university-level English language classes in a skills-based coordinated curriculum;
up to 20
teaching hours per week, 7 months a year; participation in teacher meetings;
involvement in
course design and curriculum development. Salary & Benefits: starting at ¥270,000
per month, 12
months a year; subsidized furnished apartment near campus, shared office space with
Internet
access; health insurance. Transportation and shipping expenses to Niigata will be
provided.
Part-time additional work is available as evening classes at the college etc. Application
Materials:
cover letter, resume highlighting teaching experience, copy of degree/diploma, 3
letters of reference. No e-mail applications please.
Deadline: November 15, 2002
Contact Details: Joy Williams, Coordinator, English Language Program, Keiwa College,
1270 Tomizuka, Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan 957-8585.
ENDS
MULTIPLE RESPONSES
FROM KEIWA COLLEGE (PRIVATE)
RE THE BLACKLIST OF JAPANESE
UNIVERSITIES
SENT IN SIMULTANEOUS MAILINGS TO BOTH THE BLACKLIST EDITOR
AND HIS FRIENDS WHO ARE UNCONNECTED WITH THE BLACKLIST.
(the following message was received five times between June
17 and 19, 2003)
RESPONSE FROM BLACKLIST MONITOR:
(July 1, 2003)
Due to the mailings above received from Keiwa College, I
have chosen not to respond directly to Mr Brown, as the tone and the frequency of
the mailings do not indicate that I would be dealing with a reasonable person, one
with a sense of professionality when speaking on behalf of his institution. (As Blacklist
Monitor, I apologize for the delay in response--due in part to business trips--but
this does not justify a bombardment of my and other unrelated persons' mailboxes.)
However, the information above does not warrant Keiwa College's removal from the
Blacklist. Despite claiming the listing of the school is "completely erroneous",
even Mr Brown indicates that the job announcement (which Keiwa College itself made
public and is responsible for the contents) is accurate. There are contracted positions
for foreigners at Keiwa College, where those foreigners are hired, as Mr Brown himself
puts it, "in a different way"--and moreover on contracts capped at three
years (which goes against Ministry of Education guidelines). This means the institution
qualifies for Blacklisting.
As I have responded to other institutions concerning the Blacklist, claims that this
type of job position provides opportunities for foreign visiting scholars (whether
or not the positions are actually called "gaikokujin kyoushi" or "-kyouin"
is moot) are missing the point. Many other Japanese institutions also make the same
claim, effectively relegating all foreign faculty to "visiting professorships"
regardless of the educator's qualifications. Also unclear above is if these positions
are also open to Japanese educators, which would further clarify whether or not the
position is determined by nationality.
Still, according to Mr Brown, there are also apparently other foreign faculty granted
tenure at Keiwa College. Given the tenacity of his emails on the subject, I assume
Mr Brown is willing to be cited as the primary source that Keiwa College also tenurizes
foreigners. Therefore, I will put Keiwa College on the Greenlist. However, as long
as these contracted (moreover capped) positions exist at said institution, Keiwa
College will also remain up on the Blacklist. If Mr Brown is unwilling to be cited
as the primary source, he is welcome to respond (as a single email, please) saying
so, and I will remove Keiwa College from the Greenlist.
--Arudou Debito, Monitor
Blacklist and Greenlist of Japanese Universities
FEEDBACK FROM CYBERSPACE:
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 15:02:48 -0600
From: "David P. Agnew" <agnew@ewaosaka.org>
Subject: Re: [PALE] Digest Number 11
To: pale_group@yahoogroups.com
Cc: jbbrown@keiwa-c.ac.jp, debito@debito.org, ewa <info@ewaosaka.org>,David
Agnew <agnew@ewaosaka.org>
Re: Keiwa College, the Blacklist and Mr. Brown
It is clear from Mr. Brown's messages that he feels strongly about
Keiwa College being included on the Blacklist, but his resorting to
personal attacks simply because an immediate response was not
forthcoming surely takes him out of the realm of reasonable debate.
Debito is a busy man with several projects and passions on his plate
and summer holidays have started to boot... show a little professional
courtesy, please!
However, the fact that non-Japanese teachers in Japan have written to
Debito in defence of overtly discriminatory hiring and promotional
policies at universities and colleges (previously Taylor
Dark of
Doshisha University and now James Brown of Keiwa College) certainly
deserves closer inspection. Why do they feel so driven to legitimate
suspect policies? Do they choose to do so without the urging of the
offending institutions or are their actions an orchestrated attempt at
damage control and misinformation?
Arguing in favour of contract renewal caps for foreign "visiting"
teachers when one doesn't face such limitations borders on hypocrisy.
Japanese don't face such limitations. Even if they themselves face caps
based on their nationality, these men may simply be unaware that
promotion of such double standards is unacceptable to their peers and
that the policies themselves are clear violations of Japanese labour
law, particularly in regard to Article 3 of the Labor Standards Law:
"An employer shall not engage in discriminatory
treatment with respect
to wages, working hours or other working conditions by reason of the
nationality, creed or social status of any worker. A person who has
violated the provisions of Article 3 shall be sentenced to penal
servitude of not more than 6 months or to a fine of not more than 300,000 Yen."
(Article 119)
These laws are relevant even if an institution also hires foreign
workers in a tenure track capacity. Trying to justify such wrongdoing
in this way is quite pathetic.
I urge Mr. Brown, and other would-be apologists of unfair hiring and
promotional policies at Japanese universities, to have a read of the
PALE Journal and the archives contained therein and also to have a
periodic check of the EWA site so as to be better informed of the
debate surrounding the issue of foreign academics being treated
differently based on their nationality.
http://www.debito.org/PALE/
http://ewaosaka.org/
Regards,
David P. Agnew, M.Ed.
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ENDS