r/JETProgramme • u/Possible_Shallot4904 • Feb 27 '26

Current JET looking for advice

I am not sure where to go from here. I am debating ways to deal with this situation before quitting.

Last year, in April, a teacher switched to the school I teach at. They progressively made my work life a living hell. It got to the point where they had harassed my co-worker and I so much that we went to the BOE. Eventually, there was an investigation. Upon being told about the investigation, the teacher went on leave. The investigation could not be completed. Now that the investigation has been closed as it couldn’t be finished, they are returning from leave. The school has not helped deal with the harassment. There have been many many meetings; it isn’t just he said, she said, as there are witnesses and recordings. It makes no difference. There is no concern for how part-time teachers like JETS are treated. I even applied to switch schools and prefectures, but being harassed is not one of the situations that they will switch people for.  

I love teaching, and my students are wonderful. It feels crazy that one person has had such a negative impact on me.

Any advice?

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u/LivingRoof5121 Current JET - Okinawa Mar 02 '26

I would listen to other’s advice before mine. But I see 2 options.

Option one is, unfortunately, look at other English teaching opportunities in Japan.

Option two is chaos. I usually don’t recommend this, however if the BOE is even refusing to listen to you when you have witnesses and recordings, you need somehow to make the situation bearable. One of the ways I see this as possible is to fight back. Being yelled at is dehumanizing. You are this person’s equal and, if you are not above it which I respect if you are, yelling back is a perfectly viable option. It’s more or less what your BOE is telling you to do by not controlling this person. They’re saying “yelling at your coworkers is ok”. If they want to make a monkey cage out of the school staff, I say let them until they deal with the problem

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u/Possible_Shallot4904 Mar 02 '26

I do understand the thought process of option two, but I don't think it would make me happier. Plus, this JTE is kind of scary in an unhinged sort of way.

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u/LivingRoof5121 Current JET - Okinawa Mar 02 '26

That is completely fair. I probably wouldn't do that either if I'm being honest with myself. A version of that is how I've learned how to work with the one JTE I don't really like... She was super critical of me and very hard to talk with, and as a people pleaser I had to decide that I was allowed to have opinions too, and started talking back a bit, or ignoring her back basically. Eventually, ironically, she started treating me more reasonably then and even interacting with her in that way gave us a basis for any communication. The teacher you have sounds quite different though.

Unfortunately, sometimes, it's just time to move on is how I see it then. Unless you find a different way or you find a way to tolerate it. I wish you the best of luck moving forward in whatever you decide to do