Twenty Years of JETAA UK
2010 marks the twentieth anniversary of the UK JET Alumni Association (JETAA-UK.) Over the last two decades, JETAA has sought to provide assistance, advice and support to former participants of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme. It has also endeavoured to maintain and develop grassroots cultural links with Japanese organisations and promote the JET Programme and similar educational exchanges between the United Kingdom and Japan.
JET was established in 1987 with the primary aim of promoting internationalisation in Japan’s local communities by helping to improve foreign language education and increasing mutual understanding between the people of Japan and other nations. The programme replaced two former initiatives – The British English Teachers (BET) scheme, which was established in 1978 exclusively for British University Graduates, and the Monbusho English Fellows (MEFs) Programme which included participants from other English speaking countries.
Tony Stevens was a participant on the first year of JET and returned after two years in 1989. He recalls that in “those days some parts of the programme were a bit haphazard, but the exciting thing was that it was all new and unfolding before our very eyes.” Whilst working for the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in London on his return, Tony set up the UK Alumni Association with the assistance of an organising committee comprised of other former JETs.
Approximately 50 British former JET Participants attended the inaugural meeting of JETAA–UK at the Embassy of Japan on 28th April 1990. In the early days of the organisation, close ties were formed with a similar alumni group of former BET participants with both associations collaborating on an annual Japanese festival in Battersea Park. It was pivotal in supporting returning JET participants in reintegrating back into life in the UK and finding employment during the recession of the early nineties. Indeed, Tony recalls “I used to get employers ringing me up directly and it was a time of lots of opportunity - booming Japanese economy and hardly anyone in the UK who could speak Japanese”. The newly formed JETAA also played a significant part in the rapid expansion of the programme in the UK through its input into the recruitment process and pre-departure orientation.
(Above: Participants attend the meeting of JETAA at the Embassy of Japan in 1990.)
In the two decades since its establishment, 95,000 people have participated on the JET Programme, including 17,500 from the United Kingdom. The majority of participants are placed in elementary, junior and senior schools as teaching assistants, with others fulfilling roles as Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) in local governments and boards of education.
Over 5,000 former participants of the programme are members of the JETAA-UK and can take part in events organised nationally and locally by our six regional chapters in London, the Midlands, Wales, North West England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Our annual activities include hosting a Careers Information Day for returning JETs, promoting Japan at the annual Spitalfields Japanese festival in London, promoting the JET Programme at universities and organising local pre-departure events for future participants.
Alumni groups have also been established internationally. There are active chapters in sixteen countries including the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Representatives from each of these countries meet each year to share valuable ideas on events and alumni initiatives; exchange best practice in fostering and maintaining grass root cultural linkages; and to collaborate on an international effort for our nominated charity, Room to Read. To coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the UK Alumni Association, this year’s International Meeting will be hosted in Edinburgh by JETAA Scotland in the autumn. In addition, JETAA-UK is planning a series of anniversary initiatives to tie in with this special event.
One way JETAA-UK is celebrating its twenty year milestone is with the launch of a new logo. Our website has also recently undergone a redesign and relaunch. The site facilitates dialogue and collaboration between prospective, current and former UK JET participants and other relevant organisations. Amongst the many features is an online calendar of Japanese cultural events hosted by a variety of UK based organisations, forums and local chapter information.
(Above: The new logo for JETAA.)
Jetaa.org.uk is currently hosting a ‘JETAA UK @ 20’ photo competition, an initiative open to all Alumni members to encourage them to share their memories of both the JET Programme and the work of the Alumni Association over the last twenty years. The competition is structured into three categories and short listed entries from each category will be exhibited at a reception and Ceilidh this autumn as part of the JETAA International Meeting in Edinburgh. The website will also be used as part of an ongoing project to collate a montage of memories from the UK Alumni Association and its activities over the last two decades.
Two decades on, JETAA-UK is continuing to fulfil a valuable role in bringing together former JET participants in supporting and fostering local grass root cultural linkages, and enabling them to promote the JET programme within their local communities.
