2020 Volume 61 Issue 6 Pages 351-365
Background: In recent years, “health room use permit cards” have come to be used widely by teachers to control student visits in junior high schools because breakdown of school order leads to severe difficulties for school environments.
Objective: This study integrated views of teachers, Yogo teachers, and administratons to elucidate the process from two perspectives： how “health room use permit cards” have come to be used in junior high schools, and what influences they have had on students and health rooms.
Methods: At a junior high school in A city, Tokyo from June to December 2014, 5 schoolteachers, 5 Yogo teachers, and 3 administration were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted after explaining ethical considerations and after obtaining consent to participation in our study from each respondent. Interviews elicited opinions on “health room use permit card" use and related problems. A modified grounded theory approach (M-GTA) was used for qualitative data analysis.
Results: we generated 47 concepts, classified them into 13 categories, and then grouped those into 4 broader categories outlining card utilization. To elucidate these findings, we illustrated the utilization process of the “health room use permit cards" in junior high schools as a diagram. In summary, “health room use permit cards" were originally intended as a countermeasure against [breakdown of school order] because students exhibiting problematic behavior tended to gather there in junior high school. That breakdown led directly to the process of [making and using permit cards] as a measure for controlling student visits. Eventually, [making and using permit cards] continued to function even after problematic behaviors had diminished, thereby leading to negative effects of [students lacking support] and [school health room dysfunction].
Conclusion: This study clarified the use of permit cards in junior high schools and how they engendered negative effects on both the roles and functions of school health rooms and consulting behavior in students. Urgent tasks to prevent negative consequences are building capacity, including improvement of student guidance skills in younger teachers and Yogo teachers. From the perspective of school health, concurrently, all school staff must understand Yogo teachers and school health room roles and functions. Moreover, they must cooperate and collaborate in schools to support school health management that is available to meet the needs of all students.
