The Arrangements of New Professions in Japanese Schools and the Teachers' Role

Abstract

    The purpose of this paper is to consider the change of the teachers' role as a result of arranging new professionals, such as school counselors and school social workers into Japanese schools. Previous studies made it clear that Japanese teachers have a special attitude that is called “Shidou” culture. Teachers are calling their various actions “Shidou” in schools, and they consider that all actions are educationally meaningful and all are teachers' work. And teachers consider it important to communicate and build trusting relationships with each of their students for “Shidou.” As a result of having such a culture, the range of teachers' work spreads without limits. However, the tendency of limiting teachers' role and specializing functions of schools is progressing in recent schools. It is thought that this arrangement of new professions is also such a tendency. What kind of change is taking place in fact for the teachers' role? I analyzed the data gathered by fieldwork conducted from April, 2010 to January, 2013 in elementary schools and junior high schools in city-A and city-B in prefecture-X.
    In analyzing, I used the idea of “the system of professions.” According to it, proximate professions negotiate their jurisdictions to tasks and works as one system. I focused on workplace negotiation here. I pictured the teachers' role, capturing how teachers, school counselors, and school social workers establish their jurisdictions.
    Analysis showed that teachers played a role of the gatekeeper of the problems on student guidance. Teachers had a strong jurisdiction about the task of gate keeping, judging what one should take up as a problem and to which professionals one should distribute a problem. And on the occasion of distribution, teachers were bearing the tasks broadly themselves as before. When expertise and assessments on professional knowledge were needed, they distributed the job to other professionals. Teachers were regarded as a center of the activity about student guidance not only from themselves but by other professionals. Teachers were positioned as “those who communicate with children in the school every day.” “Shidou” culture which valued everyday communication in contrast with the expertise of other professionals had become more strong.
    In the final part of this paper, I considered about what we should take care when professionals collaborate in schools.