2025 Volume 92 Issue 1 Pages 40-52
This study examines the impact of additional teacher allocation measures implemented during the recovery and reconstruction efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake, focusing on teachers' distress. The study focuses on the case of Fukushima Prefecture, which was significantly affected by the nuclear disaster and where many additional teachers were allocated. It examines the “concurrent appointments” implemented using additional teacher allocation measures funded by the national government. While these measures were positively evaluated for restoring teacher numbers and providing care for children, some theories suggest that they may have caused unnecessary burdens and confusion in schools. However, these measures' mechanisms and internal dynamics remain underexplored.
This study involved semi-structured interviews with three teachers who received concurrent assignments and one administrative staff member. The analysis focused on what teachers sought to protect and their experiences of distress. Furthermore, certain practices unique to the teaching profession were observed in regard to what teachers aimed to protect, offering insight into one aspect of teachers' professional expertise. This study also examines what aspects of what teachers sought to protect were harmed by reconstruction policies. It explores why this distress occurred, focusing on system and policy factors. Findings revealed that teachers prioritized maintaining connections with children and their original schools. However, they experienced significant distress, including feelings of unfulfillment and lack of belonging at their new assignments. In addition, the measure of concurrent assignments continued, leading to more teachers with no connection to their original schools. The gradual fading of this school identity caused them to experience conflict.
The prefectural board viewed teacher allocation primarily as a numerical problem; their focus was on ensuring that teachers could be secured even if schools reopened mid-school year. This approach likely contributed to teacher distress. Additionally, the lack of organizational support and structures to reflect teachers' perspectives further hindered their ability to maintain connections with students and schools.
Finally, this study reevaluates the positive assessments of these measures and analyzes the experience of teachers from the perspective of teachers' professionality. While teacher numbers returned to near pre-disaster levels, the severed connections among teachers, children, and communities suggest that recovery remains incomplete. Teachers also highlighted the absence of organizational measures to support children and schools in disaster recovery. Discussions on how to aid teachers and schools in enhancing care for children have been insufficient. The perspective of teachers' connections with schools and communities provides insight into these discussions.
Additionally, perspectives such as teachers' expertise and participation in policymaking are closely related to these issues. This study highlights that teachers' distress arose from the loss of what they sought to protect, which included relationships with children and communities―essential for teachers to exercise their professional expertise. Thus, much of the distress experienced by teachers was not just because they were disaster victims but because they were teachers. The concurrent appointment system restricted teachers' ability to exercise their expertise, infringing on their professional autonomy.
