[Purpose]

  Recently, there has been an ongoing debate on the nature of activities that consider the physical and mental strain on teachers in school-based extracurricular activities. The distress for club activity instruction is related to burnout. This background is related to the presence or absence of experience in the club activity category in which they are advising. However, a longitudinal study needs to be conducted, considering the cultural club advisory teachers and their sense of fulfillment in teaching club activities. This study aimed to examine the rewarding and distress toward club activity coaching and its relationship to burnout, considering the type of club activity and discipline experience.

[Methods]

  Participants were 137 teachers in school-based extracurricular（athletic club: 38 males and 26 females; cultural club: 29 males and 44 females）programs. A scale to measure the reward and distress scale for teachers in school-based extracurricular activities and burnout was used. Furthermore, burnout was examined approximately six months later.

[Results]

  First, in the analysis of variance for the two factors, athletic clubs scored higher than cultural clubs in the distress for club activity instruction. Furthermore, differences in scale scores were observed depending on the advisory teacher's experience in the discipline. Specifically, the professional instruction group had the highest scores for rewarding with club activity instruction. The no-experience group scored higher than the professional-experience and personal-experience groups in terms of distress and burnout. Next, results of the simultaneous multi-population analysis revealed differences in the relationship between the rewarding and distress toward club activity coaching and burnout, depending on whether the participants had experience in the discipline or not.

[Discussion/Conclusion]

  The results showed that being an advisor for both athletic and cultural clubs did not increase the physical and mental burden of club activities, and that the aspect of this burden varied depending on whether the student had experience in the discipline or not. However, the risk of burnout is high when taking charge of a club advisor who has no experience in the discipline. After integrating the results of this study with the findings of previous studies, we discuss how such club activity should be managed., Consequently, increasing opportunities for club activity guidance will be rewarding and decreasing opportunities for club activity advisory teachers to feel burdened will contribute to reducing their mental and physical burden.

[Background]

  Gatekeeper (GK) training for teachers is a suicide prevention for students in Japan, despite few studies having reported the method, content, and effect evaluation. In this study, GK training of the method, content, and effect evaluation for school staff in Japanese literature were compared with those from other countries.

[Methods]

  Twelve studies were extracted from the Japanese Igaku Chuo Zasshi and CiNii using the keywords “suicide & gatekeeper,” “suicide & school, and crisis intervention,” and “suicide & training and teacher.” Considering, literature from other countries, 11 were extracted from Medline using the keywords “suicide & gatekeeper & (school or teacher).”

[Results]

  In Japan, psychiatrists and university teachers often implement their own programs with almost no control groups or medium- to long-term evaluations, and most are free descriptions. Overseas, trained trainers conduct for example, Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) on all faculty members and staff, maintaining knowledge and self-efficacy, challenging its impact on attitudes and behavior.

[Discussion/Conclusion]

  The GK training program for Japanese teachers and staff must clarify the role of the department according to the job type and experience, followed by a fact-finding survey, and building a training program that includes practical training. In addition, the medium- to long-term effects on knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, attitudes, and suicide prevention behavior should be assessed using appropriate methods.

[Purpose]

  This study aimed to clarify the difficulties, anxieties, and thoughts that counselors experience when changing counselors in student counseling.

[Methods]

  Six counselors who had experience as both predecessors and successors were interviewed. From the obtained interview data, we extracted remarks about difficulties, worries, and thoughts at the time of takeover, and then categorized them.

[Results]

  A total of 216 statements were extracted, and three categories of “support for students,” “relationship between counselors,” and “procedures at the time of takeover” were obtained.

[Discussion/Conclusion]

  In “Support for students,” it was shown that counselors experience difficulty in caring for students’ reactions caused by the takeover, while experiencing fears and guilt about the interruption. In “Relationships between Counselors,” the psychological relationship between the counselors represented the difficulties and worries behind the act of handing over. However, the difficulty of “procedures for handing over” was difficulty in procedures such as judging continuation, face-to-face meetings, information sharing, recording creation and management, and securing time. For example, some counselors wanted to meet face-to-face with other counselors, but their schedules did not allow it. Some counselors also wanted to take over without preconceived ideas, while others wanted to share information carefully. Based on the difficulties experienced by counselors at the time of such a takeover, ideas and points to keep in mind when handing over were considered.

[Propose]

  In recent years, school counselors (SCs) are expected to provide support from the standpoint of clinical psychology, but it can be imagined that there are considerable difficulties involved. We believe that clarifying the difficulties that SCs encounter and the process of overcoming them will provide an understanding of how SCs develop professionally. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the specific difficulties SCs encountered and how they overcame those difficulties.

[Methods]

  We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 SCs divided into 3 groups based on the number of years of experience they had. Those who had 1–5 years of experience were classified as early-stage SCs, those with 6–10 years of experience as middle-stage SCs, and those with 11＋ years of experience as veteran-stage SCs. Then, the researchers conducted a “modified grounded theory approach” analysis.

[Results]

  Based on the results obtained, SCs’ process of overcoming difficulties yielded six categories.

[Discussion]

  The difficulties encountered and the skills necessary to overcome them were determined for each group of SCs. For early-stage SCs, the skills of sharing information and meeting the needs of the school were important to overcome difficulties. For middle-stage SCs, the skills were understanding the duties of the teachers who collaborate with them and clearly communicating the role of an SC. The skill to reflect on oneself was also considered important. It was difficult to determine the skills necessary for veteran-stage SCs, but the results suggested that self-management skills are necessary.

[Purpose]

  This study aimed to develop a scale that measures the degree of procrastination behavior of Yobiko students (or prep-school students) in completing their academic tasks and examine its validity and reliability.

[Methods]

  As a preliminary study, 295 students of a Yobiko in Tohoku region were surveyed. Based on their responses, 15 items were created to develop a procrastination behavior scale for Yobiko students (PBS-P). Then, 560 students were administered the PBS-P, and factor analysis was performed.

[Results & Discussion]

  Factor analysis of the scale identified two factors: “Delay in voluntary tasks” with 6 items and “Delay in deadline tasks” with 5 items. These factors had a high degree of consistency (α of .83 and .80, respectively). The results of this study confirmed the reliability (internal consistency) and validity (factorial and concurrent validity) of the “Academic Procrastination Behavior Scale for Yobiko Students.”

[Conclusion]

  This scale makes it possible to measure the academic procrastination behavior of Yobiko students and is considered to contribute to the planning of academic and school life support.

[Purpose]

  Preventing child suicide is an urgent issue in Japan. The actual status of the implementation of gatekeeper (GK) training for teachers in junior high schools remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the status of school-based GK training and the awareness of the schools’ principals.

[Methods]

  From a total of 9,230 public junior high schools across Japan, we randomly selected 1,300 schools. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to the principals. In total, 399 (30.7%) questionnaires were anonymously returned with answers about the participation in suicide prevention training for teachers to prevent student suicide, awareness of GK, whether and the number of GK in-school training sessions, salient conditions for implementing GK training for teachers, and changes in the school after implementing the GK training.

[Results]

  Only 16.2% of schools had implemented GK training for teachers. The planners/administrators and instructors of the training were mainly the principals, student guidance supervisors, yogo teachers, and school counselors. The most popular training method was lecture, and only 17.1% of schools included roleplaying. Few schools systematically evaluated the effects of implementing the training, although many principals believed that cooperation had improved within the school after the training. Principals in schools that implemented GK training identified the leadership of managers, motivation of faculty and staff members, and motivation of planners and operators as salient conditions for implementing GK training.

[Discussion/Conclusion]

  To expand GK training to more teachers, local education boards must have planners and instructors for the training. A 1.5-hour training program must be implemented, and it should include roleplaying and self-harm by referring to the materials provided by the national government. Furthermore, the effects of the training should be repeatedly evaluated.