Participants in this research were elementary and junior high school regular classroom teachers who were assigned to teach a special needs class for the first time. The research aimed to shed light on the challenges these teachers faced at the beginning of the school year, their early-stage adaptation processes, and to identify support that effectively helped them. An interview was conducted four months after they started teaching the special needs classes, and an analysis was carried out using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M - GTA). Thirty-eight concepts, seven categories, and 20 sub-categories were generated. Other analyses were also conducted to investigate the level of early-stage adaptation and the main sources of support the participants used. Results showed that some teachers had a negative image towards special needs classes before they were assigned to teach those classes. Their self-esteem was damaged as they felt they were “not being recognized as a teacher” after the staff reassignment. Some also felt a sense of “insecurity in their teaching career,” which implied anxiety towards having to teach a field for which they had no experience nor expertise. However, having received effective support, they started to see the children in a different light and felt an improvement in their teaching ability. Their perception towards special needs education gradually changed. The tendency to actively use support resources was found as a factor in promoting early-stage adaptation. Moreover, experienced personnel around these teachers played an important role in helping early-stage adaptation. For the future, allocating teachers at hand for consultation at the beginning of the school year when there are high levels of anxiety, creating an early-stage training system, and utilizing specialized institutions effectively should be considered.

This study aimed at (1) modeling the psychological support which teachers on Ishigaki Island expect of school counselors, and (2) examining issues in psychological support unique to Ishigaki Island that the resulting model revealed. Ten teachers were interviewed, and their responses were analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach. A model of psychological support with four categories and 22 concepts was constructed. The four categories were: “understanding of island-specific interpersonal relationships,” “understanding the role of school counselors in Team School,” “demonstrating diverse expertise,” and “dealing with issues unique to the assigned schools.” Four issues were identified based on the model: the difficulty of maintaining externality, the need to uphold confidentiality, the misunderstanding of expertise and the unevenness of quality, and the limited work hours of school counselors.

In this study, a questionnaire was administered to university students to examine the effects of harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP) on smartphone dependence, mental health, and insomnia tendency. The results showed that HP negatively affected smartphone dependence and insomnia tendency and positively affected mental health. In contrast, OP positively affected smartphone dependence and insomnia tendency and negatively affected mental health. These results indicated the possibility of providing effective psychoeducational support services that distinguish between appropriate and problematic smartphone use.

The present study examined how functions of a coordination committee for children with additional needs may influence teachers’ psycho-educational support for students. Focus was on teachers’ attitudes toward psycho-educational services in junior high schools in Japan. Four questionnaires on a) coordination committee functions, b) teachers’ attitudes towards psycho-educational services as team work, c) teachers’ attitudes toward psycho-educational services as shared responsibility, and d) teachers’ psycho-educational support, were administered to 432 teachers. Results showed that three of the four functions of the coordination committee had positive effects on both teachers’ attitudes toward support services. The results suggested that, through the coordination committee, teachers might improve their services not only for certain students with additional needs such as bullying, non-attendance, and developmental disabilities, but also for all students with preventive needs.

Teachers and school counselors (SC) collaborated in this study to examine the effectiveness of supporting junior high school students with difficulties in learning English words. They supported students through a group work format using phonics as an organizational strategy for learning English words. The results of a two-way analysis of variance indicated that English word test scores increased significantly after receiving support. It is suggested that collaboration between teachers and SC is an effective method for increasing students’ motivation for learning and academic ability.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological processes of infection control for the novel coronavirus in a training institute of clinical psychology. Twenty trainees completed an online survey about infection control behaviors and related psychological processes. Results indicated that the frequency of talks and communication about infection control drew more attention to information of infection, and led to increased infection control behaviors in the training institute. We discussed the implications for effective infection control and the direction of further studies.

The purpose of this study is to develop and examine the effects of an integrative conflict resolution skills program as one of the efforts to promote understanding of disabilities. Participants were 181 high school students. The scores of integrative conflict resolution skills and the scores of spontaneous interactions with people with disabilities increased after the training program. The importance of intervening both attitudes and behaviors was discussed.