Of all the cultural connundrums I have encountered, the teacher-student relationship is the one I find most confusing. It's ironic that I'm having trouble with this, since that is exactly what I am in Japan to do....But since I'm a teacher for 9 - 10 hours a day, that gives me more time to think about it, and hence, be confused. My preconceptions about Japan don't help, either.
I think most Americans have this idea that Japanese schools are very rigid and strict, and that students study all the time. So it should go without saying that Americans think Japanese teachers are likewise strict and formal. This is what I thought before I came. Of course, only part of this is true. Because of the group mentality (for lack of a better phrase) in Japan, a lot of emphasis is placed on mutual dependence and representation. If anything is strict, it's to keep things cohesive, and so everyone involved with Fuji Higashi will give a good impression of the school. All teachers, students, and principals have a responsibility to be role models for everyone else. So everyone works together and everything flows, without too many ripples in the water. If you cause a stir, you stand out. (Standing out is evidently so undesirable in Japan that a student won't tell me he didn't get a worksheet -- even though I ask, "Does everyone have a worksheet? Please raise your hand if you need a paper." Two minutes later I notice that two or three pairs have formed in the rows, heads bent toward one piece of paper that students are trying to share.) Just as everyone represents Fuji Higashi, almost everyone follows the same rules. Because students are not allowed to perm their hair, dye it, or wear jewelry, teachers are strongly encouraged to refrain as well.
In the classroom, teachers command a lot of respect by changing the tone of their voices - they become louder, deeper, and at times, almost aggressive. Students know when to perk up. And as for studying all the time, students spend the better part of their day in the classroom, and participate in club activities after school. Most kids don't go home until 6pm. Then they have homework.
All these things sound familiar to an American, right? This is how we think Japanese school works.
However! Many things are different, and I have trouble finding the line between teacher and...friend...and parent...and mentor...and advisor...and comedian. When children enter school, the parents get a break because most of the "rearing" is left to the teacher. If a kid gets suspended for smoking, the homeroom teacher will visit him every day. Supposedly, if a student is arrested, he will not call his parents, but his homeroom teacher. The teacher will pick him up from jail and scold him as necessary, like a parent. In a Japanese classroom, the teacher seems like more of an authority figure than in America. They spend most of the time at the front or the room, on an elevated step to command attention. But! Students are allowed to sleep! Teachers don't reprimand students for sleeping, or get upset with them when they do. Because group activity is encouraged, many times students will discuss an answer before an individual will offer one. An American student would never do this; instead, I think he would struggle to find the answer, often for a long time, and either guess or finally admit that he doesn't know. The teacher will then help this individual, in front of the whole class, until the answer is reached. If a Japanese student can't answer the question, more often than not he (or she) will sit there. If they're really embarrassed, they blush and look at their desks. So as a teacher, you wait a few moments, and if no response comes, you move on to the next student, trying to do as little damage (read: embarrassment) as possible. And that American know-it-all who always raises her hand? The girl who wants all the attention because she always has an answer? That student doesn't exist in Japan. Even if someone knows the answer, 100%, she will not raise her hand.
In between classes, students are allowed to freely enter the teachers' room. They line up to ask teachers questions, and joke around with other teachers while they wait. In America, at least in my schools, students never went into the teachers' lounge. That was like encroaching on their territory, their private space, their time when they didn't have to play "THE TEACHER." But here, instructors are happy to visit with students, make each other laugh, and relax more than in the classroom. Also, during club activities, teachers participate with students as much as they instruct them.
Probably the most unusual thing about Japanese school is cleaning time. There are no janitors. Instead, students clean the school, including getting rid of all the trash in the teachers' room. If teachers aren't busy and are nice, then they help.
So in short, I'm learning to play many roles that some American teachers wouldn't necessarily play. I'm learning to teach, but also how to teach in Japan. However, I doubt that my job is any more difficult than it would be in America...
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