Comprehensive Student Guidance, “School as a Team,” and Partnerships with Families and Communities

While issues related to student guidance in schools, such as bullying and school absenteeism, are on the rise, attention is being drawn to the harsh working environment of teachers. Comprehensive student guidance has the potential to improve such situations and further deepen ties with families and the community

• Today's school environment
• Increasingly busy teachers and the "school as a team"
• Points to note for team schools
• Comprehensive student guidance initiatives
• Multi-Level Approach (MLA) Program
• Cooperation with parents and local residents is important
• The concept of collaboration in the United States
• Regional Cooperation and MLA
• A starting point for understanding and trust

Today's school environment

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition that student guidance issues among schoolchildren are becoming increasingly serious. First, bullying is generally on the rise in both elementary and junior high schools. Although it decreased temporarily around 2020 due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been increasing again since around 2022. Similarly, the rate of school absenteeism has been increasing in both elementary and junior high schools since around 2017, and since around 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to even more students being absent from school (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2023a).

Meanwhile, the "overwork" of teachers dealing with these student guidance issues has also been pointed out. With the increasing diversity and unpredictability of educational activities, the traditional approach of teachers individually addressing each student with problems is reaching its limits.

First, let's examine the reality of long working hours. According to the "Teacher Workload Survey (FY2022)" published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the total time spent at school and working at home on weekdays for regular teachers in FY2022 was 11 hours and 23 minutes for elementary school teachers and 11 hours and 33 minutes for junior high school teachers. On weekends, it was 1 hour and 12 minutes for elementary school teachers and 3 hours and 7 minutes for junior high school teachers (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2023b). Considering that the statutory working hours for general workers as defined by the Labor Standards Act are 8 hours, teachers' working hours are by no means short.

Source: Created by the author based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Survey on Teacher Work Conditions (2022)"

Increasingly busy teachers and the "school as a team"

Furthermore, it is said that the mental burden on teachers is also increasing. Yoshioka (2020) categorizes the factors contributing to the recent increase in the workload of teachers into three elements: ① "due to changes in children, parents, and society," ② "derived from the teachers themselves," and ③ "derived from administrative policies and measures by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,

Science and Technology and boards of education." To summarize the specific content of each element, ① refers to the decline in the educational capacity of families and communities, and the decline in social capital in families and communities, which is the source of that capacity, and the resulting increase in social pressure on schools, which are the last line of defense. ② refers to the decline in collegiality among teachers due to changes in lifestyles that place more emphasis on individual lives, and the difficulty of supporting each other's growth due to the decrease in mid-career teachers who form the core of school operations. ③ refers to the fact that teachers' work is already bound by fixed and unchangeable schedules such as class timetables and meetings, yet new tasks are added by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and boards of education as part of "educational reform," making it impossible for them to cope with the workload.

Yoshioka (2020) states that these factors "create a vague sense of anxiety, burden, and stagnation regarding never-ending work, and lead to feelings of isolation and pressure in relationships with students and parents, which in turn leads to feelings of futility and helplessness." As a result, there has been an increase in teachers suffering from burnout and mental illness (Yoshioka 2020).

Source: Created by the author based on Yoshioka (2020)

Given the circumstances described above, discussions have begun on the shift to a "school as a team." This concept was put forward in a 2015 report by the Central Council for Education entitled "On the Role of Schools as Teams and Future Improvement Measures." The report proposes that the conflicting issues of the increasingly difficult, complex, and diverse challenges facing schools, combined with the increasing workload of teachers who must deal with these challenges, be resolved by encouraging the entry of other professionals into schools. This also calls for a change in the traditional view of schools, in which all school activities are carried out solely by teachers

Points to note for team schools

However, simply having experts from other fields permanently stationed in schools does not automatically reduce the burden on teachers or improve the school's functionality. It has been pointed out that for other professionals, such as school social workers, to function effectively in schools, a process of mutual understanding of each other's expertise is necessary between them and the teaching staff.

For example, Suzuki, Harada, Ida, and Ito (2019) state that school social workers need to be "clearly positioned as quasi-staff members of the school" and "have clear guidelines regarding the composition, purpose, and form of activities of case conferences." Kurihara (2017c) also states that it is important to have a management perspective that is knowledgeable in psychology and welfare, while being centered on education, and that a team-based school cannot function properly unless teachers are positioned at the core of the team. In other words

, the teaching staff is required to have the attitude and skills to accept other professionals while acknowledging their differences, and to think about the same problems while being based on their own expertise in education. This means that they are required to acquire new expertise for the sake of collaboration itself.

Comprehensive student guidance initiatives

Considering the environment teachers face, as described above, it can be said that schools in the future will need to simultaneously address challenges in student guidance, improve teachers' time- and mentally demanding working conditions, and foster effective collaboration with professionals from other fields such as social work.

This is where the Japanese version of the Comprehensive Student Guidance Program (Multilevel Approach, hereafter MLA) comes into play. MLA was developed by a research group led by Professor Shinji Kurihara of Hiroshima University. It is based on the "comprehensive approach" to educational counseling and student guidance that has been implemented overseas, including in the United States. It aims for holistic growth for all students, based on psychological and social development, with an eye on academic and career development (Kurihara 2017a).

At the same time, a systematized training system is in place to enhance the capabilities of individual teachers, fostering the skills necessary to cooperate with colleagues with a clear vision for student guidance.

Source: Created by the author based on Yamazaki (2019)

Yamazaki (2019) summarizes student guidance practices at MLA as follows: Student guidance at MLA is divided into three tiers based on purpose: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary student guidance targets all children and aims to "develop the ability to do things on their own." Secondary student guidance targets all children and aims to "develop the ability for friends to support each other." Tertiary student guidance targets a select group of children with greater support needs, with "teachers and other experts playing a central role in providing support." The program has a strong preventative approach, enhancing both primary and secondary student guidance efforts to minimize the need for tertiary student guidance

Multi-Level Approach (MLA) Program

Furthermore, MLA has four basic programs that focus on developing the classroom group (Yamazaki 2019). Primarily conducted as primary student guidance, there is "Social and Emotional Learning" (SEL), which focuses on the growth of individuals' social qualities and behavioral abilities. Next, mainly as secondary student guidance, there are "Collaborative Learning" and "Peer Support," which utilize the power of children's connections and focus on the growth of the group. And, conducted from primary to tertiary student guidance, there is PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support), which aims to help children acquire value-based behaviors through interventions for positive behavior.

Teachers who participate in MLA training will experience these programs themselves. In order to acquire the skills necessary for practicing collaborative learning, SEL, and peer support, the training includes not only lectures but also exercises, discussions, and reflections. "The training is a place for collaborative learning, a place for SEL where awareness is deepened and skills are learned together, and a place for peer support where each person's experience is supported" (Kurihara 2017b). Through training, the teaching staff will be able to embody "teamwork" consisting of three elements: "emotional connection," "sharing of ideals, goals, and policies," and "division of roles" (ibid.).

Furthermore, the training has several levels and is conducted not only for classroom initiatives but also for the development of teachers who will take on leadership roles within the school. Mid-career teachers, such as lead teachers, are being trained as middle leaders with an educational counseling perspective, so that they can observe the state of children as teachers and connect them with other professionals or organizations at the appropriate time. Such middle leaders "weave networks on a daily basis, continuously gather information, and seek the timing and appropriate support methods" (Ohata 2017).

In this way, MLA is designed to improve student guidance skills and restore the weakened collegiality of the teaching staff, which is a factor in increased workload and a requirement for a team-oriented school. In this respect, it is an initiative that is well suited to the modern school environment.

Collaboration with parents and local residentsis important.

When attempting to fundamentally resolve issues related to student guidance, collaboration with parents and the community is a crucial theme. This is because it is necessary to ensure consistency in the educational messages that children receive between the school and the home/community.

Therefore, it is important to consider how to foster collaboration and the mutual trust that acts as its lubricant. According to Tsuguchi (2012), whether or not schools regularly provide information on their efforts and achievements regarding the learning environment, teachers' instructional abilities, and school improvements influences parents' positive evaluations of the school. At the same time, they found that parents' participation in networks among other parents and networks of diverse people in the community is related to their tendency to trust the school (Tsuguchi 2012). From this, it can be seen that the best approach is for schools to share their activities with parents and to support the formation of parent networks in some way.

The concept of collaboration in the United States

So, how does parental involvement in school education deepen? In the United States, where collaboration between schools, parents, and the community is strong, it is believed that parental involvement deepens through the following four stages (Stefanski et al., 2016).

The first stage is "collaboration with families and organizations." This is the most basic form, and the focus is primarily on making it easier for students and their families to access not only educational services, but also health and social services.

The second stage is "schools providing comprehensive services." While maintaining access to basic services in the first stage, parents begin to participate in school events and become involved as volunteers.

The third stage is "community schools providing comprehensive services." Decision-making in school management becomes more democratic, and parents and community members are seen as equal participants.

And the fourth stage is "community development." "Schools become not just places for the intellectual growth of adults and children and for the provision of social services by organizations, but also places where parents and community members discuss and address local issues."

Through these steps, collaboration between schools, parents, and the community will progress.

Source: Created by the author based on Stefanski et al. (2016)

Regional Cooperation and MLA

A comprehensive approach like MLA can be a good starting point for collaboration with parents and the community.

Soja City in Okayama Prefecture has been implementing a project called "Creating a School Everyone Wants to Attend," which incorporates MLA, since 2010, and has achieved great results. At the start of the program, the rate of truancy in junior high schools in Soja City was 3.63%, but it has decreased to 1.63% by 2016 (Soja City website). In addition, the number of junior high school students arrested or taken into custody by the police decreased from 205 in 2009 to 7 in 2015.

In this project, PBIS has served as a catalyst for parents and the community to become involved in school education. PBIS aims to instill value-based behaviors in children, but what constitutes a value-based behavior is determined in consultation with parents and the community. In Soja City, when deciding on the values ​​to teach children, a survey was conducted among approximately 8,000 parents of all children attending kindergarten, nursery school, elementary school, and junior high school. Based on this, a committee consisting of parents, the Chamber of Commerce, the police, the chief child welfare officer, and experts reviewed the matter and decided on the value items (Soja City Board of Education, 2015). The values ​​thus decided were made known to local residents, and residents were encouraged to praise children when they witnessed them practicing value-based behavior in the community and to actively inform the schools (ibid.). It is said that the system has been well-received by local residents.

A starting point for understanding and trust

The Soja City initiative does not place a heavy burden on parents or local residents, and is thought to be an opportunity to deepen understanding of the school's initiatives. In this sense, MLA has the potential to be a starting point for mutual trust

Source: Created by the author

Comprehensive approaches such as MLA, by aiming to improve student guidance, make it easier for schools/teachers and parents/communities to share a common goal. Furthermore, the relationship is not one-sided, with one party providing support and the other receiving, but rather a relationship of equals working together to improve student guidance, which has the potential to develop into future collaboration.

When considering future collaboration between families, schools, and communities, it is extremely important to refine discussions based on comprehensive approaches such as MLA.

(Revised and expanded version of the article in the February 2024 issue of EN-ICHI FORUM)

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