Discover the team homeroom teacher system, a new approach reshaping Japanese schools. This system aims to lighten teachers’ loads while boosting student support and interaction. We will explore its introduction, benefits, and challenges, offering insights into this transformative educational shift.
What’s a team homeroom teacher system ?
Japanese schools, including elementary, junior, and high schools, traditionally follow a system of classroom teachers, where one teacher is responsible for the management of one class.
Some schools have begun to introduce a team homeroom system, because this existing traditional system places a heavy burden on one teacher.
Team homeroom teacher system means that instead of only one teacher managing one class, three to five teachers (depending on the number of classes) rotate responsibilities weekly.
Let’s take a look at some examples of schools that have adopted a team homeroom system.
Examples of team homerooms teacher system
Under the Kobe City Board of Education’s system, teams are responsible for overall classroom management, overseeing both classes and student guidance.
Homeroom teachers change on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis, depending on the circumstances of each school. Each teacher will ideally have a “no homeroom day”, and one of the goals is to equalize the workload among teachers and reduce overall stress.
While in some ordinary-designated cities, there are examples of schools independently implementing similar measures. Notably, Kobe city became the first to have the Board of Education take the lead in providing guidelines for such initiatives. In the academic year 2024, nine schools will serve as model schools and the initiative is underway.
Other municipalities in Japan, such as Suginami Ward in Tokyo and Kyoto City, have also begun introducing the system in some schools.
What’s the purpose of the team homeroom teacher system?
There are mainly 3 purposes of the team homeroom teacher system.
1.Increase opportunities for teachers to interact with students from multiple perspectives and to notice changes in students.
2.Teachers will help students develop their diverse abilities, leading to their healthy growth through activities and conversations with many teachers.
3.Teachers work together and complement each other to improve instructional and organizational skills.
Pros and Cons of the team homeroom teacher system
Pros
- Easier to notice changes in children and their friendships
Involvement of several teachers allows you to see the children without preconceptions - Better relationships between teachers and children can be established
By introducing a team homeroom teacher system, students are able to interact with different teachers. - Learn about different ways of thinking and human nature
The team homeroom teacher system will allow students to interact with a variety of adults on a daily basis, which will help them to realize that people think differently and this will deepen their human perspectives. - Leading to a change in the way teachers work
It has been difficult for teachers who have to leave early for family reasons or who have difficulty coming to work early to manage their homerooms. However, it may be possible to compensate for this by measures such as staggered work schedules to address these challenges. - Teachers learn from each other
Teachers can watch each other work and learn from each other’s strengths.
Cons
- It’s not clear who the homeroom teacher is.
Rotating homeroom teachers may make it difficult for students to know exactly whom they have to talk to. - Time-consuming to share information among teachers
If the exchange of information among teachers doesn’t go well, it may adversely affect the students.
Summary
This article discusses the implementation of the new homeroom teacher system. Some schools have already started to adopt this system. There are both pros and cons that this system comes with. Therefore, it is important to share information among teachers and foster collaboration and cooperation, to effectively navigate with this new approach.
For those who want to know more about Japanese education
Shin Edupower provides programs that enable online exchange and collaboration between schools in India and Japan, as well as study tours to Japan for educators and students. If you would like to know more about education in Japan, please feel free to contact us here.
Last Updated on 2025-02-21
