japane teacher教师

AComparisonofAmericanandJapaneSeniorHighSchoolsHomer

ooms,HomeroomTeachers,andtheSenofa“HomeBa”forStud

ents

Summary

Thepurpoofthisarticleistocompareandcontrastthe

roleofthehomeroominAmericanandJapaneniorhigh

dprimarilyonmymanyyearsofteachingin

contentionthat

thedifferencesbetweenthetwoaresosignificantandso

primarydifferenceisthatinJapan，homeroomistakenalmost

literallyasa“homeba”orevenakindof“homeawayfrom

home”inawaythatissimplynotthecaformostAmerican

icanhighschools，theroleofa“homeba”

isfilledbytheprenceofstudentlockersandthearea

i，themainrole

ofhomeroomismostlytohaveaconvenientandacceptable

placetocheckstudentattendanceandforstudentstolistento

announcementsovertheschool’sintercommunications

usprimarilyanadministrativeconveniencerather

thanamajoreducationalorsocialinstitution.

InthefollowingarticleIshallexaminewhatisreferredto

asthehomeroominbothAmericanandJapaneniorhigh

purpoistohighlighttheoftenstriking

differencesinboththeconceptandeverydayrealityofthe

homeroomandhowthedifferencesplaythemlvesoutin

beginning

thistaskaquickwordofexplanationabouttheformofthis

uslyIhavewrittenveralarticlesthat

relieduponextensiveuofcondaryaswellasprimary

hissayIhaveresistedthisimpulinorderto

relymostlyonmyownprimaryrearch，namely，myown

experiencesinbothAmericanandJapanehighschools，first

rearcherinterestedinthecoreliteratureonthistopicshould

consultthevarioussourceslistedintheReferencesction

includedattheendofthissay.

AnAmericanhomeroomteacher’sprimaryresponsibility

istoensuretwothings：one，thatstudentsarriveatschoolon

timeinthemorning，andtwo，thatthenumberofstudent

retheteacher’stwo

tiontothis，theteachershould

alsoensurethatstudentscometoschoolproperlydresd，that

theyareingoodhealth，andthattheyaregenerallyprepared

forthatday’r，otherthantheformalduties，

homeroomteachersarefairlylimitedintheirformalrolesand

llyspeaking，modernpublicandprivate

Americanhighschoolshireanarrayofspecialistswhoareready

example，ifahomeroomteachernoticesthatastudentisupt

orcryingexcessively，heorshemaytrytocomfortoradvi

r，iftheproblempersists，thatsame

homeroomteacherwillsimplyreferthatstudenttotheschool

hool，aprofessionalpsychologistwas

ychologisthelda

doctorateinadolescentpsychologyandwasveryexperienced

inadvisingandcounlingtroubledteenagestudents.

Thesamesituationexistedintermsofolderstudentswhowere

eroom

teachermighttrytogivesomeinformaladvicebadonhisor

herowncollegiateexperiences，buttheteacherwould

ultimatelyrefersuchastudenttotheschool’sfull-time

counlorhadanofficetohimlfandcouldgivestudents

plentyofinformationaboutcollegesanduniversities，including

informationthatthestudent’shomeroomteachersimply

student

ishavingriousproblemsintermsofdiscipline，abnces，or

lateness，thechancesarethatthehomeroomteacherwould

simplyreferthestudenttotheadministratorresponsiblefor

.H.，thispersonwouldbe

eitherthedeanofstudentsorthevice-principal.

Ihopethatmydiscussionoftheroleofhomeroomsand

homeroomteachersinAmericanandJapaneniorhigh

tendedforprofessional

rearchers，teachersabroadwhoareinterestedinteachingin

Japan，aswellaspeoplewithageneralinterestinthetopicof

comparativeeducation.

References：

[1]Baris-Sanders，Marcia.“CooperativeEducation：

LessonsfromJapan.”PhiDeltaKappan78.8（April1997）.

[2]Eracey，GeraldW.“AsianandAmericanSchoolsAgain.”

PhiDeltaKappan77.9（May1996）.

[3]Cummings，n’s‘International

Youth’：TheEmergenceofaNewClassofSchoolChildren，by

anJournalofSociology97.6（May

1992）.