An example of a matriculation ceremony in a Japanese school.
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It’s April, which means school entrance ceremonies are happening at schools all across Japan. In Japanese elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges, entrance ceremonies are an important rite of passage for new first-year students and a chance for everyone affiliated with the school to commemorate the beginning of a new school year. The ceremony also introduces students to their homeroom teacher, who will be an integral part of their educational experience for the coming year.
In a Saitama prefecture high school, the new year took a quick turn for the worse when students and parents began complaining about a first year homeroom teacher’s absence from the entrance ceremony, even though she missed it to attend her own son’s entrance ceremony at another school.
The following article indicates that this incident reflects a growing trend of teachers prioritizing their personal lives over their obligation to attend school ceremonies, although netizen responses are fairly split as to whether the teacher in question made the right choice. What do you think – does this teacher’s actions reflect a deterioration of educational ethics in Japan, or was it simply a parent choosing to support her son?
From Yahoo! Japan:
“Homeroom Teacher Attends Son’s School Entrance Ceremony… Misses Ceremony at Prefectural High School Where She Works, Receives Unprecedented Warning from Superintendent
On April 8, a female teacher in her 50s was absent from the school entrance ceremony at the prefectural high school in western Saitama where she works as a first year homeroom teacher in order to attend a similar ceremony at her son’s high school. Parents and guardians of the new students at her place of employment were disturbed to think that their children’s teacher might be prioritizing her son’s entrance ceremony over the children she teaches.
According to the Saitama Department of Education, among the prefecture’s public high schools three other homeroom teachers were absent from school entrance ceremonies at their schools, citing their own children’s entrance ceremonies as a reason when they applied for the time off.
At a meeting of the principals of the prefecture’s high schools on April 11, Saitama Prefectural Superintendent Sekine Ikuo said, “New students and their parents who noticed teachers’ absences have been expressing their concern and uneasiness.” In addition to reporting the facts, he issued an unprecedented “warning”: “I want you all to work attentively to create an organization where students can start their high school life with peace of mind.”
According to those present, when the principal was introducing homeroom teachers during the entrance ceremony, he explained the reason for the female teacher’s absence. It seems that the teacher in question wrote a statement in advance saying, “I apologize I wasn’t able to meet you all as your teacher on this important day of your entrance ceremony,” and on the day of the ceremony another teacher oversaw the students.
Prefectural Assembly member Eno Kouichi (Reform Party), who attended the entrance ceremony as a guest, stated indignantly, “The teacher lacks self-awareness and a sense of educational ethics. Didn’t she think of the feelings of the new students who would hear her reason for being absent? The managerial responsibility of the principal is also in question. “
The prefectural Department of Education says that they “encourage teachers to think about their priorities as educators before they act.”
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
al sindo :
You approved the paid time off, so you can’t really complain afterwards, and isn’t publicizing her reason for being absence an invasion of her privacy in the first place? Normally, you can’t ask the reason for an employee’s paid leave.
et6ur:
I don’t think this is something that should be criticized so much it becomes news, but…
mir***** :
Both are important!!
yub***** :
If she had a different job, she’d be able to take the time off. So shouldn’t she be able to take time off for this as things are? There are substitutes for homeroom teachers. There’s no substitute for a parent.
min*****:
” Parents and guardians of the new students at her place of employment were disturbed to think that their children’s teacher might be prioritizing her son’s entrance ceremony over the children she teaches. “
Isn’t that normal?
al sindo :
Then they’re saying that high schools shouldn’t have parents participate in entrance ceremonies. As long as you invite parents, that will inevitably include some parents who are also teachers.
サンサンサンチャン :
Is there a problem? I think vacation time is a natural right… If this is what the superintendent is like, I sympathize with the educational world of this prefecture.
den***** :
” when the principal was introducing homeroom teachers during the entrance ceremony, he explained the reason for the female teacher’s absence”
Is this principal stupid?
yes***** :
Is…is that bad?
kmr***** :
If it was me, I’d prioritize my job. A high school entrance ceremony isn’t something where we’d have to hold our child’s hand the whole way, and if it’s a high school student he should be able to understand his parent’s position.
az1***** :
I guess there weren’t aunts and uncles, grandparents, or family friends around. Didn’t she consult with her boss about it in advance? Couldn’t she work out a plan to be in charge of a class year that was different from her son’s?”
dko***** :
It’s not necessarily bad, but isn’t it common sense that you should prioritize your professional duty as a leader?
匿名 :
If it was an elementary school or middle school parent, where it’s necessary to accompany the child at that age, then she’d have no choice, but I’m not su sure about a first year high school teacher prioritizing her own son’s high school entrance ceremony. In my time ten years ago, parents didn’t come to high school entrance ceremonies like they do now. She should have had them pick a different homeroom teacher.
map***** :
Normally, would a son who’s becoming a high school student to want his high school teacher mother to use vacation time to abandon her official duty just to attend his own school entrance ceremony? If he thinks that, he certainly has a huge Oedipus complex w
mezzanine :
She should have adjusted her schedule before this happened. Is people’s awareness about the occupation of teaching diminishing? My parent was a teacher, and other than elementary school I never had her come to an entrance ceremony or a graduation ceremony, but that was normal, and I’m proud to have a parent who’s sincere about their job. I feel like people’s sense of responsibility about their jobs is getting weird.
ten***** :
Isn’t the problem the school’s managerial skills, since they couldn’t arrange the schedule in advance so that she wouldn’t have to balance these two things? And isn’t the stupid prefectural assembly member’s stupid blaming of an individual teacher a problem too? So, 笑
al sindo :
Is it really important for parents to go to their kid’s entrance ceremonies in the first place? Maybe for elementary school students, but if they’re going along through middle school, high school, and even college then they’re insane.
del***** :
If she wasn’t the first year students’ homeroom teacher, then it seems there wouldn’t be a problem. Also, paid vacation isn’t a natural right—isn’t it something you can receive from your company as long as it isn’t an obstacle to your professional duties?
non***** :
I understand how she feels, but it’s hard to think about the homeroom teacher being absent for any reason other than mourning or a sudden illness. I’m in my 30s, but I never had a homeroom teacher be absent from an entrance ceremony like this when I entered elementary school, middle school, or high school. There are a lot of people defending her, but I don’t think this is something that should be defended!
min***** :
The school’s human resources should have just not made her the homeroom teacher for the first years.
