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"However, this isn’t just a matter of the teacher being overworked. It seems that the after-school clubs and advisory system is also negatively affecting her ability to teach. Mayuko writes, “I can’t do lesson research on the weekend, but for classes on Mondays, I still have to keep things going. I’m always thinking up lessons on the spot.”

From the quote above explains and provides evidence that teachers are overwhelmed by the number of hours that teachers spend every day and some are considering to change careers because of the extra hours that teachers spend supervising children in club activities

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lifestyle

49 Comments

By Preston Phro

Japan has a reputation for overworking its employees, though it's hardly the only country. But when it comes to education, you'd expect Japanese teachers, whose students often score among the top in the world on standardized tests, to be solely focused on their classroom materials. But you might be wrong!

One public middle school teacher has recently gotten a ton of attention online for a blog post about her impossible-to-manage duties as a "club leader" and her desire to actually change occupations due to the intense schedule. Read about her experience and the intense reactions below.

The teacher, who goes by the pseudonym Mayuko, has dedicated her entire blog, titled "The public junior high school after-school club advisory system is definitely illegal!!", to things she finds wrong or absurd about Japan's "advisory system." The advisory system is basically the way that Japanese schools take care of oversight of after-school clubs, ranging from sports to cultural activities like tea ceremony or English.

Now, obviously Mayuko is strongly against the current system, so we wouldn't recommend taking her views without a few grains of salt - but anyone who has worked in a public school in Japan can tell you that the teachers tend to be overworked and underpaid.

In her post, titled "I'm going to quit being a junior high school teacher," Mayuko begins by explaining that she's been a teacher for six years. Apparently, the entire time she's been thinking about issues related to the after-school programs and how it affects her life and the lives of other teachers.

For example, she points out that even though, Monday through Friday, she's working hard - including lengthy overtime preparing for class and helping her club members - she still has to come in on the weekend for more work. Obviously, she has no time to take a moment to relax or run errands.

However, this isn't just a matter of the teacher being overworked. It seems that the after-school clubs and advisory system is also negatively affecting her ability to teach. Mayuko writes, "I can't do lesson research on the weekend, but for classes on Mondays, I still have to keep things going. I'm always thinking up lessons on the spot."

The middle school teacher also explains the psychological toll her job is taking, saying that since she's always in front of the student's she's always in teacher mode. And once a teacher becomes an adviser for a club, it becomes an obligation and that teacher is always in contact with parents as the "club teacher." Even worse is that she says she has no one to consult with, like an elder teacher or someone in a management role

Finally, Mayuko explains that she plans to quit teaching junior high school in one year and then move to another prefecture to become an elementary school teacher. "What I want to do is teach children. But I cannot accept the current after-school club advisory system for middle schools," the frustrated teacher writes.

Obviously, there are a lot of people with a wide variety of strong reactions to Mayuko's post! Here's a sample of what we found both on her blog and elsewhere on the web.

First, a ton of other teachers commented on Mayuko's blog, showing support for the beleaguered educator. Many of them seemed to completely agree with her and shared her misery. One teacher posted anonymously, saying that the time spent on after-school activities got in the way of her marriage.

Another poster pointed out that teachers are also expected to do all of this overtime work without overtime pay. Mayuko responded to the comment adding that they're forced to work overtime without getting paid because it's "for the children."

One health and physical education teacher added her support, saying that every single thing Mayuko had written left the teacher nodding in agreement. The physical education teacher explained, saying, "I didn't become a teacher for the after-school clubs, but get kids to exercise and have fun in class...to help them deepen their understanding of health."

On the other hand, a lot of commenters seemed almost angry with Mayuko. For example, someone posting under the name Maaku wrote:

"To be blunt, you're not suited to being a school teacher. I feel bad for your students. You shouldn't wait until next year to quit your job. Being able to handle both classes and after-school clubs - that's just natural in this world. Saying you can't handle your classes because of the clubs is nothing more than an excuse.

"And you want to change to an elementary school since they don't have any after-school clubs? Recently, elementary schools have started having clubs too. And the work is really difficult. Since the teachers don't have a specialization, the preparation for classes isn't even comparable to middle school. If you just want to teach, go work at a prep school. I feel bad for your kids, your students."

Another poster, calling him- or herself "elementary school" simply wrote:

"Don't make light of elementary schools!"

The blog post has taken on a life of its own, getting attention around the web. Rakuten's Social News site, which lets users vote on whether or not they agree with certain topics, even took up the issue. Though voting hasn't closed yet, the comments also showed a diversity of opinions.

One user, going by the name YUHYUH, wrote the following:

"I think teachers with no motivation are just poison for society. If you put a rotten mikan orange in a box of mikan oranges, it'll make them all go bad, and if she were just a regular office employee it'd be bad enough, but all the dozens of students that are taught by her might also have their futures ruined. I wouldn't want someone like that taking up the teacher's cane. To leave someone like her in charge of elementary school students? I would have nothing but eternal doubts."

In response to YUHYUH, another user, going by the name Aomidori Yasa, wrote:

"Even so, normalizing overtime work (overtime work that teachers don't get paid for...apparently) is the problem. I want the teachers to work on improving their relationships and discussing with each other and the students how to improve the system. But, well, if you think about what this teacher is looking for, it seems like a prep school or cram school would be better for her. I think she'd be better off looking for that kind of job than trying to get a job teaching in an elementary school."

This is obviously just a very small sampling of all the reactions to Mayuko's blog post. We're sure that there are some teachers in Japan who would agree with Mayuko - and probably plenty who would disagree as well.
Sources: Bukatsu1234 (Mayuko's blog), Rakuten Social News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Teacher hides touching message to departing students in final test -- Japanese Teacher Suspended for Hugging Students While Singing to Them -- Care for a cream puff? Osaka elementary school teachers allegedly serial drugged by colleague

© RocketNews24

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Is Japan overworking its teachers? One exhausted educator says, 'YES!'

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Japan has a reputation for overworking its employees, though it's hardly the only country. But when it comes to education, you'd expect Japanese teachers, whose students often score among the top in the world on standardized tests, to be solely focused on their classroom materials. But you might be wrong!...

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Japanese Students

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/12/21/editorials/students-neglect-physical-exercise/#.WETTQKJ94dU
Australian Students

http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737419259

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Japanese Students

Australian Students

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Vocabulary that I could use in my detailed study

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Vocabulary that I could use in my detailed study

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- クラブ活動 (くらぶ かつどう): club activities
- 課外活動（かがい かつどう): extracurricular activities
- 帰宅部 (きたくぶ): go home club; elaborate in the oral

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PDF: Hard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students to Learn (for Japanese schools)

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PDF: Hard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students to Learn (for Japanese schools)

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http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/work.expectations.k12.4.html

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Graph that illustrates the number of students/children that participate in extracurricular activities, depending on where the children live

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Graph that illustrates the number of students/children that participate in extracurricular activities, depending on where the children live

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https://aifs.gov.au/publications/families-regional-rural-and-remote-australia

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IDLgM2TQ1qoXhuDcaYoNRgvWmuuOsyUZjKNMlJg_i_g/edit
Student's Opinions
- Students choose club activities that they are already familiar with from junior and middle schools
- Students did also choose club activities because their parents did that club activity when they were students
- Students often say that participating in club activities makes them very tired, as they don't have enough time to sleep (as well as study)
- A student who was surveyed also thought that the club activities fee is expensive
- Students do like club activities because they can make many lasting memories with their friends
- From the students' perspectives, teachers (in club activities) help students improve on their strengths and weaknesses, and also help students maintain a healthy lifestyle (ie. setting students training diets/menus)
- From the students' perspectives, teachers also spend money on equipment that gets used in club activities (especially sport club activities)
- From the students' perspectives, sometimes the coaches/teachers don't attend the club activity but they are always there to show the students new strategies
- From a student's perspective, the coach watches the students train but doesn't help students
Teacher's Opinions
- Teachers get given higher wages when teachers work on the weekends
- Teachers also get provided allowances in order to pay for equipment and hire professional coaches/teachers
- Teachers have different wages depending on what club activity the teachers supervise. So in Ritsumeikan Senior High School, teachers get paid more if they supervise sport club activities because sport club activities have a higher demand
- Teachers in Ritsumeikan High School do their best to make sure that students learn, grow, improve and achieve in their club activities because they love seeing students learn and grow

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Australian Schools
https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/knowledge_base/sport_participation/community_participation/sport_participation_in_australia

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Student Engagement in different types of extracurricular activities in Australia

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Student Engagement in different types of extracurricular activities in Australia

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http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=lsay_research

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxdvDGQbE2Q

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Proportion of students involved in each club activity

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Proportion of students involved in each club activity

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Japanese Schools
http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/13club.htm
From this pie chart, it has shown that approximately 2/5 Japanese high school students in 2000 don't actually participate in club activities. This could be because of a variety of factors such as needing more time to study and laziness. Although there is a club that students would want to be in if they are particularly lazy. This is called the 'Go Home Club'.

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Japanese Schools
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gJ5YCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT210&lpg=PT210&dq=participation+rate+of+club+activities+in+japan&source=bl&ots=epjhEsHAfX&sig=VJva-mENC2zffV7SiApVVeeWO6c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib446CotDQAhWGsJQKHRkWD4gQ6AEIIjAC#v=onepage&q=participation%20rate%20of%20club%20activities%20in%20japan&f=false

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https://www.oecd.org/japan/46581091.pdf
Explains the pros and cons of the Japanese school curriculum

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Students opinions on extracurricular activities

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Students opinions on extracurricular activities

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Japanese Schools

Australian Schools
Students doing extracurricular activities is a great way to balance study with other activities. Although it can be somewhat stressful, especially if students are doing a lot of extracurricular activities, some students make timetables of their week, to see when to do extracurricular activities and when to study/do homework. Participating in extracurricular activities also helps students do something other than games/procrastination. Participating in these extracurricular activities also helps develop skills for the future (such as social skills) and is something positive to put in a resume to convince directors/managers/bosses that you are worthy for to have a job.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-01/diary-of-a-high-schooler:-inside-australia's-secondary-schools/7210552?pfmredir=sm
https://musicaustralia.org.au/2016/04/extracurricular-music-may-be-more-beneficial-than-classroom-music/

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Teacher's opinions on extracurricular activites

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Teacher's opinions on extracurricular activites

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Japanese Schools
Although teachers understand that extracurricular activities are important for students, the teachers in Japan have always complained that they have been overworked, because teachers do not get paid to supervise students during club activities (and their work/supervision is classified as 'voluntary work'). Teachers in Japanese schools have also complained that they don't have much personal time/time for themselves, especially with Saturday as a school day, because of a number of time teachers spend in schools and for students
https://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japan-considers-6-day-school-week-teachers-not-enthusiastic
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/07/reference/overworked-teachers-call-change-extracurricular-supervision-takes-toll/#.WD35GqJ96u4
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjE09-7lNTQAhUGk5QKHUPFAh8QjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nippon.com%2Fen%2Fcurrents%2Fd00227%2F&psig=AFQjCNEDCpYj6Fi_6GObIrq8VxR0gs-i8w&ust=1480721733061208 (image's source)
Australian Schools
By students participating in extracurricular activities, students are able to not always concentrate on studying considering the amount of homework that students do every day. By hiring teachers that have an expertise in a type of extracurricular activity (such as music and sport teachers), students get to develop more skills and always ask for help when students are stuck.

Use graph for Japanese oral exam; this can evoke the question: Why do so many Japanese students and teachers think it is a good idea to engage in club activities for this many hours?

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https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gAKQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT124&lpg=PT124&dq=is+club+activities+in+japan+useful+for+the+future&source=bl&ots=0jgrSoUkCV&sig=osAtUX7oHPbxLnEvqn2lTrdjzNw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFpMqYsM3QAhUKn5QKHQG5DFcQ6AEIRTAH#v=onepage&q=is%20club%20activities%20in%20japan%20useful%20for%20the%20future&f=false

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Reasons for having club activities/extracurricular activites in Japanese and Australian schools

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Reasons for having club activities/extracurricular activites in Japanese and Australian schools

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Australian Schools:
- To engage students in activities (because students in Australia are not engaged with school classes/work) and think positively about school, as well as not think about studying
- Teaches life skills
- Develops a person's social skills
- Good for the student's health (sport)
https://musicaustralia.org.au/2016/04/extracurricular-music-may-be-more-beneficial-than-classroom-music/
https://www.acer.edu.au/about-us/media/media-releases/participation-in-extracurricular-activities-important-for-students
https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/benefits-of-extracurricular-activities
Japanese Schools:
- To improve one's social skills
- To improve a student's confidence in particular activities
- Good for the student's health (sport)
- Develops a creativity mindset in students
https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-schools-vs-american-schools/

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Average amount of hours students spend for extracurricular/club activities

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Average amount of hours students spend for extracurricular/club activities

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Australian students: 4 hours/week (average)
https://www.acer.edu.au/ausse/findings-from-the-ausse
Japanese students: 2-3 hours/day; maximum 21 hours/week (average)
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/SumItUp/chapter4.html

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Types of Australian extra curricular activites

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Types of Australian extra curricular activites

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Performing Arts (Music and Drama)
Music: Participation in Bands, Music Lessons
Drama: Participation in musicals and classes/electives
Sports
Examples: Baseball/Softball, Badminton, Squash, Touch Rugby, Cricket, Tennis, Swimming, etc.
Other
Debating and Community Service

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Sports
Examples: Baseball/Softball, Judo, Kendo, Track and Field sports, Tennis, Swimming, Volleyball, Rugby
Culture
Examples: English, Calligraphy, Broadcasting, Science, Maths and Yearbook, Music, Tea Ceremony, Drama
http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/daily_life_in_japanese_high_schools
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/april/clubact.html

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How do compulsory club activities in Japan are more beneficial to students compared to the optional extracurricular activities in Australia? And what do students and teachers ACTUALLY think about having longer extra curricular activities?

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How do compulsory club activities in Japan are more beneficial to students compared to the optional extracurricular activities in Australia? And what do students and teachers ACTUALLY think about having longer extra curricular activities?