1-2 About the job of a 'teacher': 3 things that were difficult as a homeroom teacher

Previously, I introduced the general duties of a 'teacher'.

This time, as the first part of what I found difficult after 10 years of being a teacher, I would like to write about 'homeroom teacher duties'.

1. What is a homeroom teacher?

It may not need explaining to those of you who have attended school, but generally, most high schools have classes, and in many cases, each class has a 'homeroom teacher' and an 'assistant homeroom teacher'.

When you become a homeroom teacher, in addition to regular classes and school administrative duties,

・Morning and afternoon homeroom sessions
・LHR (Long Homeroom)
・Individual interviews and three-way conferences
・Class decisions during school events
・Handling parents (including complaints, etc.)
・Procedures for student transfers and withdrawals

I suppose you could imagine these tasks being added. (I wrote about this in a previous article, didn't I?)

Out of the 10 years I have been a teacher, I have served as a homeroom teacher for 7 years. (One of those years was a special case where I became a homeroom teacher in the middle of the school year.)

2. Difficult thing #1: Increase in workload

As mentioned in 1., you can think of homeroom teacher duties as being 'added' on top of regular classes and such.

Of course, each class has an assistant homeroom teacher, and there are some tasks that can be delegated or handled through cooperation, but in most cases, the homeroom teacher ends up doing the majority of the work.

A clear example would be individual interviews with students or three-way conferences.

If you conduct interviews as a pair with the assistant homeroom teacher, the time required would be halved, but I have never heard of 'sharing three-way conferences between the homeroom teacher and the assistant'.

In addition, because there are many tasks that the homeroom teacher inevitably has to shoulder alone, such as class decisions for events and dealing with parents, the structure becomes 'homeroom teacher = heavy workload,' which is why there are few applicants for the position in most schools.

3. Difficult thing #2: Interpersonal relationships between students

Following on from the content in 2., the problem that tends to cause the most headaches when being a homeroom teacher is trouble between students.

I currently work at a public high school in the metropolitan area, and even when they become high school students, these interpersonal troubles still happen.

Squabbles between female students, violence or fights between male students (though rare), and what is currently the most difficult to deal with is trouble between students on social media.

As each social media platform has become more convenient and multifunctional, problems occur in places we cannot see, and in most cases, by the time it comes to our attention, it is already out of control.

There are not a few cases where students quit school due to interpersonal trouble that started on social media. (This may depend on the school, though.)

Since I am dealing with 35 to 40 students all at once, it is impossible to keep track of every student's behavior, and when troubles arise from interpersonal relationships, I have to spend a lot of time interviewing both parties and dealing with their parents.

4. Difficult thing #3: Troubles with parents

This is also one of the tasks that homeroom teachers often have to bear.

Even though we intend to deal with students sincerely, there are times when we receive complaints from parents.

Of course, there are many cases where we are at fault.

Sometimes we receive calls because we are overworked and our response to students becomes neglectful, or we fail to communicate properly with students, so in those cases, we take the complaints seriously and respond appropriately.

However, rarely, there are some contents that make me think '???'.

I won't go into specific details, but there are cases where the demands are clearly out of the ordinary, and in the worst cases, I have even been intimidated over the phone. (There were some instances where I thought I should record the call and report the damage...)

As a homeroom teacher, I sometimes have to spend a lot of time dealing with troubles with parents.

5. Extra edition: There were also many good things

Up to this point, I have only focused on the negative aspects of being a homeroom teacher, but of course, there are many things that I am glad I did.

To name a few, they might be the following:

・Being able to witness students' growth up close
・Easier to receive 'thank you's
・Being able to share joy at events, etc.
・Being able to be present at graduation from the closest position

Especially regarding the last point, 'being able to be present at graduation from the closest position,' I think it is one of the real thrills of being a homeroom teacher, or rather, the job of a teacher.

The more difficult the experience, the happier I feel when students graduate. If someone calls it 'exploitation of passion,' so be it, but I think this emotion is one of the reasons why I have been able to continue being a teacher for the past 10 years.

6. Summary

As we have seen so far, honestly, there are many difficult aspects to the work of a homeroom teacher.

However, I believe the real thrill of being a teacher lies in being a homeroom teacher.

I think schools would become better if the workload of homeroom teachers was reduced more than it is now and more teachers felt like they 'want to be a homeroom teacher,' but the current situation makes that quite difficult.

I hope that this article helps you feel the difficulties of being a homeroom teacher as well as its rewards.

Thank you for reading this far.