Abstract:

This study explores the effective training of teachers and childcare workers through interventions related to collaborations in Japanese educational settings. In recent years, the working conditions of Japanese schoolteachers have been severe, with elementary and junior high school teachers’ working hours exceeding acceptable levels. Consequently, the number of truant students in these schools has reached an all-time high, and pre-university students suicide rates remain alarmingly high. Thus, improving teachers’ professional skills in addressing children’s mental health in educational settings has become an urgent priority. Specifically, this study examines case studies of interventions aimed at enhancing of teachers’ and childcare workers’ skills in managing children’s mental health and proposes an alternative approach to teacher training. The authors recommend introducing the “Solution-Focused Team Meeting Method” (SFTMM) into educational counseling case conferences to improve educators’ skills in handling children’s mental health. Setsuko Sato developed the Solution-Focused Team Meeting Method based on her expertise in facilitation and solution-focused counseling approaches. Case 1 describes a training course for teachers of an adaptive guidance Class X aimed at improving their skills in dealing with truant children, along with the subsequent transformation process for both the teachers and children. The training consisted of three parts: a “pre-interview,” a “listening skills seminar,” and a session of case studies using the SFTMM. Case 2 uses this method to support childcare workers in responding to their children. In the analysis, the school counselor in charge of the intervention reviewed the process and examined the verbalized data from a managerial perspective. The results indicated that Case 1 positively impacts the participants’ communication skills and on the children’s use of the facility. In particular, self-affirmation was obtained through acceptance in the pre-interview and the listening skills course. In the SFTMM, spontaneous comments on difficult cases, role sharing, decision-making regarding solutions, and improvement in work efficiency were confirmed. In the month following the training, the number of instruction hours for children doubled per hour and continued to increase. In Case 2, the SFTMM reduced the children's problem behaviors by setting goals, sharing information, determining appropriate solutions, and implementing them. However, there was a case in which childcare workers were obedient to the chain of command of their superiors and unable to express their own opinions. This indicates that the key issue is to increase the sense of acceptance and to create a relationship in which it is easy to express one's views before the implementation of the SFTMM. In conclusion, the SFTMM training is expected to improve the expertise of both teachers and childcare workers in improving children's mental health. There is no academic precedent for training in adaptive guidance classrooms. Hence, this case study can be seen as a practical contribution to improving children's mental health. However, in both cases, a sense of acceptance by the members was essential prior to their comments. Therefore, to enhance the effectiveness of SFTMM training, it may be necessary to consider the structure of the training (e.g., conducting interviews or interactive exercises in advance) to gain the members' acceptance.

Keywords:

Teacher training, truancy, solution-focused team meeting method, educational counseling case meetings, early childhood education.