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The compensation package for teachers includes salaries, bonuses, allowances, and benefits. For national schoolteachers, the compensation is determined by the National Public Service Law. For public school teachers, the Law for Special Regulation Concerning Educational Personnel directs that salaries be based on those for national schoolteachers. (Actually, salaries for public school teachers typically are higher than those of national schoolteachers.) The aim is to standardize the compensation level of teachers across different school districts and throughout the country, so that the quality of teachers is equal regardless of the financial standing of prefectures or cities. The compensation for private school teachers is not regulated by these laws.
Standards for compensation and the regulation of working conditions, such as hours of work, may be subject to change at any time in response to changes in societal conditions.
Teachers' salaries are determined by the level of school, type of position, level of responsibility, and years of teaching experience. Also, in consideration of differences in the cost of living for different locations, some adjustments are made in the standards of compensation.
Four classes of salary are applied to national school teachers. Public school teachers are compensated in a similar manner, with one salary schedule for kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school teachers, and a separate salary schedule for high school teachers.
The first-class, and lowest, salary is applied to lecturers, assistant teachers, and assistant nurse teachers at all types of schools. The second-class salary (and next-lowest salary) is applicable to regular teachers and nurse teachers. Third-class salaries cover vice principal positions at elementary, junior high, and high schools, and directors of kindergartens. The fourth-class (and highest) salary is for principals of elementary, junior high, and high schools (though a different salary schedule applies to high school employees). In each class, the salary increases by years of experience. In 1989 the average monthly salaries, excluding other benefits, for elementary school teachers was 276,500 yen (approximately $2,765 at 100 yen per dollar), junior high school was 274,400 yen ($2,744), and high school was about 294,100 yen ($2,941). In November 1992, beginning regular teachers received 146,900 yen (about $1,400) (Shimizu et al. 1993).
The source of teachers' salaries varies according to the type of school. Teachers at national schools receive their salaries from the government, teachers at public schools are paid by the prefectures or cities, and privates school teachers are paid out of their schools' capital fund and governmental supplementary funds. Because teachers are on duty throughout the year (during vacations, teachers attend on certain days), they receive their salaries each month of the year.
Salary increases are recommended to and decided by the Cabinet based on yearly reports of living expenses. Most teachers of elementary through high school are local civil servants, and salary increases are recommended by the personnel department of the prefecture, with the final decisions then made by the government of the prefecture.
Besides the monthly salaries, a bonus is provided twice a year, usually in summer and winter. The amount of the bonus varies according to region and is subject to change every year. In 1996 the summer bonus was about 2.2 times the amount of the monthly salary; the winter bonus was about 2.7 times the amount of the monthly salary.
In addition to salary, teachers may receive the following allowances, depending on the conditions under which they work:
The Mutual Aid Association Law for national, public, and private schools has established mutual aid associations for teacher benefits. The respective Mutual Aid Association Laws governing these school types deal with national public service officials, local public service officials, and private school personnel.
Benefits comprise short-term benefits, long-term benefits, and welfare services.
Short-term benefits provide medical insurance and cover employees' and their dependents' medical expenses for illness, injury, childbirth, etc.
Long-term benefits include retirement plans and other annuities that are paid upon retirement and thereafter (usually monthly), or when employees become disabled or die. The latter type of annuity is paid to employees' dependents.
Welfare services include health-related services, such as regular physical examinations conducted at school sites or in hospitals, for both employees and their dependents; access to facilities that provide the members with recuperative or recreational benefits (such facilities include rest homes, seaside clubhouses, or athletic fields); building, managing, lending, or selling houses to members; investment of members' savings; and low-interest loans for extraordinary expenses, such as building a house.
In 1992 the percentage of females in the teaching force was 59.8 percent for all types of elementary schools, 37.9 percent for junior high schools, and 21.3 percent for high schools. These percentages reflected a 0.4 to 0.6 percent increase in the number of female teachers from the previous year in each of the levels (Shimizu et al. 1993).
Age distributions of teachers have been observed to differ by positions. For regular teachers in 1992, the mode was between 30 to 35 years old (21 percent), and 20.2 percent were 35 to 40 years old. Vice principals and principals were older, with the modes being 37.7 percent who were 50 to 55 years old and 81.5 percent who were between 55 and 60. In 1991 the overall average age for appointment to a position of vice principal was 48.8 years; for appointment to principal, the average age was 54.3 years. Statistics indicate that more young teachers are being appointed to these positions than in the past, and the proportion of females in these positions has increased in recent years (from 3.4 percent to 9.9 percent for vice principals and from 1.5 percent to 4.0 percent for principals). The 1990 statistics reveal that the age distribution also differs by gender and type of school (elementary or junior high schools) (Shimizu et al. 1993).
In many schools, when teachers are not actually teaching, they work in a teachers' room with other teachers of the same grade and exchange relevant information and hold meetings. In high schools, teachers' rooms may be assigned by specific subjects, such as the mathematics room, where all the mathematics teachers work together. Teachers may use their free time each day to review, study, or hold meetings. One study (Kudomi 1994) found that the two most common topics of informal conversations between elementary and junior high school teachers during this preparation time were students with problems, followed by teaching. Experienced teachers often use their time in the teacher or subject room to offer guidance and advice to new teachers.
In addition to their teaching responsibilities, all teachers in elementary schools and some teachers in junior high and high schools are responsible for leading and taking care of a class of about 40 students. These are called homeroom teachers. They obtain information about the students' families (elementary school homeroom teachers may visit their students' homes) and academic background. In junior high and high schools, homeroom teachers, along with guidance teachers, are also expected to advise students and their course selection. These teachers are responsible for the students' daily conduct. Students who display unacceptable behavior may receive consultation from these teachers in the teachers' room or guidance room.
Teachers' lives in Japan are very busy. Aside from the fact that teachers in Japan must join a number of committees or study groups, five reasons for their busy schedules were given by Sato (1994):
Teachers' time is also spent in publishing and in professional improvement. According to statistics, the number of educational journals or booklets written by teachers for teachers doubles the number that is published by scholars at universities. About one-third of books and articles in journals are written by scholars, whereas two-thirds are written by schoolteachers (Sato 1994).
Many teachers also voluntarily participate in out-of-school study groups and regularly hold meetings to exchange teaching tips, discuss educational issues, and criticize or advise other teachers' practices. A 1981 study revealed that about 53 percent of the 4,000 teachers who were asked said they had voluntarily participated in some informal study group (as cited in Inagaki & Kudomi 1994). However, such informal meetings are not easily held when teachers are pressured to work with students to prepare them for the entrance examinations. Recently, it has become difficult for junior high and high school teachers to maintain such informal self-training opportunities because of the fierce competition among students to get into good high schools and universities.
Because teachers in Japan are responsible for such a wide range of activities besides their teaching duties, the profession is seen as both rewarding and demanding. In a 1986 study (as cited in Kudomi 1994), 525 teachers in public elementary and junior high schools in one city were asked how they perceived the teaching profession. The profession was widely viewed as stressful (96.6 percent of the teachers agreed; 76 percent agreed strongly). The second- and third-ranked answers were related to positive aspects of the profession, such as "it is a job that brings pleasure by interacting with students," and "teaching is demanding in a motivating way" (Kudomi 1994).
Another indication of the stress level associated with being a teacher in Japan can be seen in the number of requests for vacations due to psychological disorders. In 1990, 1 in every 1,000 teachers requested a vacation due to psychological disorders. Although this proportion has not increased since 1986, educational authorities believe that more teachers are afflicted and the issue has become more serious.
According to one study (as cited in Egawa et al. 1992), the stress seems to be largely related to human relationships, such as trouble with, misunderstanding, or inappropriate evaluation by colleagues, administrators, or colleagues. Other causes of stress are working conditions-such as a long commuting time and poor school facilities-parental complaints, and having to resolve conflicts between parents and the board of education.
In order to maintain good mental health and healthy relationships with students, teachers must work on coping with stress at two levels-personal and organizational (Egawa et al. 1992). At the personal level, teachers must make an effort to sleep well, relax, hold positive attitudes, and, if necessary, receive counseling or mental health consultations. At the organizational level, schools must help create positive relationships at work, improve the teacher guidance system, establish a counseling system, improve working facilities, and introduce flexible working hours to alleviate teachers' stress.
Among selected elementary and junior high school teachers who were studied in 1984 and 1989 (Yamazaki, Komori, Kurabayashi, and Kawamura 1991), more female than male teachers (47.7 percent versus 21.1 percent) completed the sentence "I felt like quitting the job" with the answer "because of the excessive amounts of work." The second most frequent reason for wanting to quit the job for female teachers and the first reason for male teachers was "because I doubted that my personality was suitable to the teaching profession." "Family situation" was given as the third reason for female teachers (32.3 percent), whereas 3.2 percent of male teachers chose that answer.
In general, female teachers engage in and are constrained by familial chores and situations to a greater degree than male teachers. Results of time-use studies (a 1985 study sampled teachers in their thirties and early forties; see Yamazaki et al. 1991) revealed that female teachers were more burdened with family activities than their male counterparts. Females also scored higher on a scale of chronic fatigue; 53.9 percent of females, compared with 31.7 percent of males, responded "I always feel tired"; 40.9 percent of females and 54.1 percent of males responded "I sometimes feel tired." Female teachers reported having little energy and time left over to study and improve their teaching-related abilities after attending to both school and family responsibilities.
This double commitment is reflected in studies on the use of time. An analysis of time use on weekdays revealed that a 4-hour difference in time spent on household chores and childcare exists between male and female teachers. Among male teachers, 56.3 percent spent less than half an hour on these activities; all female teachers spent time on chores and childcare. Likewise, male teachers on average reported having about 1 hour more each day of free time for leisure activities. On weekdays, 64.5 percent of male and 59.1 percent of female teachers reported "watching TV, reading newspapers or magazines, etc." On weekends the most frequent response of female teachers was to engage in house chores and child care (62.6 percent compared to 7.1 percent of male teachers). Both male and female teachers spent time on hobbies (23.1 percent). When teachers could get a period of free time, such as vacation, travel was a popular choice for both male (16.4 percent) and female (25.2 percent) teachers. Studying topics of interest was as popular as traveling for male teachers (16.4 percent), whereas interactions with family members or children was the next most frequent (22.6 percent) activity for female teachers.
Public school teachers currently can join one of five main teachers' unions, each differing in political beliefs, educational principles, and activities. They are the Japan Teachers' Union, All Japan Teachers' Union, Japan Senior High School Teachers' Unions, Japan Teachers' Federation, and the Japan Educational Administrators Association. The unions have a right to negotiate with central and local public authorities regarding teachers' working conditions.
The largest and most influential teachers' union has been the Japanese Teachers? Union (JTU), established after World War II in 1947. The JTU is a national organization that is comprised of prefectural teachers' unions. As of 1992, the JTU had local organizations in each prefecture. Their activities, however, have been considered radical and leftwing, and their policy has been against governmental regulation, such as the implementation of the new teacher induction program, the new guidance manual by Monbusho, and requirements to display the national flag and sing the national anthem (Hinomaru-Kimigayo). A number of strikes (prohibited by law) and rebellious movements took place during the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, teachers who participated in those actions were reprimanded, and others became concerned about the resulting effects on teaching. This led to a decrease in the membership, which was accelerated by a split of the JTU into two groups (mainstream versus nonmainstream) in 1989. Aware of its declining power, the JTU has modified its policies and directions since 1990. In contrast to their past inclination to rebel against governmental policies, JTU members have decided to present their opinions in such a manner that they may be included in governmental decisionmaking processes.
The JTU's largest contribution to teachers' lives has been an increase in the standard of working conditions. By joining the union and thereby increasing their collective power, teachers were able to negotiate with prefectural boards of education for better working conditions. For example, female teachers in modern Japan, compared with females in other professions, experience less gender inequity in status and compensation. The salaries do not vary by gender, and pregnant teachers can request a 6-week leave of absence before their due date without losing their position. By law, they cannot go back to work for at least 8 weeks after the baby is born. Female teachers can also request a leave of absence up to the baby's first birthday while maintaining their teaching positions at schools. During the leave, they do not teach and do not receive a salary. To help cover the living expenses of such teachers, an allowance for postdelivery leave is provided during the vacation period, after which they return to teach as a regular teacher. In other professions, it is rare to find such coverage for pregnant women and new mothers. Often, pregnant women have to consider quitting their job upon delivery of their child, or rely on day care centers if they wish to continue to work.
Regardless of-or because of-such contributions of the JTU in the past, there has been a declining interest in joining teachers' unions, including the JTU, among today's teachers. This is reflected in the decreased number of new teachers joining some form of teachers' organization (19.6 percent in 1990-the lowest percentage in history). As of 1991, 59.3 percent of all public school teachers held memberships in some teachers' organization. As for the JTU, the largest organization, 86.3 percent of all teachers were members in 1958, 35.7 percent in 1990, and 35.2 percent in 1991 (Shimizu et al. 1993). During these three periods, the percentages of teachers who joined no group increased, from 5.7 percent (1958), to 39.8 percent (1990), and to 40.7 percent (1991).
The observed decrease in membership may be explained by several factors. First, along with an improvement in women's working conditions, improvements have been made in teachers' compensation; therefore, today's teachers do not see a great need to join a teachers' union to increase their collective bargaining power. Second, there has been a political shift toward the conservative, which does not encourage active labor movements. Finally, teachers have become alienated from unions because of confusion in the JTU and affiliated unions in the political arena.
The JTU and other teachers' organizations are making efforts to modify their roles so as to provide better services in education and teachers' lives.
In order to become a qualified teacher in Japan, an individual must first enroll in a institution of higher education accredited by Monbusho and take the courses necessary to obtain teacher certification. Requirements for obtaining teaching certificates are set forth in the Regulations of the Educational Personnel Certification Law. Individuals who have fulfilled these requirements are eligible to take the qualifying examinations prepared and administered by each prefecture or selected city. The qualifying examinations can be taken before completion of schooling if the individuals expect to graduate within the same academic year. Those who pass the examinations are qualified to teach in that particular prefecture upon completion of their program. If a teacher moves to another prefecture, he or she must pass the examination in that prefecture to qualify for a teaching position in the prefecture.
New teachers receive a yearlong training induction to the teaching profession that occurs both inside and outside school. Thereafter, teacher training continues in response to varying responsibilities and needs of the teachers. Monbusho and the prefectural and municipal boards of education provide necessary training programs throughout the country. For selected teachers and teachers with increased responsibilities, Monbusho also offers workshops and other opportunities for further education in relevant fields.
The teaching profession is considered a secure occupation in Japan. The compensation package for teachers includes benefits, such as retirement plans and leaves of absence 6 weeks before and up to a year after the birth of a child. Some of these benefits are not provided to workers in other professions.
The role of teachers' unions, especially JTU, the most influential union in the past, must be acknowledged in the development of such high standards of teachers' working conditions and compensation. Through the collective power of union members, teachers had been able to negotiate with boards of education regarding these conditions. Union membership, however, has decreased in conjunction with the growing indifference of new teachers to participating in teachers' unions.
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[Teacher Preparation and Teachers' Lives in Japan - References]