A great deal of effort has been made by Peer Support Japan
(PSJ) on developing Japanese Peer Support for two years since
Dr. Trevor Cole introduced 'Peer Support in Canada' to us at the
Educational Research Conference of Yokohama Teachers Union (YTU)
in February 1998.
While reflecting development steps, we surely confirm: Peer Support
is not a social skill training program that is expected immediate
outcomes or remedial effects, but the program which includes the
possibility to facilitate teachers and parents to raise awareness
against students, school, and education. Furthermore it is the
program to transform the policy of schooling and education to
reduce the school problems recently. To do so, we clarify both long-term perspectives with insights
into following practice or activities after social skill training
and broader perspectives beyond individual interests are crucial.
We must be careful to implement Peer Support Program (PSP) flippantly
without those two perspectives. Teachers sometimes miss the positive
peer pressure among students. Although they overestimate their
own efforts or influences, students can improve positive relationships
with each other. Sensibility to students' feelings and elaborate
activity plans after social skill training are essential to improve
positive relationships.
PSJ has been examining to define the concept of Japanese Peer
Support; in order to develop training programs suited for Japanese
schools and to establish a clear guideline to do practice.
We clearly define Japanese Peer Support
Program:
1) Through experiential
training with games or role-playing
2) We intend to improve students fundamental social skill gradationally
3) Finally we aim to develop caring whole-school climate that
students can help and care with each other
One of the most important notions is about
the purpose of the experiential social skill training. It must
be to develop basic social
skills. We never expect the students to
transform by only social skill training. We demonstrate basic
social skill structure as follows: encouraging their awareness,
raising more awareness through their practices after social skill
training, and entrenching their skills into their lives.
Japanese children have changed recently. They have more amount
of information than adults do or never hesitate to do self-assertion.
On the other hand, they are not good at developing relationships
because of the deficiency of socialization and social experiences.
They sometimes seem to be mature, at the same time, seem to be
as if they were small kids from the mental and social viewpoint.
We have to take the changes of children and pampering adults into
account, when we look at the background of school bullying, school-refusal,
or classroom breakdown.
It has become difficult to adopt the traditional methodology to
the students. Because it was based on the premise that they have
had many relationship experiences in their families and communities
such as caring or helping before schooling at six-year-old. Big
change has caused problem for teachers not to be able to utilize
the same techniques they did because of children's experience
loss.
However, we should not abandon the traditional methodology, nor
adopt the new one. First step is to compensate the deficiency
of fundamental experience. Next step is to improve the base of
feelings. In this way, we realize that it should be still useful
for the children.
Moreover, Japanese schools
have done so many practices such as: giving
lessons, providing them with the opportunities to learn how to
make relationships through cross-grades activities and leadership
training, compared with the schools abroad. But we have difficulty
to expect their developing because they do not have sufficient
relationship experience in their early childhood as we mentioned
above. Accordingly, teachers offer so excessive aids to have them
done, or do in teacher-centered way and students just do their
jobs reluctantly.
The goals of experiential training in PSP are to form foundation
to compensate social skills that are premise for the traditional
pedagogy or activities, to adjust environmental conditions for
the children to be brought up. In this sense, we do not think
of teaching excess skills, nor change the children through social
skill training.
In the first place, we would like to define
Japanese PSP strictly as a
comprehensive program that includes not only self-complete social
skill training program but also continuing practices followed
by training. We should be careful to say
that students have changed by (only) social skill training. We
expect that teachers more than students will change through interpersonal
activities following training with others including adults.
As a matter of the fact, adults in charge of training will change
rather than students. We realize that this is very important fact.
It causes them to reflect themselves what educating, supporting
students, and empathy are about. Then those thoughts suggest us
what the most important is to us.
On the contrary, arrogant idea that we can change students by
training lead to think those children should be in custody, or
should be canalized. Of course, it is true that we realize them
inexperience so that they will develop gradually. That is because
we train them minimum social skills they need. After social skill
training we prepare for the place they can practice their skills
and fix them.
We emphasize that teachers take the initiative in teaching students,
then gradually let them
off teachers' hands. Students can develop
themselves through supporting each other in their caring atmosphere.
We warn that letting them off teachers' hands does not mean overindulgence.
At least we have to teach them fundamental skills, then offer
them opportunities to practice skills and develop by them. We
are in the position of maintain conditions they can do interpersonal
relations. Instead of teaching everything for students, we support
them to make them grown up among peer influences.
We need to be careful of excessive control to students, otherwise
students play roles in teachers' scenario, and do practice unwillingly
in the control of teachers. We eagerly hope student-centered practices.
In the sense mentioned above, we adhere
to the term 'peer support'. Because 'peer support' is the last goal for us to search for. We would like to emphasize that children grow up
among peers. That is because we train children of minimum social
skills. We do not think social skill training itself is the final
goal, nor training-centered activity. It is for this reason that
we do not accept them as 'peer support', even though somebody
use the same kind of games or activities as we use in PSP, or
they conduct the same type of social skill training as we do.
We can not admit those attempts without recognition of 'peer support'.
They might not recognize the importance of next activities followed
by training.
The cases as follows, for example, are not the practices we 'peer
support': by a classroom teacher alone, without elaborate plans,
for the purpose of getting to know each other. There are no intentions
with broader and long-term perspectives. Those are for the sake
of the classroom teachers' self-satisfaction.
Of course, what we discussed above is about our own idea and definition.
We do not deny other style of peer support away from ours. It
is true that there is 'peer support' which does not have any clear
regulations in foreign countries. We value the basic recognition
'peer support' is about. We try to inherit it as our variable
fortune.
We are now in the re-starting point as a
new organization. We change PSJ from open to close to membership
association. We remind of the basic definition as our minimum
agreement, or a principle. Although some might feel it too tight
to stick to them, we have to consider the definition.
For last two years, we have cooperated to publicize the idea and
definition under the name of 'peer support'. Those efforts lead
too much expectation and administration. We need to succeed them.
In that sense, obligation and restriction to PSJ are inevitable.
Under the name of Japanese PSP or Japanese peer support, we advocate
the agreement and principle, and publicize them definitely. In
another word, it will lead to protect the honors of Yokohama Hongo
Junior High School, YTU, and National Institute for Educational
Research. If we allow others to use 'Japanese PSP' or 'PSJ' without
any agreement or principles, troubles or problems would occur.
As far as we concerned with the honours of those institutes, we
can not use the 'Japanese PSP or PSJ' freely. It is our responsibility
to protect the quality of PSJ.
Of course, we are welcome to newcomers who want to join us. We gather at this point and this moment, in order to publicize and to develop Japanese PSP. We surely feel confidence and accountability in it in order to realize our goals.