Peer Support in Action
Studying and Planning Peer Support in Tottori, Japan
by Yuichi Toda
I was staying at Goldsmiths College from March 1998 until January 1999. During that stay, I had learned much from Prof. Peter K Smith, Prof. Helen Cowie, and all the people I have met. Here I would like to express lots of thanks to them and briefly describe what I had learnt and thought during and after the stay, mentioning what I am doing in Japan now.
1) Introduction in "Child Study."
Soon after coming back to Japan, I was given an opportunity
to write about studies and interventions on bullying in the
UK for "Child
Study" in Japanese, "jidou shrini", the journal
for teachers and guardians published from KANEKO SHOBOH. In
the June extra issue of the journal, I have introduced the
EU Training and Mobility of Researchers project, including
their work on peer support. In viewing these interventions
and studies, I think it’s important to remember the description
of the nature of bullying, "the systematic abuse of power"
by P.K. Smith. From this viewpoint, the studies and interventions
seem to be aimed at "sharing and the co-operative use
of power."
For example, in the Sheffield Project, schools that participated in the project could select their activities from the menu provided. Students also joined the process of determining the whole school policies alongside with teachers and guardians, using such interventions as the Pikas method and the No Blame Approach (Maines and Robinson).
In peer support, we also see how teachers’ efforts can go forward into sharing adult power with students. Of course, the system safeguards against the possibility that the students might abuse the power when they have their own room for peer support, and have a chance to know friends’ secrets. As we know, peer support systems must have built in to them some form of supervision or debriefing.
2) A seminar for undergraduate students.
We have read "Peer Counselling in Schools: a time to listen" by Helen Cowie and Sonia Sharp published by David Fulton in my seminar for undergraduate students.
I thought the seminar, in which we read the book and talked about the possibility of implementing a similar system in Japanese schools, was a good forum for highlighting the problems of Japanese educational systems and the differences between various cultures.
Some of the students wrote in their essays "Nowadays Japanese students are so busy for studying and/or attending club activities in very competitive circumstances. I wonder it may be difficult to implement peer support due to their tight schedule", "Students may be reluctant to join in such activities as a volunteer." These views may anticipate the difficulties, which some teachers and specialists may face when they try to implement peer support systems in Japanese schools. However, we cannot say anything definitely without trying.
3) On-paper discussion as a pre-stage for peer support.
In Japan, many teachers are printing newsletters for their
students and guardians. Some newsletters are printed daily,
some weekly. The newsletters are mostly used to let guardians
know about the school and the class, or to share opinions.
In the newsletter, students can express their opinions to their friends without letting them know who wrote the opinions. By virtue of this trait, some teachers are using the newsletter for nurturing a good climate in their classes.I suppose this virtue is also beneficial for a pre-stage in the development of peer support.
Students who wish to help their friends may express their feelings and opinions on the newsletters, following the anonymous notes written by their friends in distress. Before publishing, teachers or counsellors can read their replies and supervise them (simultaneous supervision), if necessary.
After taking part in this stage, some students may wish to volunteer to join a training session to be a peer supporter. In addition, it may be useful to maintain this kind of discussion in the newsletters to supplement the peer support system, as students can express their opinions more easily in the newsletters due to anonymity.
This system may allow students with tight schedules to join the discussion. Similarly, students, who take their worries as not-so-severe ones and hesitate to write notes even though it is anonymous, may find it helpful to read about similar issues to their own. It also may be possible to encourage them in the newsletter to ring a telephone counselling service or to go to face-to-face counselling, if necessary.
In the future, they may have a forum for the discussion on a website in a similar way. They can discuss issues on the website and it may produce a useful Frequently Asked Questions list. My colleagues and I are in the process of implementing a new peer support system in a junior high school. We really appreciate your suggestions and will keep you in touch with developments as they occur.
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