Shien needs wo Kakaeru Kodomo to Mukiau Kyoshi no “Handan” (Rethinking Teacher Professionalism through Judgment - An Ethnographic Study of Supporting Students with Diverse Needs)

This book is an ethnographic study that explores how the everyday “ordinariness” of school life—where teachers are present and lessons begin as scheduled—is sustained through the ongoing process of teachers’ professional judgment. Rather than conceptualizing teacher professionalism in terms of knowledge, skills, or individual competencies—that is, what teachers are able to do—this study focuses on how teachers make judgments in practice and how these judgments enable the continuation of everyday educational activities.
 
The children portrayed in this book are those who experience various forms of difficulty within school: those who find it challenging to remain in the classroom, those who struggle to align with the rhythms of school life, and those who face challenges beyond the classroom, including in their home environments. To respond to these diverse and often complex needs, teachers are required not only to support children directly but also to engage with parents, collaborate with colleagues, and navigate multiple, and sometimes conflicting, expectations. This book meticulously documents the dilemmas, uncertainties, and negotiations that arise in such contexts, drawing on detailed narratives and field observations.
 
The study is based on 5 years of sustained engagement in a primary school, where the author participated in everyday school life as a classroom support practitioner. Through this long-term ethnographic approach, the book captures how relationships, practices, and interpretations evolve over time. It shows that teachers’ judgments are not simply individual decisions made in isolation but shaped through interactions with others and embedded within the organizational and cultural contexts of the school.
 
Importantly, the book also examines the roles of various adults beyond classroom teachers—such as support staff, school librarians, and a school nurse—who collectively contribute to sustaining the daily functioning of the school. Under conditions marked by staff shortages, differing values, and institutional constraints, these actors experience tensions and conflicts, yet continue to negotiate and collaborate to maintain the everyday life of the school. Through eight detailed cases, the book illustrates how teacher roles and professional practices are formed and enacted within such dynamic and relational contexts.
 
The academic contribution of this book lies in its focus on “professional judgment” as a central, yet underexplored, dimension of teacher professionalism. By empirically examining how judgments are made and sustained in practice, the study offers a perspective that transcends static notions of competence. Its social significance lies in re-framing teaching not as a set of predefined tasks but as a complex, situated practice that involves continuous interpretation, negotiation, and meaning-making under conditions of uncertainty.
 
For students of education, this book provides an opportunity to grasp the complexity of teaching as a profession and appreciate how everyday school life is sustained through the often invisible, yet essential, work of teachers’ ongoing judgment.
 

(Written by: ODA Ikuyo / August 25, 2026)