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Any Japanese student or teacher could quickly tell you that the English equivalent of tannin no sensei is "homeroom teacher." After all, the Japanese borrowed the word homeroom from English, and everyone knows that sensei means teacher. The existence of the English word may lead Japanese and Americans to assume that American homeroom teachers and Japanese tannin no sensei perform the same duties. In fact, these words are not at all equivalent and defy simple translation.
In America, homeroom is little more than a place to take the roll and pass on information to students. Where does one begin to explain to an American the meaning of even such simple words as class or homeroom as they are used in their Japanese contexts? The Japanese homeroom class could be described as the most basic social unit in a school. The students will (in most cases) spend the entirety of their years in any school, be it elementary, junior high, or senior high, as members of the same homeroom class with the same homeroom teacher. They do not move from room to room for instruction as children do in America, except when it is necessary to use the special facilities of a science laboratory, a language laboratory, or a gymnasium. Most of their daily instruction takes place in their room, where teachers come to teach.
An American onlooker might experience the feeling that teachers (other than the homeroom teacher) are guests in the students' room. The teacher would not feel at liberty, for instance, to erase the blackboard or change the bulletin board without asking their permission. What is written in a corner of the blackboard or pinned on the notice board may be of special importance to the class, and an "outside" teacher would not know without asking.
ROLE OF THE TANNIN NO SENSEI
So who are these homeroom teachers who are on the "inside," so to speak, and what is their relation to the students? Counselor, therapist, even foster parent are descriptions that come to mind, but finally there seems to be no single word to substitute for tannin no sensei.
Homeroom teachers are responsible for every aspect of the student's total education. That is to say these teachers are not only responsible for...