I usually do not leave school unless other teachers of my grade went home. Sometimes I stay at school till late and I know it is one reason why Japanese teachers work too long. roughly but almost none of us follow the hours.) When I am asked why I stay with friends like my generation or younger teachers, I usually say I “read its atmosphere,” but of course I have other reasons.
The biggest reason is to know what other teachers do.There is always room for me to learn and there might have things I should do but I do not notice I should have done. When I started working, there was so much I did not notice and looking back I feel bad about that. Ideally, all of us can leave our workplace soon after their office hours but it is not possible now.
Under the work time reform, some people started changing how to work and I have read/heard several books/articles. My position, however and currently, is not the same with ones who implement the reform. A professor from my college once taught me a story by saying, “reality is like a scrum in rugby,” we struggle and slowly move forward. Long throws sometimes work better but reality usually can change steadily.
