**7. New classroom management based on a mix model of Japanese classroom management**

As we have seen, the long working hours of Japanese teachers, especially elementary school teachers, have resulted in work-related mental health issues, such as depression and adjustment disorders. The cause of the long working hours is Japanese-style classroom management.

Japanese education, which aims to build groups in the classroom while addressing the individual needs of children, strongly promotes not only academic learning but also the personal growth of children. In this sense, efforts to create groups in the classroom are unique.

The Japanese educational style has been introduced, and some countries have adopted it as a mixed model in their education system. In recent years, more and more schools in Egypt have introduced Japanese-style education, such as "special activities" (tokkatsu) [22]. However, it would be difficult to introduce such activities only by classroom teachers, as has been done in Japan.

Extracurricular activities are group-building activities. This activity should be incorporated into classroom management, but it is believed that multiple staff members are needed to carry out this activity. To achieve this, it is necessary to shift the leadership structure of teachers in schools from occupied to shared type. Discussions on reforming the leadership structure of teachers are also taking place in the United Kingdom and Canada [19].

Until now, teaching in Japan has been structured in such a way that the classroom teacher has a strong authority to guide the children, which is called "instructional leadership." When discussing the leadership of teachers, especially principals, there is an argument that we should move from instructional to shared leadership. In Japan, the leadership of the classroom teacher toward children is strong. Due to the extent of classroom management, a single classroom teacher tends to work too many hours. Therefore, a structure in which various people involved in the classroom perform the function of a leader based on the content of the activities seems to be suitable. In the Japanese style of classroom management, especially in "group activities," people other than classroom teachers can serve as leaders (**Figure 2**).

There is considerable discussion on the importance of interpersonal relationships, especially between teachers and students, in classroom management [4, 23–25]. Effective teacher-student interpersonal relationships have been shown to enhance students' academic performance and inhibit problem behaviors [8]. Conversely, poor teacher-student interpersonal relationships have been shown to have a significant impact not only on students but also on the mental health of teachers [26]. The teacher-student relationship centered on "group activities" in the new classroom management presented here emphasizes two-way communication, in which teachers and students interact to understand each other, rather than the one-way communication of academic instruction, in which teachers teach students.

While this chapter does not deal directly with the interpersonal relationship between teacher and student, the relationship is an important factor in the new "classroom management" presented here. In the future, it will be necessary to detail the interpersonal relationships between teachers and students within classroom management. The possibilities of new classroom management shown here can be applied to classroom management not only in Japan and India but also in other countries as well.
