The Effects of Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity on Eikaiwa Teachers

Darcey Barge
Rikkyo University
darceybarge[at]gmail[dot]com

The Effects of Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity
on Eikaiwa Teachers
ABSTRACT

Eikaiwa teachers experience workplace issues that can be understood as role conflict and roleambiguity. Role conflict refers to the dueling pressures between roles that can cause poor results
or not being able to finish tasks for one or both roles. Role ambiguity refers to the lack of clarityof a role, which may result in the role not being performed appropriately. Role conflict and roleambiguity have been found to be predictors of symptoms of burnout. In this study, Eikaiwa teachers
were interviewed to examine if role conflict and role ambiguity were present and how symptomsof burnout were connected to these experiences. Results showed that examples of role conflictand role ambiguity lead to Eikaiwa teachers experiencing symptoms of burnout which further led
to their decision to continue teaching or to leave the teaching profession. This study may be usefulfor teacher development in terms of taking action to create a better working environment.
Keywords: role conflict, role ambiguity, teacher burnout, eikaiwa teachers

My first teaching position was at an Eikaiwa school. There I learned the basics in teaching that
included how to handle students of all ages as well as how to teach with different proficiency levels
within the same class. However, I soon realized that working in the Eikaiwa industry was so much
more than being present in the classroom and teaching English. My role as a teacher included
different responsibilities that I was not initially aware of when I started teaching at the Eikaiwa
school. This led to myself feeling burned out and not understanding why I had those feelings. I also
noticed my colleagues exhibiting signs of exhaustion, both physically and emotionally. After leaving
the Eikaiwa industry, those feelings and observations stayed with me and drove my curiosity inwanting to understand more about burnout in teaching. Furthermore, I wanted to understand how
Eikaiwa teacher experiences could contribute to burnout. While reading on the topic of burnout, I
learned about role conflict and role ambiguity and how they can be predictors of teacher burnout.
Research on role conflict and role ambiguity has identified symptoms of burnout in the teaching
field by showing stressors caused by the workplace environment. This has given researchers aclearer picture on how stressors can lead to burnout within the teaching profession. One part of my
MA study was to identify if role conflict and role ambiguity are present in teachers working within
the Eikaiwa industry by analyzing their experience through workplace issues.

UNDERSTANDING ROLE CONFLICT AND ROLE AMBIGUITY

Rizzo et al. (1970) defined a role to be “a set of expectations about behavior for a position in a social
structure” and said expectations are “ascribed to the role by the focal person filling that position or
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by others who relate to the role or simply have notions about it” (p. 155). A teacher’s role will havedifferent meanings depending on the type of teacher. For example, Eikaiwa teachers can have
responsibilities beyond teaching regarding student recruitment or selling additional school materials
to students that are not shared by primary or secondary school teachers.
Reflecting on my own time in the Eikaiwa industry, I realized that I had more than one role. I was ateacher, an office administrator, a teacher trainer, and a promoter for the company. I found that eachrole in itself had its own set of expectations and responsibilities. I also realized that these roles did
not fit together and created stress because I was trying to not only complete my tasks on time, butalso to do a good job by completing the tasks fully. The stress I experienced was role conflict. Rizzo
et al. (1970) defined role conflict as the “compatibility and incompatibility in the requirements of therole, where congruency or compatibility is judged relative to a set of standards or conditions which
impinge upon role performance” (p. 155).
Another issue I found myself facing was not understanding what my roles were. I knew I was a teacher,but other responsibilities that were expected of me did not fit within the teacher role. Other expectations
included completing administration work by communicating with the head office, promoting the schoolby posting advertisements in mailboxes, or asking students to sign up for additional classes. Whenever I
was asked to take on a new role, I didn’t fully understand what I was expected to do. I would ask myself,what do I write to the head office? Should I be formal or be direct? How do I sell additional classes?
Should I keep asking students to sign up for more classes if I don’t fill in every available class time?
These questions and the lack of clarity are forms of role ambiguity. Role ambiguity is focused into twoparts: (a) the predictability of one’s behavior and (b) the clarity of behavioral requirements which would
serve as a guide to provide knowledge on which behavior is appropriate (Rizzo et al., 1970). I found theirstudy interesting because it also addressed issues regarding organizational and management practices,leadership behavior, satisfaction, anxiety, and propensity to leave the job.

THE EIKAIWA INDUSTRY

The Japanese word Eikaiwa means “English conversation” but also refers to an English language
school in Japan that offers English language classes to both adults and children (Kubota, 2020).
Eikaiwa schools offer language classes to both children, starting as young as 6 months old (AEON,n.d.), and adults. Lessons are offered in private or group formats. The content for each class canvary in terms of topics, but can focus on speaking, listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary(AEON, n.d.; ECC, 2022) as well as helping students prepare for language proficiency tests.

TEACHER EXPECTATIONS IN WORKING AND NON-WORKING HOURS

In a typical 40-hour work week, Eikaiwa teachers are contracted to work a minimum of 25 teaching
hours (AEON, n.d.) to as many as 37 (NOVA, n.d.). Non-teaching responsibilities can include lesson
planning, promoting and selling of company materials, counseling students, making textbook
recommendations, making student progress reports, and cleaning the school. Because planninglessons can be time consuming, teachers are encouraged to practice “good time management skills
and flexibility” (AEON, n.d.). Although books and teaching materials are provided by the school,teachers can be expected to create their own extra materials needed for the classes they will beteaching (Sakamoto, 2014). These materials can include copies of book chapters, vocabulary cards,
and any kind of visual material needed to support the teaching of their lesson (Sakamoto, 2014).
There are instances where Eikaiwa teachers are put under extreme pressure by their schools.
For example one teacher was “required to come up with lesson plans and teaching materials,”making over 2,300 letter and vocabulary cards within a 2-month time span after 10 days of training(Sakamoto, 2014). This particular case was investigated by the Kanazawa Labor Standards Inspection
Office and it was revealed that the teacher had worked an estimated 82 hours at home to create

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the cards (Sakamoto, 2014). The father of the teacher “applied to the Kanazawa Labor Standards
Inspection Office for recognition that his daughter’s death was caused by her job” (Sakamoto, 2014).
In my experience, I was contracted to work 28-32 teaching hours over a 40-hour work week. Duringcertain times of the year, I had a schedule of 34-38 teaching hours a week. In these cases, I worked
overtime. However, when I asked for compensation, my manager scolded me for making such arequest. Even though I ended up being paid for this work, I was told to explicitly discuss such arequest before actually making it. In addition, I also worked at home because I felt that I had to inorder to prepare for my lessons. This experience made me question my priorities in my role as ateacher and an employee. I needed to complete my lesson plans and to do so, I needed to workovertime. However, I found myself questioning whether I was a good employee if I couldn’t finish
my work within working hours. I also was unclear on the rules of when it is appropriate to ask forovertime compensation. Now I reflect on it and I believe I was experiencing both role conflict and roleambiguity. After reading about role conflict and role ambiguity as well as teacher burnout, I wanted tohelp Eikaiwa teachers by researching and exposing which workplace issues led to experiencing role
conflict and role ambiguity so that teachers can understand how this could lead to teacher burnout.

MY RESEARCH FOCUS

This study was part of a MA thesis I completed in understanding burnout as experienced by Eikaiwateachers. My aims in the MA thesis were to uncover specific stressors related to role conflict androle ambiguity that participants may have experienced during their time working in the Eikaiwa
industry, understand the connections between participant experiences and symptoms of burnout,and highlight the potential causes that have led to their decisions in continuing to work in the Eikaiwa
industry, leave the industry, or quit teaching altogether.
For my MA thesis, I utilized two methods of data collection: a survey consisting of 21 questions anda follow-up interview. The first seven questions of the survey elicited the participants’ backgroundinformation: name (optional), gender (optional), age, country of origin, educational background, andthe number of years of teaching in Eikaiwa and non-Eikaiwa settings. In addition to the participants’
background information, the survey included eight questions regarding their Eikaiwa responsibilities.
The participants rated their Eikaiwa experiences on 5-point Likert scale items 1 being the lowest
rating and 5 the highest. The topics the items covered included relationships with managers,
relationships with co-workers, fair pay, comfortableness at work, and overall satisfaction with theposition. They were also asked to provide any additional information regarding their experience.
The follow-up interview included questions that asked participants to provide further details on their
Eikaiwa experiences. For example, if a participant indicated that they had had poor relationships withmanagers, I would ask them to provide more details and to explain why they rated that topic with a 1.
Fifty-six people who met the selection criteria answered my survey. The selection criteria firstincluded a willingness to be interviewed. Second, they had to have Eikaiwa teaching experience(not, for example, teaching English conversation at a university). Third, they needed to have atleast one year of experience in the Eikaiwa industry. Fourth, I aimed to include non-Japanese andJapanese teachers, so I checked their nationality. Lastly, I considered their answers to the survey
items that were related to possible signs of burnout with a minimum score of 1 on the 5-point Likertscale indicating numerous potential signs of burnout. I calculated their average score across these
items and used it to help identify prospective interviewees. In the end, 10 people agreed—via email
correspondence—to be interviewed. I should point out that three of the survey respondents quit
the teaching field altogether at the time of their interviews, therefore none of the participants werereferred to as teachers in my study.

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THE MAIN ISSUES THE CURRENT AND FORMER TEACHERS EXPERIENCED

I analyzed the experiences of the survey respondents by comparing them to the Maslach
Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI is a questionnaire to measure the intensity and frequency of
the three symptoms of burnout which are Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Reduced
Personal Accomplishment. I also compared experiences to items in a role conflict and role ambiguity
questionnaire developed by Rizzo et al. (1970). The survey respondents showed similarities inexperiencing both role conflict and role ambiguity during their time while working in the Eikaiwa
industry. The respondents also showed signs of experiencing teacher burnout. Here I focus on how
the respondents experienced role conflict and role ambiguity.

ROLE CONFLICT

Role conflict, the dueling pressures regarding the completion or incompletion of the teacher’sroles, appeared when discussing workplace issues for seven survey respondents. Five participants
experienced role conflict when confronted with lesson preparation versus the amount of time within
their working hours to plan the actual lessons. In an interview, one former teacher who had six andhalf years of experience working in the Eikiawa industry said his lessons suffered because of thelack of time he had to prepare while finishing his other office responsibilities. He said that during the
weeks he had 40 lessons, he could not organize his work time efficiently to complete everything.
He explained he felt he was doing something wrong because he could not organize his time very
well. This example showed the conflict that many teachers face about whether to complete office
responsibilities as an employee or to prepare for their lessons in their role as a teacher.

ROLE AMBIGUITY

Role Ambiguity, the unclear expectations within a teacher’s role, appeared when discussing workplaceissues with seven participants. Two survey respondents talked about how their training was focused
only on observing and emulating the lessons of outgoing teachers. They both expressed notunderstanding the teaching expectations before they entered the classroom; they felt unpreparedand uncertain of their roles. Another two participants experienced Role Ambiguity relating to theissue of how to encourage students to purchase additional lessons, on top of the student’s weekly
scheduled lesson, as well as unclear financial goals for the school and the kind of lessons to sell.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEACHERS

The participants who had experienced role conflict and role ambiguity had also experienced thethree symptoms of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Reduced Personal
Accomplishment. Schwab and Iwanicki (1982) found in their research that role conflict and roleambiguity can be predictors of symptoms of burnout. In a similar way, participants in my study
experienced burnout because of conflicting roles and unclear expectations. Three participants thatexperienced role conflict and role ambiguity have remained working for the Eikaiwa industry. Twoparticipants who experienced role conflict and role ambiguity have left the Eikaiwa industry, buthave continued to work in the teaching profession. Those who have remained teaching in Eikaiwa
or a different teaching field said the reason they continue to teach, despite experiencing burnout, isbecause they enjoy teaching. Three participants who experienced role conflict and role ambiguity
have completely left the Eikaiwa industry and the teaching profession altogether. Their reasonsfor leaving were that the responsibilities of education were too big, there was too much stress andexhaustion, and in one case they did not have a teaching license to continue teaching outside of
Eikaiwa.

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FURTHER QUESTIONS AND MY OWN SOLUTIONSMy MA study showed that teachers working in the Eikaiwa industry experienced symptoms ofburnout through workplace issues that correspond with role conflict and role ambiguity. The resultsof my survey showed that teachers experience role conflict, for example, when they are forced tochoose between preparing for lessons or finishing other school responsibilities which can impact
the quality of their lessons. Other workplace issues that can correspond to role ambiguity such as
having unclear expectations regarding an Eikaiwa school’s policy on selling lessons can also leadto teachers experiencing symptoms of burnout. Although some teachers who experienced role
conflict and role ambiguity have remained in the Eikaiwa industry, it is also causing teachers toleave the teaching profession completely.
After completing my study, I found myself asking more questions. If role conflict and role ambiguity
can lead to Eikaiwa teachers experiencing burnout, how can the workplace issues that werediscussed leading to these experiences be prevented? Furthermore, what are some solutions for
Eikaiwa teachers who are already feeling the effects of role conflict and role ambiguity? Although
the respondent’s experiences highlighted some workplace issues that were examples of role
conflict and role ambiguity, I believe there may be other topics that haven’t been explored that also
lead to role conflict and role ambiguity in the Eikaiwa industry. By discussing these other issues,teachers can uncover why they might be experiencing role conflict, role ambiguity, and burnout.
As part of my MA work, I did not discuss possible solutions with the participants. However, after thecompletion of my study, I found that I became more aware of my own workplace issues and how toprevent experiencing role conflict and role ambiguity. One example where I avoided experiencingrole ambiguity was when I was presented with a new employment contract that was unclear
regarding expectations about the role I would be performing. I therefore asked the employer for
more clarity and made sure that the updated clarification was part of the contract so that both I
and my employer were aware of my actual responsibilities. Another example where I navigatedmy way through an experience of role conflict was by acknowledging that I had two dueling roles
within my workplace. For each responsibility, I had to prioritize what I felt was more important andbe confident in my decision when following through to complete different tasks. Prioritizing andalso communicating with my managers about the roles and their expectations helped reduce thepotential of experiencing burnout. These solutions are not going to solve every workplace issue,
but by acknowledging my role(s) and understanding potential problems that can lead to role
conflict and role ambiguity, I have found that I am not experiencing burnout symptoms as intensely
as I was before my study. This does not mean I can avoid burnout completely, but I can have more
control in how workplace issues can affect my well-being.
Although I enjoyed my experience working at Eikaiwa schools, teaching students, and making lifelong friendships with my co-workers, I left the Eikaiwa industry feeling exhausted. Furthermore, someof my former Eikaiwa co-workers are no longer teaching. They explicitly told me that because of theirexperience they no longer want to be in that kind of work environment. I felt sad for future students
who would miss out, because I believe they were good teachers. If current Eikaiwa teachers are
more aware of their roles in the Eikaiwa industry and how it is affecting them, I believe this awarenesscould be one step towards preventing teachers from leaving the Eikaiwa industry.

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