LINE WORKS What kind of reform did Katsutadai Elementary School PTA achieve with LINE WORKS?

　A new wind is blowing into the PTA of Katsutadai Elementary School in Yachiyo City, Chiba Prefecture. With the introduction of the business chat "LINE WORKS", information sharing, which was premised on coming to school, has changed significantly. We spoke with Katsutadai Elementary School PTA Chairman Yudai Saito and Atsuhiro Murakami, who was involved in the introduction of LINE WORKS.

Katsutadai Elementary School PTA President Yudai Saito

PTA with remnants of the Showa era Reform over 6 years

PTA that supports schools and children. However, there may be many fathers and mothers who have a negative image of PTA. In April, when children enter school, they are semi-forced to belong to an organization, collect membership fees, and force each other to work as determined by their parents. Until the end of their term, everyone works quietly and quietly, so even if they feel unreasonable, the organization will not change for a long time. Of course, there are some PTAs that are doing well, but many PTAs still have old methods and ways of thinking.

Yudai Saito's idea of ​​changing the PTA, which still has the remnants of the Showa era, dates back to six years ago when he became the chairman of the Katsutadai Elementary School PTA. “There were many meetings throughout the year where we just talked about what had been decided without exchanging opinions. Everyone was taking their time to come to school, but I thought this was not a good idea,” says Saito. . The number of children has decreased, the number of working parents has increased, and the environment surrounding PTA has certainly changed dramatically.

　In the second year, we were able to reduce the number of meetings to 2/3 due to the fact that the PTA headquarters members at the same time were positive about the reform. However, in the third year, I tried to visualize the work of each subcommittee, whose roles and tasks were unclear, but I could only achieve the point where I wrote it in a paper notebook. “We don't talk about creating materials on a PC or leaving data in the cloud, but in the end, it's a trend to suit people who can't use it,” says Saito.

　In this way, the reform stagnated, but after that, a new member who was strong in IT entered the PTA reform, and the PTA reform turned to digitalization. One of them is the introduction of LINE WORKS.

It is difficult for one person to change all at once with a sense of urgency

　Mr. Atsuhiro Murakami, an IT company employee who was involved in the introduction of LINE WORKS, said that his children are currently in the 4th and 1st grades of Katsutadai Elementary School. I go to It was three years ago that he joined the PTA headquarters, and until then his wife had participated in PTA activities. He felt it. “There are tasks ahead of us, such as bellmarks, school cleaning, cooperation with events, the PTA bazaar, and the creation of public relations magazines, and it is difficult to get everyone to take care of them. It's a situation where you can't raise your hand for reasons that you don't have to say, such as work, nursing care, childcare, etc. It's a story that comes up if you look it up on the internet for "PTA Yami" (laughs). It's exhausting to have this going on all the time while I'm in school." With this in mind, Murakami joins the PTA Headquarters.

　Mr. Murakami joined the PTA Headquarters and wanted to change the way information was shared on paper. “It would be nice if there were paper notes left, but if they didn’t, members who were renewed every year would have to ask about the work details through word of mouth. I had to go to the office and print out copies for the number of people.Even though everyone was busy, I wanted to do something about it.”(Mr. Murakami).

　In addition to Mr. Saito, who has been working on PTA reform for many years, and Mr. Murakami, who is strong in IT, the vice president who works quickly and other members who support the reform have gathered at the headquarters to reform the PTA of Katsutadai Elementary School. made a big shift to digital. "I'm going to say something conclusive, but it's difficult for one person to try to change it all at once with a sense of urgency. I think we need to increase the number of people who agree with us and take a certain amount of time to convince them." (Mr. Murakami) ).

Then why did you choose LINE WORKS? "In a nutshell, the interface is similar to LINE, which everyone uses, and you can share information with an account separate from LINE," says Murakami. Cybozu's kintone, which offers low-cost accounts for non-profit organizations, was also a candidate, but it was decided not to use it because it was assumed to be a PC operation and the screen was unfamiliar. On the other hand, LINE WORKS, which can be operated intuitively, lowers the hurdle of introduction in terms of cost by using the free plan.

The use of LINE WORKS has accelerated due to the corona crisis　The "PTA version of the information system" has also been set up

　LINE WORKS was introduced in earnest in 2019. Therefore, we were able to start using LINE WORKS from 2020, when the new coronavirus began to rage. We collected the email addresses of PTA members using Google Forms and registered LINE WORKS accounts. “By the time of the PTA general meeting in April, the account registration had already been completed, and we were able to provide the documents of the general meeting in PDF format and obtain approval using the questionnaire function of LINE WORKS,” says Mr. Murakami.

Image of group talk on LINE WORKS (for PC). Utilize the note function of LINE WORKS Talk and stock up on manuals, etc.

　In the midst of the corona crisis, it was said that LINE WORKS was accepted without much resistance, even though it was difficult to come to school and share information. Another benefit was that I didn't have to exchange my private LINE account for the PTA. In 2020, PTA activities other than the headquarters have almost stopped, so after the activities resumed, it began to be used loosely. “If it weren’t for the coronavirus, I think there would have been a lot of people saying they didn’t want to use it. I asked him if he would like to use it, so I have an image that he used it positively," says Saito.

　Specifically, how are you using it? Katsutadai Elementary School's PTA is largely a group of main tasks such as overall PTA management by the headquarters, accounting, and the creation of public relations magazines. consists of groups. A LINE WORKS talk group was created for each of these groups, and materials were shared on LINE WORKS. A manual is also available for use, and members of LINE WORKS operation support, who are in charge of information systems, are available for consultation on how to use and utilize it.

Katsutadai Elementary School PTA Organization

　Of course, there were also problems with literacy and the usage environment. Some people didn't want to use LINE WORKS, and as mentioned above, the introduction of IT at schools tends to cater to people with low literacy. According to a survey conducted in Yachiyo City, which has about 15,500 elementary school students, 10% of them do not have an internet connection at home, and they continue to communicate by paper. For this reason, Katsutadai Elementary School's PTA uses LINE WORKS as a premise, but has prepared three means of communication: email and paper.

About the effect of introducing LINE WORKS, Mr. Murakami says, "People who could not participate with the conventional method are now able to participate." At the PTA general meeting mentioned above, there were usually many people who only submitted a letter of proxy, and there were not many participants. However, by using the LINE WORKS questionnaire, he was able to unearth those who did not participate.

　Even if you have the time and desire to be active, you will not be able to go, and you will not be able to see the activities, which naturally makes it difficult for you to participate. By using LINE WORKS, it also plays a role as a platform that delivers information to everyone without leaving such members behind.

Introduction of the PTA version of Kurafan　Abolished the selection of officers for each class

　PTA reforms are still ongoing. For example, in addition to PTA activity expenses, we established the "Katsuko Kodomo Mirai Fund" soliciting contributions from members to purchase support items to be donated to schools as a PTA. This is, so to speak, the PTA version of crowdfunding, and instead of real activities, it is regarded as a PTA activity by investing. “As a basic premise, the headquarters members said that there is no one who has free time. Whether working full-time or part-time, the circumstances vary for each individual, such as housework, nursing care, and childcare. However, given the heavy burden on each family, we responded to voices saying that they wanted to cooperate with PTA activities but could not find the time. However, many people said they were grateful for such a system,” says Murakami.

　After the discussion in 2020, from 2021, it was decided to abolish the selection of officers by class and to procure human resources on demand according to work. I was worried about what would happen if they didn't raise their hand, but when each group received a request via LINE WORKS operational support, whether it was weeding or library support, each member volunteered to help. It is said that a proper report will be raised. “The weeding period is only about a week, and to be honest, I was wondering how many people would be able to participate. .

Request weeding with the notebook function. By posting a report with photos, it becomes possible to see the activity.

　There are various opinions about PTA activities, but there are not many people who do not want to cooperate with schools and children. “Until now, my work was for the PTA, so I think there was a lot of feeling of being forced to do it. When I ask them if they can help the school with the problems they are having or if they can help the children, they will do it voluntarily," says Saito.

To help people understand meaningful PTA activities

　The PTA reform activities themselves, including the introduction of LINE WORKS, will spread not only to Katsutadai Elementary School but also to all elementary schools in Yachiyo City. It is said that the PTA council in Chiba Prefecture has already introduced it on a trial basis. Saito says, "We are planning to try it at the city or prefecture level, rather than at the school level, and make effective use of it in the PTA through trial and error."

　Information sharing is important for PTA now, and LINE WORKS is a tool for that purpose. “If you do PTA activities properly, it will be good for your children, you can build connections with the community, and you can see what kind of activities teachers and schools are doing from the perspective of parents. I hope that LINE WORKS will come to life as a tool to make people think that it is a certain activity.As part of that activity, we created an information magazine for Yachiyo City's PTA to solicit the support of local businesses. We distributed it to everyone, and we also tried to promote the introduction of LINE WORKS,” says Saito. Mr. Saito is the chairman of the Yachiyo City PTA Liaison Council and the vice-president of the Chiba PTA Liaison Council, so she hopes to make an appeal through lectures and the like.

On the other hand, Mr. Murakami says, "I have my hands full with Katsutadai Elementary School (laughs)," but he says, "In the end, LINE WORKS itself is just a tool. I think it's important to properly organize what you want to do," he advises. It was impressive that LINE WORKS was used as a means to create a system and the ideal form of the organization that was created through many discussions.

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