Without Philosophizing, Chores Remain Chores

As often the case, my teaching career started at a “bottom” high school. There, and thereafter, I realized troubled kids are those who have troubles at home, and in the society at large.
Late one evening, I was talking with a student's parent. “I was illiterate when I was young. Later, I learned how to write and read, yet I can't help my child do homework. I wish I could.” Merely giving out homework might strengthen reproducing poverty, and strain some parental love.
Later on, I moved to a vocational high school. Some students chose the school because they can work right after the graduation. The choice had been nurtured by their domestic economy, namely poverty in this Japanese academic background-oriented society.
I saw a student's father only in their entrance ceremony. Her mother had left the family. Her father was almost always out form one construction site to another, and hardly came home with some money in his hand. The telephone service was sometimes stopped. Her younger brother was not attending his junior high school.
I sometimes paid home visits to dun her of the school tuition with an administrative staff, mostly only to find their room closed with nobody inside, even late at night. The visits were a kind of an alibi to show our efforts to the Board of Education.
My third type of encounter with poverty was teaching returnees from China. One female parent used to be an elementary teacher in China, but ended up making a cashier in Japan. Without Japanese fluency, they were regarded “illiterate.” Without Japanese licenses, they were treated as manual laborers, accordingly with low payment.
Students who have troubles, especially poverty, at home, have caused many troubles and problems on me. They actually and obviously increased my work load, which, on the other hand, would support their coming to school, going up social ladder.
During my career, I have read many books: some about buraku discrimination first, some others about Korean residents in Japan next, and then those about the poverty itself. Political Economical understanding helped me endure so called “chores” in educational institutions, a jargon which indicates routine works other than teaching.