Current State and Problems of Rice-Cooking Practical Lessons in Home Economics from the Teachers’ Point of View in Elementary School

Abstract

We investigated the current state of rice-cooking practical lessons taught by home economics teachers in 306 public elementary schools in the Kinki district in 2013 and 234 schools in the Kanto district in 2014 by administering a questionnaire. The results revealed that in most schools, fifth-year students participated in these lessons. More than 90% of the classes used cooking pots of which 85% were made of glass. The practical lessons were based on the instructions given in textbooks. Many teachers experienced difficulties in the instructions related to the control of heat intensity, countermeasures against burning, and instructions to control heating time. The teachers understood that their students were satisfied when they cooked the rice by themselves and that the students were interested in the changes the rice underwent during cooking. The teachers were of the view that rice-cooking practical lessons were important. It is recommended that the three problems noted should be addressed in the future.