2016 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 401-414
In this research, I focused on a gymnasium in Lower Saxony, Germany, and analyzed the geography curriculum, Kerncurriculum für das Gymnasium Schuljahrgänge 5–10 Erdkunde, and the geography textbook, TERRA Erdkunde, in order to clarify their structure and characteristics in relation to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The results of the analysis showed that 1) sustainability or sustainable development is repeatedly taught through different processes of learning; and 2) the value of sustainability or sustainable development is not taken as given in lessons. Further, based on this analysis, the contributions to Japanese geographical education are as follows: 1) there is a need to design a geography curriculum that would enable students to study ESD through different processes of learning; and 2) students should be provided the opportunity to study the origin or concepts of sustainability or sustainable development in the Japanese context.
