Current Status and issues of education and childcare curriculum in Japan and Korea—Focusing on the comparison of “Nature Exploration” and “Art Experience” in the “Environment” and “Expression” areas of the “Nursery School Childcare Guidelines” and the “Standard Childcare Course” in Korea—

Abstract

Early childhood education is important for creating a sustainable society. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has pointed out that “childcare quality reform” is a common issue in Japan and Korea. In South Korea, an integrated nursery curriculum was introduced in March 2012 for 5-year-olds in kindergartens and childcare facilities (orinizippu). In 2013, the curriculum was expanded to include children aged 3 to 5 using the “Nuri Curriculum” for ages 3 to 5. In March 2017, a revised integrated curriculum was introduced in Japan. This article will address the issue of how to evaluate the quality of childcare education by analyzing the revised daycare curriculum in Japan and South Korea. For our research, we will compare the following two areas of the integrated curriculum for children under the age of three in Japan and Korea: “Nature exploration and Environment”, and “Art experience and Expression”. The purpose of this paper is to examine the way childcare curriculum for children under the age of three is implemented to ensure the quality of childcare practices through a comparison between Japan’s Nursery Center Childcare Guidelines and the Korean Standard Nursery Course.