2024 Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 29-41
This paper examines the trends in the number of occurrences of certain phrases in the arts and crafts subject in Japan by focusing on the phrases “one’s senses and actions” and “one’s perspectives and feelings” that constitute the goals of the arts and crafts subject in the 2017 edition of the Course of Study for elementary schools. We conducted year-on-year comparisons and inter-subject comparisons of the Course of Study from the 1958 edition to the 2017 edition, studying the similarities and differences thus identified. The results show similar trends for the arts and crafts subject with respect to the transition from the 1958 to 1971 edition and from the 2008 to 2017 edition. In the arts and crafts subject, there was a slight uptrend in phrases related to the “senses” and its synonyms. Discussions on the occurrence of phrases were conducted from the perspectives of systematism and empiricism, and in connection with folk art education movements. It was concluded that even after the 2017 edition, when the framework of the Course of Study changed, “senses” will be emphasized.
