The purpose of this study is to examine the consumer educational teaching methods of home economics education. In January 2007, two teaching practices dealing with a mail order were conducted for the second-year junior high school students. One was a participatory lesson and the other was a lecture lesson. Teaching materials of both lessons contained the same goals, and used mail order advertisements. The participatory lesson was conducted from the perspective of a vicious mail order contractor. The lecture lesson introduced the examples of a vicious mail order contractor. The participatory lesson was effective because it dealt with the knowledge in everyday life. However, a support is necessary for students to be able to relate to their lived experiences. In addition, a support is needed to conduct a participatory lesson through cooperative activities. In contrast, the lecture lesson efficiently transmitted the knowledge. However, the knowledge in everyday life could not be well understood using this method, thus a support for relating this knowledge to everyday life is necessary.
