The Educational Purpose of Home Economics Education Incorporating Gender Perspectives : Towards the Actualization of a Gender-Equal Society(SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the challenge of home economics education intended to further a gender-equal society. Previous articles regarding home economics education and gender issues were reviewed and their results reconsidered. Home economics education has been affected by social conditions in every period in which it has existed. Although the subject has become a co-educational required subject from elementary school to high school since 1994 in Japan, problems regarding gender issues have always existed. Studies on gender and home economics education have been able to classify three aspects of this issue: 1) educational theory, 2) the analysis of school culture and the social environment in schools, and 3) curriculum development and research in home economics practices. As the Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society suggests, the purpose of home economics education is to help students nurture independent living skills and a consciousness that does not insist on fixed gender roles in a society. The way home economics teachers address gender issues in class is important. The aim of the lesson for students should be to be aware of gender bias around them in the context of building their future life plan. New, innovative educational practices in home economics are needed to actualize a gender-equal society.