Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify temporal changes in the approach to housework in home economics education. In this study, we analyze descriptive sentences about housework that appear in textbooks used for senior high school home economics since 1958. The following points were clarified. 1. Housework has consistently been emphasized as indispensable for maintaining and improving daily life. 2. The significance of housework has changed due to temporal societal changes. In textbooks that were adopted when home economics was taught strictly to female students, the participation of family members in housework was described as a cooperative effort to improve the efficiency for housewives or to reduce the load of working women. In textbooks that have been used since home economics became co-educational, housework has been described as meaningful for all individuals to maintain an independent lifestyle and to share household responsibilities. 3. At present, the purpose of home economics is to build mutual cooperation among family members through housework. In other words, home economics aims to respond to the demands of society to establish a new lifestyle based on a symbiotic relationship among family members. In the future, home economics is required to closely cooperate with studies on household arts.
