2023 Volume 64 Issue 2 Pages 82-93
This article examines the differences in Japanese and Finnish elementary school science (including life sciences) textbooks, focusing on the biology (life-domain) content. In the analysis, following an example set by prior research, the problems (questions) presented in the textbooks were divided into 13 categories and possible answers similarly to 4 categories. Analysis was also conducted on the learning contents, especially on which different species of lifeforms are introduced and how natural environment are presented. As the result, we not only found out major differences in method used in elementary school biology and approaches towards natural environments, but also significant differences on preferred types of problems in each county. In Japanese textbooks, problems with clear-cut and unambiguous answers promoting procedural scientific knowledge form the majority. In contrast, the Finnish textbooks include a lot of open-ended problems and importance is placed on the question “why” and nurturing personal relationship with nature and biology lesson contents. This Finnish emphasis on diversity in possible answers, many which draw from personal experiences and knowledge, is strongly linked with the seven key competencies promoted in the current National Core Curriculum. This research provides suggestions for developing and promoting competence-based biology education in both countries.
