1993 Volume 2 Pages 51-64
The subject was how to organize the curriculum of Japanese geography lessons in order to produce better teaching in junior high schools for the students who will live in the new society of the 21 century. It is critically important to raise the student's practical ability to make decisions and foster the student's creativity. For this purpose, it is necessary to produce school lessons which will raise the student's Yoken-teki-chishiki. Yoken-teki-chishiki is knowledge fostered through predicting the future using the current data and making practical decisions based on such predictions. In this sense, starting with the study of "neighboring regions" gives students good opportunity to present their thinking based on knowledge they now have. However, the study of neighboring regions tends to be finished rather quickly under the current curriculum. To solve this problem, the overall geography study curriculum must be examined. In addition, Yoken-teki-chishiki shoud be fostered by increasing the student's knowledge of facts. In this sense, it is better to start with learning about the neighboring regions. Therefore, the curriculum of the Japanese geography lessons was examined based on the idea of initiating geography studies of neighboring regions to make school lessons foster the student's Yoken-teki-chishiki. As a result of this examinamion, the following three points have become clear : (1) The neighboring regions as a model study must be placed at the beginning of the curriculum. (2) Geography lessons should go on to the neighboring regions study by using the most efficient teaching materials. (3) The neighboring regions study to improve Yoken-teki-chishiki should also be placed at the end of the curriculum as a bridge to civics studies taught in the third year of junior high school.
