2015 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 1_132-143
Through the active support of both educational policy and citizens’ groups, education for sustainable development（ESD）has spread throughout Japan, conducted mainly under the auspices of UNESCO-affiliated schools. Each school has utilized the period of integrated study to conduct ESD, and in the process has created a regionally-linked ESD with great individuality. However, in addition to ESD, Japan has also introduced educational ideas arising from the OECD educational policy, and is thus facing the difficult problem of globalizing education. It is believed that this will likely have a particularly large effect on educational goals, content and methods of teaching.
In this research, a theoretical problem was derived from the process of implementing ESD within the domestic educational policy framework and examined to elucidate the influence that ESD exerts on skills development in the period of integrated study. As a result, the importance of addressing the following three points for future ESD practice in schools are proposed: 1）Reconsider “the relationship between individuals and society” within the framework of educational goals; 2）Implement practice promoting the internal transformation of the learner; and 3）Implement practice based on analyzing actual learners and their situations.
