成城小学校の自然学習と遊び科の歴史的意義に関する研究

－学校環境教育前史として―

抄録

  Although it is widely suggested that the beginning of environmental education in Japan is education conducted to teach about conservation and pollution, there are only a few historical details from the viewpoint school education. This focuses on Seijo Elementary School during the "Taisho New Education Movement" period, and seeks to examine the transition of the relationship between "nature studies", "lower-grade science" and "play time" utilizing the magazine "Studies On Educational Problems", published by Seijo Elementary School. Since its establishment, Seijo Elementary School has been conducting educational experiments incorporating "nature studies" to establish science as a subject for lower grades. However, after about ten years, the research on science for lower grades decreased, and "nature studies" continued as a research issue for "play time" together with integrated education. The research of "nature studies" at Seijo Elementary School has created not only the foundation of learning about nature in lower-grade science, which led to the introduction of environmental education, but has also shifted to the study of "play time" and the establishment of "Living Environment Studies", which is the main subject in current environmental education for lower grades in elementary school.