CHANGING THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM TOWARD THE PROMOTION OF SCIENTIFIC LITERACY FOR ALL IN JAPAN

Abstract

On the brink of the 21st century, more debate exists now than ever before about school education that places particular emphasis on the development of skills needed to cope with social changes in Japan. It is an urgent need to begin considering restructuring the school curriculum, including reorganizing and integrating the existing subjects. With regard to education relevant to the advancement of science and technology, children's interest in science should be increased through the provision of more practical experience and through encouraging children to develop their own ideas, so that they should be able of better scientific perception and thinking. Environmental education should be improved and enriched with a view to foster children's awareness of the environment and nature, and cultivat the ability to act spontaneously to conserve the environment, and create a better environment. Information education should also be carried out with a view to cultivating in children information literacy relevant to the age of advanced information technologies. Each school should set up "school periods for synthetic learning", covering such themes as nature experiences, environmental protection, and information media.