2001 年 10 巻 p. 126-135
The Japanese government passed the basic law for a gender-equal society in 1999. It is important that schools provide education on gender issues for children to realize a gender-equal society. This article is based on a series of lessons in which both the content and the teaching method were gender sensitive. After the lessons were finished, assessment was made of the children's learning process about gender. The course was planned by a home economics teacher at an elementary school and an academic at a university who researches gender issues in education.
The home economics teacher gave her 6th grade classes 21 lessons from September 1999 to March 2000. All the lessons were recorded by video camera and analyzed by the home economics teacher and the academic.
The course was composed of three parts. The purpose of the first part was to make the children aware of gender issues around them. In the second part, the children investigated and found gender issues by themselves. In the last part, the children expressed how they felt about gender issues. The children met and communicated with people who had particular views and experiences regarding gender.
According to analysis of the lessons, children did come to recognize the problem of gender. However, some children could not consider gender problems linking with their own life. The lessons were not effective in teaching the children what they should do by themselves to create a gender-equal society. It is important that teachers explain how gender has been socially, culturally and historically constructed and teach children how society and consciousness have changed regarding gender issues.
