Focusing on elementary school children, this study aims to form their value recognition through the consumer education. For this purpose, research concerning actual conditions, teaching practice and the evaluation were consecutively conducted. In this first report, actual conditions of purchasing behavior, and value judgment and recognition concerning confectioneries are studied. In 2003, the investigation was conducted with a sample of 953 fifth and sixth grade children of elementary schools in Chiba Prefecture. Results were obtained by the correspondence analysis and value portfolios. Most children had experience in purchasing confectioneries by themselves. However, they were less likely to understand the standpoint of production and marketing concerning the value recognition in selecting confectioneries. Based on our results, suggestions about the teaching practices of consumer education were made.

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Following the results of the first report, this study aims to develop teaching method for forming the value recognition in selecting confectioneries from the viewpoint of production and marketing. In 2004, a teaching practice consisting of a simulation of confectioneries product development was conducted in the fifth grade class at an elementary school in Chiba Prefecture. Students' perceptions before and after the teaching practice were compared. The contents of the group discussion were also analyzed by the utterance protocols. Students' perceptions toward production and marketing were apparently improved after the class. Group discussions expanded viewpoints of the product development reflecting standpoint of the production and marketing. Concerning the utterance, we compared the type of decision making by trial and error with that of decision making by following the order. As a result, the former type was more frequently observed than the latter type. With this teaching practice method, the value recognition through understanding about the production and marketing was formed among the children.

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Three hundred and sixty-eight cases of teaching practice on local community were collected in Kyushu and Okinawa between 1994 and 2004. The cases on "the perspective to observe local community and to recognize its living issues" (Level 4), and those on "the perspective to try to change and to recreate local community" (Level 5) are selected for content analyses. Our results are summarized as follows; 1. It is found that the number and proportion of Level 4 and 5 cases are higher in the 1990s than in the 2000s. Cases on the "Environment" were more frequently presented than those in other areas. 2. The contents and approaches of Level 4 cases are divided into two major categories. The first category includes the living conditions of local community through research, visits and statistics ("Environment" and "Welfare" areas), and investigation into conditions of school and community ("Housing" area). The second category includes observing the living issues as their own ("Family" and "Child care" areas). Contents and approaches in the "Food and Nutrition" area are included in both categories. 3. Level 5 cases include various activities to solve the problems related to local living issues in most subject areas. 4. To reach Level 4 and 5, teachers are expected to reside in the local community in order to conduct the community-based teaching practices. They are also required to possess sensitivities and local networks to reflect and understand residents' concerns and activities.

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The purpose of this study is to improve the teaching practices from local perspectives. One case from Level 1 (the lowest level) and the other cases from Levels 4 and 5 (the highest level) were selected from 368 cases collected in Kyushu and Okinawa between 1994 and 2004. In this paper, we present the problems of these plans and proposed the revised lesson plans. Additionally, the importance of teaching local living culture and living issues was discussed.

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The objective of this study is to examine the educational effectiveness of Experience in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) of Junior High School Child Care Education (CCE). First, the specific scale for measuring junior high school students' Image for Child (IC) was developed which was administered to 362 (males, 183 females, 179) students before and after ECEC. Junior high school students' IC was found to change positively after their interaction with children in ECEC. Second, we selected the students who had lower level of affinity to children before CCE and consequently changed. These students' Self-Efficacy (SE) was studied before and after CCE, using modified SE scale. We found that the level of these students' SE increased significantly. These findings suggest that the significance of ECEC can be observed by the educational effectiveness toward the students with a initial lower level of affinity to child by giving all students the opportunities to interact with children in a mandatory subject of Home Economics.

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