In this paper, I examine the status of the teachers' understanding and practices of 'life unit' at the Elementary School Attached to Akashi Women's Normal School in 1920's. For that purpose, I analyze the features of a teacher, Nishiguchi Tsuchitaro's one year records about the practice of the life unit, which was titled The Construction and Practice of the Life Unit Curriculum for the First Grade at the Jinjo Elementary School in 1930. In addition, I evaluate the status of the practical research by referring to a chair teacher Heiji Oikawa's leading research group's achievements. As a result, it is pointed out as follows: 1) The life unit research started from the lower grades; 2) The teachers freely studied and practiced on the basis of the information brought by Oikawa; 3) Nishiguchi Tuchitaro was a leader of practical studies. Nishiguchi attempted to constitute experience units called 'life unit' by organizing the sequence adopting Ovide Decroly's theory of 'center of interest.' Moreover, Nishiguchi's theory was characterized in terms of consistency between kindergarten and elementary school. A Conduct Curriculum for the kindergarten and First Grade that Oikawa transmitted to the kindergarten and the elementary school attached to Akashi Women's normal school was the same type as the curriculum of the kindergarten linking with the elementary school that was developed at the laboratory schools of Teachers College, Columbia University. The teachers of both the elementary school and the kindergarten studied together A Conduct Curriculum, and respectively developed the individual life unit curriculum. Finally, I point out that Oikawa was a great leader advocating the efficiency of their practical studies and teachers achievements of developing the life unit curriculum.

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This paper aims to review the recent hidden curriculum studies and reconsider the hidden curriculum from the viewpoints of gender studies. Stressed on "hidden", the recent hidden curriculum studies are divided into the following seven studies. 1 The hidden curriculum means the actual contents that students learn, since teachers neglect the variation of the learning conditions or don't understand the forms transmitted through their teaching. 2 The hidden curriculum means the teaching contents. Teachers use this meaning to reflect their teaching. 3 The hidden curriculum means values, norms, belief, dispositions and attitudes. Some consider these without ideology, for example, moral norms, or values and attitudes as a doctor. Others, especially race/ethnicity studies and gender studies, think these with ideology, and make racism and sexism clear. 4 The hidden curriculum means school culture and school nature. 5 The hidden curriculum means interpreting and giving the meaning. Gender studies argue that sex categories and sex stereotypes are operated as interpreting and giving the meaning. 6 Counter the hidden curriculum. Gender studies do action-research to let students counter the hidden curriculum with sexism. 7 The hidden curriculum has hidden effects. Most of the gender studies insist on the effects of the reproduction of gender. Although sexism in the hidden curriculum has been indicated from the late 1970s, this insight is important even now. There are anti-sexism initiatives that have a key concept of the hidden curriculum. Since gender studies stress on the process to be women or men, they think the hidden curriculum operates in this process. But we must avoid stressing only sexism and the effects of the reproduction of gender, because the hidden curriculum only considers problems. My past study argued that there was the complexity of sex-egalitarianism and sexism in the hidden curriculum. Sex categories and sex stereotypes are example of sexism, but Mori indicates that teachers use them to manage their classrooms. Romeo and Margolis, and Shira suggest the effects of the hidden curriculum as not only the reproduction of gender but also the socialization to specialists, teachers, or women who was committed to progressire Era discourses. Based on these studies, this paper suggests the hidden curriculum as a transmitter to the gender messages. It defines gender as the knowledge of sex which includes the relativity of sex-dichotomy. If the hidden curriculum transmitted gender fair messages, disclosed sexism and showed measures against sexism, it will, as a consequence, modify the reproduction of gender. Teachers should play a part in this. This hidden curriculum offers teachers the following three viewpoints. 1 The hidden curriculum is divided into the explicit hidden curriculum and the implicit hidden curriculum. 2 The gender messages are divided into the explicit gender messages and the implicit gender messages. 3 The gender messages are carried by other messages, for example, classroom management, the needs for the labor market and the school role with the school grade. If teachers could be conscious about these three viewpoints, they would improve their teaching practices. Thus, the hidden curriculum has a role of empowerment of teachers.

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In recent United States, research field related curriculum and teacher show a new trend. New concept "educative curriculum materials" had been proposed, and theoretical and practical researches have been developed. The commonly used curriculum materials provide routine knowledge for planning and implementing the lessons to teachers. On the other hand, educative curriculum materials provide adaptive knowledge for acting in the unknown situation adequately to teachers. What is the teacher model that this new concept proposes? What kind of significance does it have for research and practices related curriculum and teacher? In addition, what kind of suggestion does it have for Japanese research and practices? In this study, I examine theoretical and practical research of the educative curriculum materials and investigate answers for these questions. First of all, I review background of research about educative curriculum materials. As a result of review, two key factors are pointed out as the background. One is the reflection for the curriculum-teacher relationship in 1960's modernization of education. Another is the accumulation of findings related how teachers use the curriculum materials. The possibilities are found out by these findings that teacher could change, in other words, teacher could learn through the use of the curriculum materials. Second, I clarify teacher learning using educative curriculum materials through research in mathematical education and science education. In the case of mathematical education, it is made clear that the educative curriculum materials, which are made to provide the teacher knowledge about learning content and how to teach mathematics, could support the learning of the teacher. The teacher acquires the new method of the lesson thorough the educative curriculum materials as the main source of information for their professional development. In the case of science education, the research shows that teachers learn through using the educative curriculum materials. The teachers use the educative curriculum materials not routinely, but adaptively in form to integrate with the teachers' intellectual resources. Finally, I discuss significance of the "educative curriculum materials" concept from the viewpoint of the teacher model, and its implications for Japanese research and practices. About the former, it is considered that this concept proposes a new teacher model. This model is not that the teachers implement the existing curriculum effectively, and not that the teachers create the original curriculum. This is the model that the teachers use the existing curriculum adaptively. There is the significance of this teacher model in showing concretely "the teachers mature through the existing curriculum and create the new curriculum in that." About the latter, two implications of the new concept for Japanese research and practices are pointed out. One is that the concept could encourage the research related curriculum and teacher. Another is that the concept makes clear that the teacher's manual of the textbook could become the object of the new research and practices.

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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the actual development and revision process of national curriculum on the content "living together" and clarify distinctive characteristics of its process. The main focus of this study is on the analysis of the 1980 national curriculum, not only because this revision started just after the MBL (Medbestammandelagstiftningen, Coperative Decision-making Law) came into force, placing more emphasis on the co-operation and "The School for All" than before, but because cross-curriculum for "learning to live together" was formed in the curriculum. From the analysis of the revision process of 1980 Swedish national curriculum, the following five points are proved evident. First, the Swedish revision process of curriculum is characterized by the fact that individual members of the "Läroplan" committee work independently from the government office, since the function of the government office is definitely separated from that of the executive office. Second, the individual members of the "Läroplan" committee are not representatives of respective subjects of compulsory school, but specialists in the fields which are considered essential at the time, such as "equality", and "the handicapped." This fact leads us to understand easily the key concepts for each curriculum revision. Furthermore, every committee consists of a variety of members so as to form a national consensus. Third, the fact, that students are on these committees is both remarkable and commendable. In fact, the teacher's guide book "Samlevnadundervisning (Sexuality and personal relationship)" published in 1977 by the Swedish national board on education was revised according to students' opinions. Fourth, national curriculum revision is carried out, based on reports of surveys, and all the discussions and the process in each committee are open to the public. And national curriculum is revised to solve the problems in Swedish society. In later 70's, Sweden put emphasis of education on "The school for All" and was trying hard to invite handicapped children into ordinary school. So the SIA (Skolans Inre Arbete) report discussed the detailed facts and the made proposals, and on this report the 1980 revision on was carried out. Fifth, the national cross-curriculum for "learning to live together" was realized through a thorough investigation in the particular educational content area "equality of the sexes." The 1980 national cross-curriculum for the "learning to live together" was based on the report "More Freedom and Equality Program for School" by Margareta Vestin, who was a specialist on "equality". The representatives of all subjects argued and discussed as to which subject should teach what content and how.

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This paper is an article about the development of the theory of educational objectives in America. In the 1940s, R.W. Tyler advocated that educational objectives should be clarified at the beginning of curriculum design. These educational objectives can then function as criteria for the choice and organization of materials and learning experiences and as criteria for curriculum evaluation. Furthermore, Tyler proposed that educational objectives should be clarified in terms of both content and behavioral aspect: this became known as the theory of behavioral objectives. In 1956, B.S. Bloom developed the taxonomy of educational objectives which classified the behavioral aspect of educational objectives. The theory of behavioral objectives and Bloom's Taxonomy facilitated the development of rational scientific curriculum design in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the standards movement developed, and new theories and technology to assess higher-order thinking, such as performance assessment, authentic assessment, performance tasks, rubrics, and portfolios, were proposed. In the 1990s, many programs of unit design for the deep understanding of content standards were developed. And Bloom's Taxonomy was revised in 2001. This paper examines the development of the new theory of educational objectives and assessment after the 1980s. It particularly attempts to elucidate the difference between the theory of behavioral objectives and of performance assessment in the way of clarifying intended learning outcomes. Firstly, this paper discusses two approaches to setting behavioral objectives: that of educational engineering which describes objectives in a specific way, and that of Bloom and his associates who describe objectives in a more general way. Secondly, this paper examines the theory of authentic assessment advocated by G. Wiggins. And it clarifies the methodology of setting educational objectives in performance assessment through comparison with the theory of behavioral objectives. In performance assessment, educational objectives are clarified as both examples and qualitative descriptions of the proficiency of student performance. Such educational objectives as student performance function as models which can lead to creative teaching and thoughtful learning, and prevent teachers from using a check list approach to accomplish instructional objectives. Finally, three frameworks which clarify and classify the competences behind student performance are examined. These are (1) the Revised Taxonomy developed by L.W. Anderson, (2) the Dimensions of Learning developed by R.J. Marzano, and (3) the Structure of Knowledge in Understanding by Design developed by Wiggins. Recently, in most curriculum design frameworks and standards documents, the development of student performance has been described as interaction between the development of knowledge and understanding, and the development of skills, and each strand is described concretely in a spiral manner. The form of behavioral objectives is not effective to foster higher-order thinking, and performance assessment needs a new approach to setting educational objectives.

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In this paper, the theory on the educational theory by Samuel A. Kirk and G. Orville Johnson is focused. In the 1960s, many practitioners, researchers, and the policy makers in the field of the mentally retardation in the United States, had shared the same goal of the education for the mentally retarded as their vocational adjustment and the social independence of them. In the field of the special education for the mentally retarded, an alternative argument has been developed on the curriculum based on the academic subject or the vocational training. For instance, the President's Panel on Mental Retardation founded by President Kennedy, submitted that many people with the mental retardation had the ability to get the unskilled jobs and the independent living, and proposed a policy for the vocational training and the vocational rehabilitation. Many insisted on the vocational training for the realization of this goal. In contrast, Kirk and Johnson thought much of an academic curriculum in the education for the mentally retarded children, particularly for those with the mild disabilities to realize these goals of their social independence of them. Kirk and Johnson argued for the definitions of the educable mentally retarded children and the trainable mentally retarded children on the basis of the standards of the possibility of the academic curriculum, and they considered that the development of an academic curriculum and the possibility of the social independence. The theory by Kirk and Johnson made sense as the educational theory for the realization of the social adjustment, economic independence and social participation of the mentally retarded, and the curriculum focused the development of the academic abilities and the skills. For this reason their theory was unique in the field of the special education for the mentally retarded individuals. There still remain a number of anresolved issues. One is about the implementation of the theory in the special schools for the mentally retarded. And another is how were the theory succeeded in the field of research. Future research and analysis should focus on these issues.

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The aim of this research is that from the unit of "SEIKATUKA" subject analyze ideologies inner it, and particularly think how "YUTORI KYOUIKU" been born passing the political way. So, this research has reconsidered the shape of it. In Course of Study in 1989, SEIKATUKA was expected as the single concrete subject of YUTORI KYOUIKU by both inside and outside the school education. However, previous researches about it have not enough tried to examine what is the structure YUTORI KYOUIKU has been defined and what are the mechanism contents of the curriculum have been decided. And while we consider YUTORI KYOUIKU as involving various ideologies, have not enough tried to examine their ideologies from the unit of SEIKATSUKA subject. Then we can refer to "CURRICULUM POLITICS RESEARCH". It tries to clear the structures of confliction in the curriculum, so to disclose stakes behind these. Ideologies as structure of stakes govern contents and decision mechanism for those behind in YUTORI KYOUIKU, so we need to analyze that. Here, when analyze the curriculum of YUTORI KYOUIKU, we have the usefulness to take CURRICULUM POLITICS RESEARCH. This research referred to researches by Apple and Goodson in particular. Considerations of this research have reached following two findings. First, SEIKATSUKA was formed as amalgams between the "Personalization of Education" ideology by the Ministry of Education and "Liberalization of Education" ideology by the National Council on Educational Reform ("RINKYOUSHIN"). The policy of "Personalization" had constructed with the slogan named "New Achievement View (SHINGAKURYOKUKAN)". The policy of "Liberalization" had constructed with the slogan named "the Competency for Independent Learning" and so on. Second, as a result, SEIKATSUKA had conformed as the product of compromise between the "Personalization" ideology and "Liberalization" ideology. And, as previously noted, the conforming process had took the lead by the "Personalization" ideology. It had systematized the "Personalization" policy with removing the element of competition which the "Liberalization" policy had. That is, the "Personalization" policy was including egalitarianism originated with the view points of equal opportunity.

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