Abstract
The National Curriculum Standards for junior high schools in Japan were made public in 2008, and fully implemented in April, 2012. The key areas that were revised include the strengthening of regional geography, where students learn about the geographical characteristics of world regions and of Japan. This is combined with fostering student recognition of Japan’s geographic regions and its national land, an area that has been emphasized in the geography component of junior high school Social Studies. In regards to the nation’s land, the revisions call for dynamic learning in order to avoid an over-emphasis of learning facts in regional geography education. Investigative learning is another area emphasized in the new curriculum, where a survey of the local area conducted at the end of the geography field incorporates a social participation element. In order to respond to the new learning activities that come along with these revisions, the active promotion of well-planned training for educational administrative bodies, schools, and for Social Studies teachers will be needed.
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Notes
- 1.
In 1969, free distribution in the elementary and junior high schools for the entire year was completed and continues up to the present.
- 2.
The four publishers of junior high school Social Studies (with geography content) textbook passed the 2011 textbook approval process are: Tokyo Book Publishing, Inc.; Educational Publishing, Inc.; Teikoku Shoin, Inc.; and Nihon Bunkyo Publishing, Inc.
- 3.
Made public in June, 2010; survey conducted on January 24, 2009; 9,394 third-year junior high school students at 301 schools participated.
- 4.
According to the Analysis of National High School Entrance Exam Questions for 2013 Exam Takers—Social Studies, published by Obunsha Press, 27 out of 47 prefectures had questions related to topographic maps on the 2012 high school entrance exams.
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Hirasawa, K. (2015). Current Status and Issues in Junior High School Geography Education. In: Ida, Y., Yuda, M., Shimura, T., Ike, S., Ohnishi, K., Oshima, H. (eds) Geography Education in Japan. International Perspectives in Geography, vol 3. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54953-6_3
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