Comparing Korean and Japanese Middle School Home Economics Curricula Through an ESD Lens

초록

This study analyzed and compared the learning elements and achievement standards in Korea and Japan's current middle school home economics (HEc) curricula, focusing on the dietary, clothing, and housing life areas. Evidence was sought for the presence of six education for sustainable development (ESD) concepts: diversity, interaction, finiteness, fairness, cooperation, and responsibility. Despite that both nations have historically influenced each other's HEc curriculum, Japan and Korea presented totally different profiles relative to which ESD concepts appeared most frequently, either explicit or deduced by the researchers. Two ESD concepts dominated the Japanese curriculum accounting for half the evidence of ESD: interaction and cooperation. Three totally different ESD concepts evenly dominated the Korean curriculum accounting for more than two thirds of the evidence for ESD: finiteness, diversity, and fairness. Different profiles emerged for the three HEc subject areas. Results strongly suggested that a full representation of ESD was lacking in both curricula with the strongest evidence for interaction followed to a lesser extent by diversity and cooperation. Notions of responsibility, fairness, and finiteness were weak or lacking. Evidence of the presence of the six ESD concepts was namely through inference instead of direct evidence. Future curricular revisions in Korea and Japan should draw on insights from this study to better ensure the deep entrenchment of ESD in middle school HEc education.

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