Exploration on the Organization of High School Home Economics Selective Curriculum for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

This study explored the organization of high school Home Economics (HE) selective curriculum for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We critically review the change process of HE curriculum as well as problems based on the understanding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The results were as follows. First, regarding the characteristic consistently shown in the revision process of high school curriculum, the huge increase of the number of subject organized resulted from the intensification of the selective-centered curriculum strengthening the choice for school and students. However, HE was reduced to some ‘Technology-Home Economics’ subject and a single subject ‘HE Science’ as a selective subject was subsequently combined with Technology after the 7th curriculum period. Consequently, HE hard to organize the career-focused curriculum, emphasized by the revised 2015 curriculum due to the insufficient number of subjects. Second, the choice of HE in high school curriculum should be expanded as measures to organize the HE curriculum of high school to cope with changes that result from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For the operation of the career-focused curriculum, career selective subjects and specialized subjects should be more diversely established. In accordance with changes in a future society that results from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the HE education community should be prepared in advance to be organized as a selective subject when revising a subsequent curriculum, by newly establishing subjects necessary to students through collective intelligence and deliberation with pedagogists and scholars for subject content as well as by producing/ getting approval from government-recognized textbooks.