Social and Economic Education in the Japanese Elementary School National Curriculum

Abstract

If we define ‘economic education’ as being identical to ‘teaching economies’, then economic education cannot be said to be included in the elementary school curriculum in Japan. However, pupils do learn about economic activities, industries, and economic institutions in social studies. In this article, the meaning of economic education is interpreted in the broad sense, in which pupils think about and understand economic reasoning and consider how people behave in an economic manner. In this sense, economic education is very much practised in Japan's elementary school social studies. The nature of this economic education can be understood from an examination of the national Course of Study. The present Course of Study was announced in 1989 and was put into effect in 1992 for elementary schools. This paper describes both the objectives and the content for each grade in the Course of Study, and illustrates these with examples of economic concepts in the present social studies textbooks and teaching material. It also outlines the new perspectives for economic education that arises through the study of economic globalisation and the conservation of the global environment, and suggests that these will require new forms of economic and social understanding.