This study analyzed pre-service teachers’ educational needs regarding the content elements of clothing life education included in the “human development and leading life” and “living environment and sustainable choice” areas of the 2022 revised Practical Arts Education curriculum. The study employed Borich's calculating model using the score gap between the required competence level (RCL) and their present competence level (PCL). The survey included 18 content elements related to clothing life education: 4 items in the knowledge and understanding category, 7 items in the process and function category, and 7 items in the value and attitude category. The data were collected through a survey of 413 pre-service teachers at J University, with additional questions on sex, school year, major, and experience with clothing life lectures. The study used SPSS Statistics 24 to statistically analyze the data. The main findings are as follows: First, pre-service teachers tended to value the teacher's ability and highly rate their abilities in the values and attitudes categories of clothing life education. There were statistically significant differences according to gender and experience with clothing life lectures. Second, educational needs for clothing life education content elements tended to be concentrated in the “living environment and sustainable choice” area, especially in the process and function categories, and encompassed elements from the value and attitude category. The highest needs were for planning and implementing sustainable actions in everyday life, followed by exploring ways to increase the value and use of living resources, sustainable food, clothing, living life, self-made, and creative attitudes, attitudes toward cherishing living resources, and understanding the impact of one's choices on the community’s life and environment. Based on these results, the conclusions and suggestions are as follows: First, the clothing life education for pre-service teachers should prioritize and balance content elements in the “living environment and sustainable choice” area. It is necessary to devise integrated programs that cultivate practical values and attitudes through activities in the process and function categories. Second, strategies should be planned considering the gender of pre-service teachers, and efforts should be made to expand and implement clothing life education. Third, it is essential to further study the educational needs related to the specific textbook units, including input from field teachers, and the results should inform teacher education and retraining programs.
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