Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Assuring the safety of children in school is mandated by the School Health and
Safety Act. School safety began with hygiene supervision, and was then extended to
health education and extended further to safety education. Each time a large-scale
disaster struck, the government made efforts to strengthen disaster countermeasures
in the schools. However, schools are confronted with a wide range of problems.
Because disaster countermeasures must be tackled comprehensively, it is essential
for not only the schools but also for families and the community to collaborate.
For effective disaster education, class content should be aligned with the instruc-
tional content specifi ed in the National Curriculum Standards. As a result, the
knowledge and skills acquired in each subject can be used when students are faced
with a disaster.
The greatest contribution that geography can make to disaster education is to
provide learning opportunities where students explore their own living environment
with such tools as surveys. However, teachers face many other problems such as
chronic absenteeism and, as substantial overtime work increases, they have no time
to prepare teaching materials. However, the National Institute for Educational Policy
Research showed that there are signs of improvement in the core content of geogra-
phy education, based on results of the Research on the Curriculum. To improve these
circumstances, the design of teacher training courses is also relevant, but it is also
important to expand in-service opportunities so that teachers involved in geography
education can easily conduct activities such as fi eld surveys.
Disaster education should be promoted. One hopes that school administrations
promote this despite the realities of the education system, to maintain a fi rm grasp
of what is most important for students and frontline educators.
References
Cabinet Offi ce (2002a) Wagakuni no saigai taisaku (Disaster management in Japan).
bousai.go.jp/panf/saigaipanf.pdf
.
Accessed 23 Aug 2012
Cabinet Offi ce (2002b) White paper on disaster management. http://www.bousai.go.jp/kaigirep/
hakusho/h14/index.htm. Accessed 23 Aug 2012
Benesse Educational Research & Development Institute (2010) Fifth basic survey of scholastic
instruction. http://berd.benesse.jp/berd/center/open/report/shidou_kihon5/sc_dai/index.html.
Accessed 23 Aug 2012
Expert Conference on Disaster Education and Disaster Management in the Wake of the Great East
Japan Earthquake (2012) The fi nal report of an expert conference on disaster education and
disaster management in the wake of the Great East Japan earthquake.
http://www.mext.go.
jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/sports/012/toushin/1324017.htm
.
Accessed 23 Aug 2012
Hyogo Prefectural Maiko High School (2012) About the environment and disaster mitigation
course.
http://www.hyogo-c.ed.jp/~maiko-hs/bosai/kanbou1.htm
. Accessed 23 Aug 2012
Ida Y, Yoshida K, Hirasawa K, Asakawa T (2012) Nihon no gakko chiri kyoiku ni okeru genjo to
kadai (The circumstances and problems in geography education, Japan). E J Geogr 7(1):3-10
Koseki Y (2007) Anzen kyoiku ni okeru GIS no yuyosei: bousai, bouhan shido ni koken suru chiri
kyoiku no arikata (An effective use of GIS in safety education-an instructive contribution of
geography to disaster and crime prevention). Chiri Shiso 48(2):16-22
