Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
students, including one each for the geography and history fi elds as well as an atlas,
while the civics textbook is given to third year students. With the new curriculum,
a new geography textbook is now distributed to second year students.
1
This new
measure ensures that the newly revised geography content will be covered, replac-
ing old textbooks that were distributed in earlier grades which would not have been
suffi cient for second year students.
The writing of the 2008 National Curriculum Standards was infl uenced by a
report authored by the Central Council for Education (
2008
). Among the report's
'specifi c items for revision' in the Social Studies area, those related to the content
of the geography fi eld can be summarized in the following four points:
1. To deepen students' geographical recognition of the world, units will be added
to introduce the relationship between people in various parts of the world and the
environment, as well as about the diversity of the world's various regions.
2. To deepen students' further understanding of Japan's national land, content will
be improved to highlight geographical characteristics that relate characteristic of
regional phenomena to other phenomena across various regions.
3. To support students' geographical skills, such as reading and creating maps, these
will be further emphasized throughout all of the content.
4. To foster students' competence and attitudes in solving various issues and devel-
oping the region, they are introduced to a survey of the local area.
The new school geography curriculum was based directly on these 'specifi c
items for revision.' The following six points can be cited as key to the 2008 National
Curriculum Standards (MEXT
2008
):
A. Re-examination of the geography fi eld's goals
B. Re-examination of the composition of learning content
C. Emphasis on geographical recognition of the world
D. Strengthening recognition of the nation's land through learning in dynamic
regional geography
E. A greater emphasis on fostering geographical skills
F. Study on the local area that incorporates the viewpoint of social participation
The schools accept that every 10 years a revised National Curriculum Standards
will be implemented. This recent introduction of standards makes big changes that
affect the Social Studies and Geography courses much more than the History and
Civics curriculum. Nevertheless, education groups and teachers within the Social
Studies area are enthusiastically adjusting and making use of the accumulated teach-
ing materials, developing instruction resources that align with the new content.
Educators are responding with different solutions during the transition period
until the complete implementation of the 2008 National Curriculum Standards.
The classes that will be taught with the fully integrated curriculum are just beginning
in 2014. Keeping this point in mind, while describing the important points in the
1
In 1969, free distribution in the elementary and junior high schools for the entire year was completed
and continues up to the present.
