Typology of Learning Contents in “Supplementary Textbook for Disaster Prevention Education” – What Are Teachers in the Areas Affected by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Striving to Teach Students in Junior High School? –

Abstract

A supplementary textbook for disaster prevention education was analyzed for understanding the content educators wish to include in disaster prevention curriculums. The text was a condensed textbook – edited by schoolteachers and boards of education in the local governments – from wide areas with a population of one million who were severely affected by the damage and deaths caused by the Great Hanshin-Awaji and the Great East Japan Earthquakes. The targets for analysis were supplementary textbooks for students in junior high schools, published by the five boards of education in Miyagi, Sendai, Iwate, Hyogo, and Kobe. 147 subjects of five supplementary textbooks for disaster prevention education were evaluated as to their applicability to 46 evaluation items. The average of the evaluation items was 11.59 (SD = 2.92). Numerous “Records” (111 subjects, 75.5%) and “Images” (109 subjects, 74.1%), resulted from each evaluation. A remarkable majority of disaster types included “Earthquake disasters” (108 subjects, 73.5%) and “Tsunami disasters” (85 subjects, 57.8%). “Related Fields,” “Social studies” (30 subjects, 20.4%), and “Science” (29 subjects, 19.7%) were the most common subjects. In “Related Fields,” “Special activities” included the highest subjects (59 subjects, 40.1%), after “Ethics,” which included 56 subjects (38.1%). “Writer and persons involved” and “Student who writes compositions and is involved as a learner” included 72 subjects (49.0%). Subsequently, there were “Local residents,” (52 subjects, 35.4%), “Researchers and experts” (36 subjects, 24.5%), and “Unaffected persons” (35 subjects, 23.8%), which included volunteers. Regarding “Type of disaster prevention education,” learning activities for “Prepare for disasters” included the most subjects at 92 (62.6%). Subsequently, learning activities to “Enrich the mind (love for family and community, compassion, the importance of life,)” by raising students’ included 60 subjects (40.8%). Regarding “Qualities and abilities expected to be acquired,” “Knowledge” showed the highest 91 subjects (61.9%). Next was “Self-awareness” (64 subjects, 43.5%), “Social participation/community contribution” (48 subjects, 32.7%), and “Kindness to disaster-affected people” (47 subjects, 32.0%). Moreover, cluster analysis (ward method) was performed using a data set of the subject evaluation of the supplementary textbooks. The analysis with subjects presented six types: “Life-saving measures,” “Fortifying town,” “Measures required for disaster survival,” “Awareness of joining local community,” “Disaster comradery,” and “Living with family and community.” All the five supplementary textbooks featured those six types. More than half of the subjects were featured content regarding student emotions. The first three types were combined and understood as “Countermeasures” with “Knowledge.” In addition, the latter three types were combined and understood as subjects to teach the “Will to live together,” with a relation such as that of ethics and emotional learning. When the same data set was subjected to cluster analysis (ward method) using the evaluation items, four types were obtained: “Knowledge to prepare for earthquake and tsunami disasters,” “Solidarity with family and residents,” “Emergency Response Judgement,” and “Knowledge and skills useful at disaster time.” The types correspond to the classification of the conceptual model of disaster prevention education conducted by Sato et al. [1]. Additionally, all types have corresponding qualities and abilities. The results led teachers to believe that disaster prevention education should be implemented, not simply as life-saving education, but also as instructions that promote the emotional growth of children while cultivating humanity.