A Study On Disaster Education Of Primary And Secondary Schools In Japan

Nowadays,the number of global disasters has been on the rise.Meanwhile,disaster prevention and mitigation have been the communal missions of human beings,the global concern and eternal educational proposition.Disaster education,as the best approach of disaster prevention and mitigation,starts from school,for it is internationally acknowledged that school is regarded as the best location for disaster education.The importance of school disaster education has been increasingly prominent in recent years.As one of the few natural disasters worst-hit countries in the world,China has begin to vigorously promote disaster education in elementary and middle schools after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008,and has achieved some results,but due to the influence of technology-oriented thinking and the lack of a holistic concept on disaster education in cultural sense,disaster education lacks necessary humanistic dimension and tends to be ineffective.As a neighboring country of China,Japan's disaster culture is profound,and its disaster education security system is perfect.After decades of continuous reforms and development,disaster education in elementary and middle schools in Japan has become a global model.Although the two countries differ in the political system,culture and tradition,the experience of disaster education in elementary and middle schools in Japan has a vital research value and throws light on our school disaster education.The difference of school disaster education in China and Japan can not simply be attributed to factors such as economic growth,populace's cultivation and geographical conditions,but to different disaster cultures,which needs us to have a correct understanding of cultural characteristics of school disaster education in China and Japan,for in doing so,disaster culture has educational significance and then a practical concept of culture-oriented school disaster education can be constructed,so as to make students better understand the life value and their responsibility,take action carefully and correctly as well as inherit and create disaster culture.This paper is composed of an introduction and six chapters.The introduction mainly explains the research value and importance.On the basis of the core concept as well as relevant literature home and abroad,this part determines the research outline and framework.The first chapter illustrates the features and connotations of disaster culture as well as the main features of disaster culture,reveals the educational essence of disaster culture and summarizes cultural characteristics of disaster education in elementary and middle schools in Japan.The disaster culture is a survival culture in essence,a culture of disaster prevention in daily life,a culture of responsibility ethics,a culture of prevention,response and reflection and a culture of cooperation among family,school and community.The pervading “field” effect,tender “Taiji” effect and “controlling” effect of disaster culture are able to strengthen the cohesion of school disaster education,make up the deficiency of school disaster education management system and control means,and promote the normalization of school disaster education.The connotation of disaster culture requires for us to show concern for life and pay attention to the existence and promotion of students' life.Meanwhile,it requests for students to truly understand disaster,form a scientific disaster view,foster their responsibility,develop their disaster prevention habits,take action carefully and correctly,learn the knowledge about regional disaster prevention and create disaster culture.The cultural characteristics of disaster education in elementary and middle schools in Japan are similar to the above-mentioned educational significance of disaster culture,which stresses self-help,mutual help and disaster prevention in daily life,and pays attention to train people's suffering consciousness.The second chapter first analyzes the value orientation of the elementary and middle school disaster education objectives in Japan,then based on Bloom 's taxonomy of educational objectives,from three dimensions of knowledge,skills and value,makes an elaboration of disaster educational objectives.This paper maintains that the disaster culture is rooted in five value orientations in Japanese elementary and middle school disaster education.And the establishment of value orientations provides the direction for school disaster education.The third chapter makes an analysis of impacts which disaster culture has on disaster education from three angles of curriculum and knowledge selection,curriculum organization,curriculum teaching ways.This paper holds the view that in order to help achieve disaster educational objectives,knowledge selection not only involves escaping,self-help and life disaster prevention,but also highlights value and attitudes towards disaster education such as cultural heritage,respecting life,and mutual help in danger and so on.As for curriculum teaching ways,the students' awareness of self-help,mutual help and disaster prevention in daily life is aroused and cultivated through practice,cooperation,problem direction,role play and narrative teaching.The fourth chapter expounds how Japanese elementary and middle school launch disaster education by means of combining with daily life,curriculum teaching and learning,practice and cooperation among school,home and community.This paper argues that what is the distinctive feature of Japanese disaster education is to cultivate four students' abilities which constitute imagination,learning ability,reaction and executive ability,under the cooperative background of families,social groups,communities and governments.To explain these four abilities respectively,through imagination students are well aware of disaster prevention and know what will happen in and after disasters;with learning capability students know why disasters happen;by reaction students make responses after disasters;with executive ability students take strategic measures to nip something in the bud.Disaster education aims at compromising concern which students show for disasters and actively take part in disaster prevention drills,knowledge which includes causes of disaster,victimization and knowledge about escaping crisis,wisdom which means students' judgmental and coping abilities when disaster takes place,attitude which refers to being cool headed and brave as well as making efforts to self-help and prevent disaster,and respect which is defined to showing respect for nature and life,and helping each other.The fifth chapter discusses what measures Japanese government,social institute,family,school and community take to guarantee facilitating effective disaster education.This paper holds that Japanese government,together with social institute,community and family establish various integrated safeguard measurements and assist school to conduct disaster education activities so as to ensure the efficiency of disaster education,carry forward disaster culture of self-help,mutual help and disaster prevention in daily life and construct educational system in which disaster culture is formed and inherited.Therefore,it offers a favorable disaster education characterized by government-led,social initiative,participation by diversified parties and multiple levels.The sixth chapter concludes five successful experience of Japanese elementary and middle school disaster education and proposes suggestions to improve inefficient school disaster education which results from non-cultural tendency our school disaster education shows.This paper poses that it is the combination with daily life,culture and the experience of regional disaster prevention that leads to accomplishments Japanese school disaster education makes.besides,Japanese school disaster education emphasizes the cultivation of students' four abilities through practice,highlights the care of life and attaches great importance to the construction of school disaster education security system.knowledge about disaster education,experience and wisdom learnt from disasters,self-help and mutual-help constitute four parts of Japanese elementary and middle school disaster education,whose experience enlightens us that we should expand the cultural vision of disaster education in our elementary and middle schools,design disaster education which is integrated to daily life and improve the social support system of disaster education in elementary and middle schools.