Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management (AJEDM)
Volume 3 Number 2 (2011)doi: 10.3850/S1793924011000782
School Based Disaster Education System in Maiko High School, Japan
ABSTRACT
School disaster education is significant for disaster management, especially for community safety. Maiko High School, which is a public school located in the affected area of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, established the "Environment and Disaster Mitigation Course" in 2002. This course is the first case of disaster management course at the high school level in the world. This paper is a case study and shows 1) the preparations for the establishment of the course, 2) the kind of disaster education adopted by the course, and 3) the characteristic points of the disaster education. The education curriculum of the course was developed by the teachers of Maiko High School. The curriculum includes special subjects. These subjects are 1) subjects integrated into existing subjects and 2) subjects with new concepts. The disaster education adopted by the course emphasizes activity-based learning as well as lecturebased learning. In addition, the education topics cover both natural and social environment. Some lectures are delivered by disaster management specialists, local government officials, and others who have actual experiences of disasters. Previously in Maiko High School, there was no teacher who had specialized knowledge on disaster management before the course was established. The teachers' efforts and networking with stakeholders were the crucial factors that helped Maiko High School in the aspect of ensuring high education quality and effective management of the course.
Keywords: School; Education; Curriculum; Co-learning.
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