실과 교육과정 개선을 위한 선진국 초등 생활과학 커리큘럼 비교 분석

A Comparative Study of Science & Technology Education for Life Curricula in Advanced Countries for the Improvement of Korean Practical Arts Curriculum

The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the national curricula of some advanced countries on the contents of Practical Arts Education for the improvement of Korean curriculum. The current documents of national curriculum or national standard of the U.S.(California, New York, Pennsylvania), U.K., Australia, Taiwan and Singapore were analyzed for K-6 grades by focusing on the core subjects, education goals and contents. The results were as follows; First, the education contents of Korean Practical Arts were distributed in at least 5 core subjects of the above countries such as ‘Family and Consumer Science’, ‘Technology (Education)’, ‘Health (Education)’, ‘Career Development’, and ‘Environment’ in order, revealing that Practical Arts is a complicated subject containing multiple learning areas. Second, healthy dietary habit was emphasized in the curriculum of most countries for the health and well-being of the students, and it suggests the importance of teaching knowledge and attitude for everyday practice beyond simple cooking skills. Also, the importance of family and consumer resource management was dealt in the most national curricula. Third, design and technology education consisted of practical activities that elementary students can approach easily with interests. Biotechnology(BT) and information technology(IT) appeared as a new area for technology education in some countries. Fourth, the level of education for career development and occupation was much higher than that of Korea in most countries. The findings and implications of the national curricula of above countries need to be reflected carefully for the reform of Korean curriculum for Practical Arts.