Revised elementary and junior high school curriculum guidelines are now being reflected in new courses that have been taught since fiscal 2002. Senior high schools are adopting the revised curriculum grade by grade, starting in fiscal 2003.

Senior high schools now cover a subject titled "Information" during so-called "hours for comprehensive learning." The change in the curriculum marks the first time that Japanese schools have provided educational instruction on the field of information itself.

Education about media literacy is attracting considerable attention, and the NSK weekly journal Shinbun Kyokai-ho is running a series of articles on how school textbooks characterize the media and news reporting.

Japanese schools select which textbooks they use from a pool of education-ministry-authorized books written and compiled by private textbook publishers.

School textbooks are usually revised once every four years to substantially update the contents. Descriptions or references to the role of newspapers and other media in the information industry appear mainly in school textbooks used for the subject of "Social Studies," in the fifth grade of elementary schools and again in the third grade of junior high school. Some textbooks used for the subject of "Japanese Language," deal with the media as a tool for nurturing self-expression and the use of information. In senior high schools, some textbooks deal with the media as part of the subjects "Contemporary Society," "Ethics" and "Politics and Economics" in courses on "Civics," as well as in courses on "Information."

In addition to these school textbooks, various books are used as supplementary educational reference materials in addition to other teaching aids. The way schools address the role of the media can only be examined by analyzing both the official school textbooks and other related educational materials.

In elementary schools, first-grade pupils in "Social Studies" classes learn about relations between the people's way of life and Japan's various industries. They are taught that along with agriculture and manufacturing, the information industry is now having a far-reaching impact on people's lives, emphasizing the growing importance of the effective use of information.

Five publishers (Tokyo Shoseki, Co., Kyoiku Shuppan Co., Osaka Shoseki Co., Nihon Bukyo Shuppan Co., and Mitsumura Tosho Publishing Co.) produce elementary school textbooks covering the subject of "Social Studies."

The latest curriculum guidelines say that pupils should be encouraged to consider the "efforts and ingenuity of people in the information industry" by focusing on a media sector such as newspapers, broadcasting and telecommunications." However, of the five textbook publishers, only one deals primarily with newspapers, while the rest focus on broadcasting.

Mitsumura Tosho Publishing Co. makes a textbook for social studies in elementary schools containing a chapter titled, "The World Linked Via Information," that has a section headed, "Let's Visit a Newspaper Company." It describes routine jobs at a newspaper and explains how a newspaper is distributed to readers after the newsgathering, editing, printing. The section contains ample references to the ingenuity of people involved in this process.

Referring to newspapers, the textbook says newspapers lag behind TV broadcasting in terms of the speed of delivering information, but credits newspapers with presenting what is happening in a well-arranged manner so that readers can learn about the causes and background of the events. Another cited merit of newspapers is that readers can repeatedly reread the articles.

Unfortunately, the education ministry says that only 2.2 percent of Japan's elementary schools have chosen to adopt this particular textbook.

Newspapers appear in the section, "How to Utilize Information," in the chapter, "Our Lives and Information," of a social studies textbook published by Tokyo Shoseki that is used by 54.5 percent of all elementary schools. This textbook says that there are two types of information -that which people want to get as fast as possible and that which people want to absorb deeply and repeatedly. It defines newspapers as a means of information-delivery that people can read repeatedly for greater absorption. This same textbook contains a section headed, "The Future of the Information Society," in which it predicts that newspapers will be delivered via the Internet or by facsimile in the future.

The Nihon Bunkyo Shuppan Co. social studies textbook, "Social Studies for Elementary School Pupils: Industrial Activities and the Environment," is used by 3.7 percent of all elementary schools. It contrasts newspapers with TV and radio by saying that readers can get a different idea of the news with the help of photographs, illustrations, maps and other graphics in newspapers, despite the fact that newspapers do contain some difficult kanji characters.

On the issue of media literacy, the social studies textbooks published by each of the five companies emphasize the importance of carefully scrutinizing information in this age of the information society. Tokyo Shoseki's textbook focuses on the importance of recognizing the "quality" of information when choosing what weight to give it. As an example of erroneous reporting, it carries a newspaper page about the Aum cult's Matsumoto sarin gas attack in which the media first targeted a local resident as if he were the most likely suspect, even though it later turned out that he was completely innocent.

In an apparent reference to other infringements of human rights by the media, a Kyoiku Shuppan textbook used by 25.6 percent of Japanese schools says that erroneous or incorrect information must never be spread in a way that discredits the people cited in a report. An Osaka Shoseki textbook that is used by 14.0 percent of schools warns that incorrect information has been put into circulation in a violation of personal privacy. It also says that media people have an obligation to distribute correct information in a manner that is sensitive to the way that people will receive that information.

Junior high school students now study society, politics and economics in a section of "Civics" covered under the subject of "Social Studies." Many textbooks refer to the role of the media and reporting within the context of politics and economics.

The new curriculum guidelines also require textbooks on the Japanese language to deal with the media, with many dealing with the topic as an example of "speaking," "listening," "writing" and "reading" comprehension closely associated with the use or choice of information.

(TO BE CONTINUED: The second article in this two-part series will cover descriptions and references to the media in textbooks for Japanese language education.)