The Teaching of Astronomy in Japan

　Takao Ibaraki

　Suginami Science Education Center

　Suginami-Ku, Tokyo 167, Japan

　Abstract

　 The goal of this paper is to illustrate how the study of astronomy is taught at school and in lifelong education in present day Japan. Recently, many problems concerning science education are discussed. People, both young and old generally show great interest in topics of the universe and celestial body; however, the present programs on astronomical events do not necessarily meet people's expectation. At school, there is a problem of devising an appropriate curriculum. In lifelong education, there is always a conflict over the way to present astronomy; that is, whether the study should be presented as an entertainment or as more concrete study of science. The lack of talented human resources is one of the never-ending problems facing the teaching of astronomy.

　 These days, young people are losing interest in pursuing the field of science and technology, and there have been much discussion on how to ease, if not prevent this trend. Universities, research institutes, and science museums throughout the country have started to work together in hopes of bringing the young back into this field. Many organizations that deal with the propagation of astronomy education are making the effort as well. Those who are working on enhancing the astronomy education should continue to develop new teaching materials and teaching methods. They should also try to improve the planetarium facilities while seeking ways to effectively use these buildings for the promotion of not only the astronomy, but also the whole science education.

　I. Introduction

　 Mankind have always had an innate desire to understand the outside world. Celestial bodies and the universe studied in astronomy are the fundamental constituents of the surrounding environment that enabled mankind to confirm their own existence. This is why the astronomy is said to have played a major role in the history of space recognition.

　 In recent years, an artificial environment has come to play a crucial role in our everyday lives. In the cities, people have acquired the artificial lighting that enable them to work in the nighttime. However, we do not even need to mention the direct and indirect effect of the sun to illustrate the importance of both natural and astronomical environment that determines the condition humans will live in. This is why the observation of the stars that originated in an attempt to establish the calendar, and the search for the influence of the star upon human (which I believe can be called the biggest misconception we made in the history of the mankind ) have always been carried out as a national project. Even now, anything from space exploration to the construction of a large telescope are planned and executed as a national project.

In Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan who had taken a seclusion policy for two hundred years before that time, opened the ports to start interaction with foreign nations. Japan learned and adopted many new concepts and technology including astronomy from the western countries in the period of modernization, and these technologies have flourished and advanced since. The educational system played a crucial role in spreading new idea, and it has been praised for meeting the needs of each period of the Japanese history in promoting new concepts. However, from the last few decades, the technology and the educational system that have been welcomed openhandedly by the people, have come to be questioned and the demand for re-evaluation of the system arose after the problem of pollution became apparent. Needless to say, astronomy is not the imaginary and romantic field of study as the public generally think. On the contrary, it has always been the exact science; therefore it cannot have been cut off from the technological society.

　 Japanese youngsters are taking on the worldly trend of abandoning science and technology. We must understand the present educational problems, and try to find a solution. In any case, the reform in science education should be based on long-term vision. There are many possible courses we can take. Should we adopt the policy of science education from other countries and re-arrange it to fit the situation in Japan, as we have done in the past? Or should we devise a totally new way of teaching science on our own?

　 Education of astronomy, therefore, should always be considered in the larger framework of science and technology education. Let us now look at the way astronomy is presented in the school education and lifelong education ( education of the masses). I hope this information can serve as a basis for making comparison between Japanese educational system and foreign systems.

　II. School Education

　 1. An overview of Teaching Astronomy in School and University

　 The content of the things to be taken up in the classroom study in Japanese elementary and junior high school is all prescribed by the National Course of Study issued by the Ministry of Education. This policy serves as a guideline for the education in Japan, and it aims to function in such a way as to raise and to maintain the high educational level among the people. However, since the National Course of Study limit the things to be studied, it is sometimes criticized by teachers who value freedom and the creativity of the educational curriculum. The National Course of Study undergoes revisions in every ten years or so.

　 Present guideline prescribes science to be taught from the third grade in an elementary school. I will list the topics included in the Course of Education that deal with astronomy below. The topics in elementary school level are listed with long explanations in the National Course of Study, but I will simply list some examples of the titles from science textbooks.

Third Grade, elementary school level:

"Let's Compare the Shady Places and the Sunny Places"

:Shadow and the Sun (See how the shadow is formed, the direction of the shadow and its movement in different time of a day)

:Shady Places and the Sunny Places (Measure the temperature differences)

Fifth Grade

　 "The Moon and the Sun"

　 :The motion of the moon during the daytime

　 :The motion of the moon at night

　 :The shape and the surface of the moon and the sun

Sixth Grade

　 "The Motion of the Stars (1) The Summer Sky"

　 :The constellations

　 :The brightness and the color of the stars

　 :Motions of the stars

　 "The Motion of the Stars (2) The Winter Sky"

　 :Arrangement and the movement of the stars

　 :Motion of the stars in the Northern sky

　 :Motion of the stars in the whole sky

First Year, Junior High School (Seventh Grade)

　 "The Earth and the Solar System"

　 (1) The Neighboring Celestial Bodies

　 :The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth

　 :Diurnal motion of the celestial body and the rotation of the earth

　 :Movement of the constellation in four seasons and the Revolution of the Earth

　 (2) The planets and the Solar System

　 :The sizes of the planets and their surface

　 :Evolution of the planets

　 :The structure of the Solar System

High School level (an elective subject)

　 Earth Science I A :The motion of the celestial body and human life

　 (1) Time and Determination of time

　 (2) The seasons and the calendar

　Earth Science I B :The Earth in the Universe

　 (1) Earth as a Planet

　 :A general survey of the Earth

　 :Motion of the Earth

　 (2) The Sun and Fixed Stars

　 :The form and activity of the Sun

　 :Radiation from the fixed stars

　 :Evolution of the fixed stars

　 (3) Inquiry activities of the Earth as one planet in the Universe

　Earth Science II :The structure of the Universe

　 (1) The Milky Way Galaxy

　 :The Structure of our Galaxy

　 :The Motion of our Galaxy

　 (2) Galaxies

　 :The shape of galaxies

　 :Evolution of the Universe

　 In elementary and middle schools, all students study the above mentioned topics. Many of the people involved in astronomy education are feeling insufficiency of the topics included in Educational Course of Study for middle school students because fixed stars and galaxies, along with the universe is left out from this guideline. The study of the galaxies and the universe is filled with interesting discoveries made in present astronomical studies. This field also gives the students a chance to think about philosophical question of how the universe and galaxies are. Those concerned with astronomy education argue that the lack of information on such important issues is an educational defect.

　 At high schools level, science courses become elective subjects. Students can choose among physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science. The astronomy is included in earth science. There are not many earth science teachers at school. To make matters worse, those teachers who majored in astronomy is only a fraction of the earth science teachers. Therefore, many schools do not offer any earth science course. Only twenty-percent of the number of students who selected biology or chemistry have chosen earth science. According to the questionnaire conducted, students were most eager to take earth science course out of all science subjects. Then why is it that only a fraction of the students actually pursue earth science?

　 Along with the lack of the enabled teachers I had talked about earlier, one of the major factors hindering the students pursuing earth science is the college entrance examinations. Many universities and colleges do not have earth science as one of their entrance examination subjects, and thus students decide to choose other science courses that universities allow them to take tests in.

　 Students show great interest in astronomy regardless of the age. However, since the night sky cannot be observed during class hours, teachers consider astronomy as one of the difficult subjects to teach. Some schools have an observation facility with a middle-class telescopes while most schools are equipped with small telescopes (refracting type with diameter around 8cm), but they are often not put to practical use.

　 Many planetariums are opened throughout the country every year. One of the main reasons for setting up a planetarium is to supplement astronomy education given at school. Suginami Science Education Center where I work at, in fact, was established twenty-six years ago for this reason. A visit to a planetarium is usually included in part of yearly teaching curricula in many schools. To give more effective, and intriguing class, therefore, the teachers and planetarium staffs should have closer interaction. (Note 1) When teachers visit planetarium with their students, they should always be aware that the facility is the place for experiment and observation.

　 At university level, national universities such as Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, and Nagoya University offer relatively wide varieties of lectures on astronomy, and are training future astronomers. In other national universities as well as private ones, some teachers study astronomy at physics department, and they are also giving training to students. Furthermore, teachers colleges that are scattered around the nation have study rooms for astronomy. Those who wish to become science teachers study astronomy as a part of earth science education. Recently, in relation to prevention of students' losing interests in science, people working at the field of education are critically self-evaluating their past work. The role of teachers colleges in the improvement of workshops is essential. They can give a chance for teachers to re-educate themselves by providing them with talented instructors for workshops. Most importantly, a curriculum for people wishing to become a teacher should be revised.

　2. Educational Resources for Astronomy

Many teaching materials are available for classroom use. Some avid teachers develop their own teaching materials and utilize them in class. The more the students see scientific phenomenon at first hand, the more involved they will become in class. In the "study of the motion of the stars" for example, it is best for students to actually observe the movement of the stars at night for extended hours. Even if the pictures are not very good, the pictures of the stars taken by a teacher fascinate students more that the ready-made pictures. The goods on the market should only be used as the supplementary tool.

The maker of the teaching materials surely have made their products to enhance the understanding of students. However, there is a dilemma in having more and more teaching materials made available; the more burden the creators take off from the teachers, the less effective the teaching materials become on students. Nowadays, an actual practice or "Inquiry learning" is stressed in Japan, and activities for class are suggested in the textbooks. Stressing on observation is a good trend, but to teachers and students who depend heavily on textbooks, the examples might obstruct them from coming up with a creative idea for their class.

　 35mm slides, 16mm movies, and OHP sheets have been widely used, but computer software along with the above mentioned tools are now coming to be used at school. Main software used are the Course ware which helps voluntary study, and Simulation tools. We must use the new tools effectively.

　 In general, it takes a long time for teaching materials to become distributed. The astronomy however, is a fast moving field, and there is always a time lag in what is actually made available on the market and what are being discovered. Therefore, most students don't have a chance to see real science at real time. Those avid teachers who are lucky enough to have a good computer system can use them to obtain the latest images and reports through the internet for class; however, there are few people who can make such effort.

　III. The General Public Education and the Popularization of Astronomy

　1. Planetariums and Public Observatories

Education of astronomy is becoming very active outside the school education. In Japan, there are about 350 planetarium facilities, most of which are run by a self-governing body in each region. There are only a handful of planetariums established by schools or teachers colleges. In recent years, the construction of the planetarium with a tilted dome and space simulation projector are popular. The construction of a space theater that shows all-sky movies is also favored. Many public observatories are constructed, and about 150 of them are open to public. They offer star party some of which provide the visitors with lodging as well. There are some observatories with 1 meter-telescope or larger while other facilities are equipped with advanced device such as cooled CCD camera, photometric system, and spectrograph for more advanced observation.

The facility intended for lifelong education are increasing in number. However, when we seek for possibility of conducting astronomy education in such facilities, many of them do not fulfill the basic prerequisite to serve for this purpose. Even though there are many pieces of outstanding equipment, the people who can correctly use them are not assigned to the job. This problem has its root in civil servant system of Japan. In general, civil servants cannot stay in one position for more than several years. Therefore, in many cases, clerical employees and the teaching staffs who are layman at astronomy are assigned to the position of a lecturer in public facilities. Even when a person has gained much experience in the field during his service, the civil servant must move on to different position after a few years. Thus another layman will have to be assigned to the post. The directors of the facilities argue that their facility is not intended for astronomy nor science education. They are not ashamed to say that the facility is simply entertaining the public, and providing the place for culturing the sentiment among children. Although public are interested in the universe and many people visit observatories and planetariums every year, there is a lack of skilled lecturers who can give appropriate explanation to scientific phenomena and direct public interest not only to the beauty of the stars, but also to the significance and the wonder of science.

　 2. The Mass Media

Media such as TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines focus on the topics of public interest. In the past, media have taken up such astronomical events as Giacobini Meteor Stream, Comet Halley, and the collision of Comet SL9 and Jupiter. Recently, the media have done extensive coverage of Comet Hyakutake. Mass media can attract far more attention to astronomy than science museums and public observatories, and they give us a good chance to promote science education. However, it also give those who are interested in commercialism, superstitionists, and "pseudoscientists" to also take advantage of the situation to make money or to attract followers for the group. Educators of astronomy must be careful of the way they present astronomical phenomena.

Beside these astronomical events, the story of Japanese astronauts, the images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and the latest findings published in Nature magazine are constantly covered by the media, satisfying public appetite for knowledge on what is happening around the world. Thanks to the advancement of computer technology, science programs have many simulation images. Images taken with highly sensitive CCD camera, and documentary program on observatories and astronomers around the globe are frequently on-aired. These programs play important role in promoting public awareness of science while providing good teaching resources for science course.

Publishing media is more reserved in taking up astronomical events. This is related to the fact that natural science in Japan did not emerge from within, but was transplanted from the outside. Whether the general public really have science literacy is doubtful. Magazines often have a section on astrology; many people may be more interested in astrology than astronomy.

Several science magazines are published. While computer magazines are expanding their sphere of readers, science magazines are having a difficult time maintaining their current circulation number. For amateur astronomers, there are three astronomical magazines available. They explain the astronomical events, and introduce know-how of astrophotography or digital imaging. Camping and outdoor activities are now becoming popular in Japan; therefore, some outdoor magazines suggest people to enjoy "star watching" in the same way they enjoy bird watching. By looking at the way astronomy is taken up in the mass media, we can see that astronomy is regarded more as an entertainment than a field of science by the public.

　IV. Organizations Related to Astronomy Education

　 Nihon Tenmon Gakkai (Astronomical Society of Japan) is an organization for the professional as well as amateur astronomers. Their main goal is "to make progress in astronomy and to promote public interest in the field." However, until very recently, much stress was placed on research, and the organization have done very little in propagating astronomy.

Finally, The National Astronomical Observatory Japan set up a section called "The Public Information Office", and the group has started to work on education of the general public. The workshops for educators have just begun, and the office is expected to play major role in promoting astronomy.

There are several societies concerned with science education. They are made up of educator from local government or universities, school teachers, and science researchers who are interested in education.

As I have mentioned earlier, science was introduced to Japan from the west, and thus the concept did not originate in the country. This is perhaps one of the reasons for the existence of many facilities with similar names in Japan. Although their names are similar, slightly different objectives exist for different names. There are Hakubutu-kan (museum), Kagaku-kan (science museum or science center), Kyouiku-kenkyu-jyo (education center), and others. Facilities with the same name constitute a liaison organization. (For example, for Hakubutu-kan, there is an association for Hakubutu-kan, and so on) At conference of these network groups, topics on science or astronomy are hardly brought up.

Planetariums are most directly concerned with the field of astronomy. There are three, nationwide societies with similar names; Planetariums and some individuals from planetariums constitute the societies. I will not go on to talk about each society any further. Two of the organizations have "the promotion of astronomy to general public" included in their goals, but as it was in the case of Nihon Tenmon Gakkai, little was actually done to attain this goal. At conference and in their reports, topics in school education along with lifelong education at planetariums are discussed.

Tenmon Kyouiku Hukyu Kenkyu-kai, or the Society for Teaching and Popularizing Astronomy established in 1989, is the first organization in Japan that has focused its attention on the promotion of astronomy education. The organizer of the society hope to bring researchers together to seek for effective ways of teaching astronomy. They also hope to introduce astronomy to more people with the help from amateur astronomers who are eager to enhance astronomy among the public.

　V. Conclusion

　 As the end of the twentieth century draws near, the civilization based on science technology is undergoing a major transformation. Recognizing the importance of science education is the first step toward better future. How much of the science literacy is expected of us to live in the society? What is the purpose of studying astronomy? The answers to these questions are likely to differ according to the time one is living in. Then is it useless to ask such questions? I think what is more important than actually coming up with a conclusion is to continue thinking and talking about these issues. Trying to create an environment where we can talk about these subjects is equally important. The purpose of my paper was simply to illustrate the present situation of science education in Japan: therefore, I would not go further to state my opinion on this topic. However, let me point out the fact that problems of science education at school and the problems many science centers share such as the lack of human resource all derive from the insufficiency of the governmental policy. Even when we have much problems, do we have to strive on to make the most of the situation by having the enthusiasm for education as our last resort?

　Acknowledgement

　Note