The Quality and Attitude of High School Teachers of Economics in Japan: An Explanation of Sample Data

Abstract

Students’ economic literacy depends on the contents they learn in school as well as at home. It also depends on teachers’ ability to teach and explain economic concepts and principles in the way students can understand them. But, it is very doubtful whether all the high school teachers of civics who teach economics have excellent knowledge and good teaching skill in economics. Because the authors know that only a few civics teachers in Japan had studied economics as a major subject when they were undergraduate students.

In order to prove these facts, the authors conducted a nationwide survey using a questionnaire concerning personal attributes, attitude toward economic issues, and thinking about economy and economics of high school teachers of civics in Japan in 2009. 1,574 samples were collected out of around 14,000 civics teachers from every prefecture in Japan, and their answers were turned into data set for analysis. These samples proved to have high external validity representing their population, and results of analysis may reveal the characteristics of Japanese high school teachers of civics teaching economics.

Findings of our survey will help improve the quality of economic education in Japan, especially the quality and attitude of economics teachers in high school.