Abstract
The purposes of this study was to investigate high school girl students’concerns about the family life education in Home Economics and their needs for learning in home economics classes in order to develop an advisable co-education curriculum. The questionnaires were completed by 196 first grade students in Seoul in 1993 and 765 first grade students in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefectures in 1991. The contents of the questionnaire were as follows：1) students’interests in the areas of Home Economics education, 2) students＇concerns in their daily life 3) students’interests in a new curriculum for family life education：16 contents from human birth to death. 4) students’experience with their family, and 5) students’educational needs in Home Economics’teaching method. The result of our research showed that：1) Most of senior high school students in Korea and Japan had strong interests in their life and life span. 2) Although there are some differences in the degree of concerns between Korea and Japan, senior high school students in Korea and Japan had strong concerns with their “characteristics and personality”, their “future job”, their “looks and figure”and their “hobby and amusement”, these had not been the contents of home economics in Korea and Japan, but had been in U.S. 3) Very few senior high school students in Japan and especially in Korea had contacts with their grandparents. 4) Senior high school students in Korea and Japan showed strong interests in their near future stage, but they showed less interest in the stage of early childhood. 5) Senior high school students in Korea and Japan showed their diverse needs for learning in home economics classes. The results indicated that co-education curriculum for family life education should meet adolescent needs and concerns, and our new curriculum, “from one’s birth to death/one’s life span”, would be more advisable.