沖縄の平和教育についての考察 : 小中学生の平和意識調査から

This paper considers peace education in Okinawa. As for the peace education, it considers the passing on the war memory on the Battle of Okinawa, the areal difference between peace education in main island of Okinawa and that in other islands, different attitudes between primary and secondary school students, and peace building.

I conducted an opinion survey of the primary and secondary school students in Okinawa Prefecture from February to March in 2012. I describe the situation of peace education and the method of peace education in Okinawa. I analyze the results of the opinion survey from three points; the memory on war in Okinawa, 2) attitude toward peace, war and international understanding, 3) wish for peace building.

According to the survey, more than 90% of primary and secondary school students answered that they heard stories about the Battle of Okinawa. It means that the students know well about the war history in Okinawa. The students in Okinawa main island know better than those in the other islands. The story of the Battle of Okinawa has been passed on by the agents except their relatives while nearly 70 years passed after the last war.

The war history of Okinawa has formed strong anti-war attitude among primary and secondary school students. Under that influence, they think that they the whole Japanese people should be informed about the memory of the Battle of Okinawa. Peace education in Okinawa has some tasks. It should include the topic of peace building, develop peace education curriculum for systematic learning about peace and war, and make a better method to teach school students about the territorial dispute with China.