Development of an In-Service Teacher Training Program for Disaster Risk Reduction in a New Compulsory High School Geography Course in Japan

This study aims to develop a teacher training program for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in high school geography, a compulsory course introduced in Japan in 2022. The expectations and stakes involved are high, as the new course takes an inquiry-based approach for the study of sustainability and natural disasters along with advancing skills using GIS. However, teachers’ capacity to teach DRR is limited due to insufficient training and the fact that many geography teachers are licensed to teach history as well. To address these concerns, the study developed a training program that specifically targets flooding and landslide disasters caused by heavy rains, considering the increasing climate change concerns in Japan. By examining the compulsory high school geography curriculum and through discussions with geographers and DRR researchers, a model training program with the three components of DRR knowledge, GIS skills, and an application workshop was created. While scientific evaluation is pending, the pilot training indicated that the time frame, content, and teachers’ outputs were in line with the program’s objectives.