The development of competencies has been emphasized in many countries, such as 21st century skills in the United States or general capability in Australia. The competency of critical thinking is positioned as one of recent noticed competencies. The Japanese curriculum has also been revised to emphasize the development of such competencies, and required to foster critical thinking and other thinking skills in each subject study. The critical thinking also includes the competencies to examine information, make judgments, and make decisions for citizens facing a variety of risks, such as a nuclear accident.

The civic competencies to make decisions regarding technology has been discussed mainly in the United States since the 1980s, as represented by the AAAS's scientific and technological literacy and ITEA/ITEEA's technological literacy. The civic competencies has also been introduced to foster the ability and attitude to technology assessment and utilization in Japanese curriculum positioned in junior high school technology education. This competencies has been called " technology governance ability " and has been discussed in the academic research.

However, although the importance of this competencies is indicated in the concepts of technological literacy and "technology governance ability," the characteristics of this competencies possessed by itself and the learning process to foster this competencies have not been clarified. Therefore, it is meaningful to analyze the competencies to technology assessment and utilization in relation to the critical thinking mentioned above.

In order to clarify the characteristics of the competencies on the technology assessment and utilization and process of developing this competencies，this research analyzed on the teaching contents of the Japanese junior high school technology education based on the critical thinking.