The Japanese Curriculum
1992 – 2003
THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN
IMPLEMENTING THE CURRICULUM
by
Ken Montgomery
University of Georgia
To understand how Japanese
teachers are implementing the new curriculum, one must understand teachersÕ attitudes
toward:
¯
expected learning
outcomes
¯
the use of pedagogical
tools such as the abacus
¯
uniform achievement of
all students
¯
the role of student
individuality in the learning process
Educator Goals
¯
Students acquire basic
foundation skills for learning (goal of earlier reform)
¯
Math educators value
general skills
¯
Elementary math teachers
value knowledge outcomes
¯
Current curricular
reform emphasizes student motivation
Use of abacus as a
pedagogical tool
¯
Calculators are not
prohibited, but are seldom used
¯
Soroban (abacus) has
been traditionally used in elementary
¯
Use of soroban reflects
deep understanding of operations
¯
Students and teachers
discussed the use of a Òmental abacusÓ
All students are able to
achieve high standards (through lower secondary)
¯
Tracking is virtually
non-existent in elementary & lower secondary
¯
Secondary students are
grouped by ability across rather than within schools
¯
Students are considered
to have the same ability, but differences are valued
Student uniqueness is an
essential part of the heterogeneous group
¯
Individual student
characteristics valued as:
o
benefit to quality of
teacherÕs instruction
o
resource for individual
studentsÕ learning
¯
Teachers value
differences in:
o
correct student
solutions
o
incorrect student
solutions
Emphasis on Creativity
¯
Japanese teachers value
creativity more than teachers in U.S.
¯
Classrooms reflect lack
of student embarrassment for mistakes
Student understanding is a
goal that underlies all instruction
¯
Students check own
homework solutions
¯
Goal of understanding
guides use of D.I.
¯
Rote learning has been
used to establish knowledge/skills prerequisite to a deeper understanding,
which is later pursued
Problem Exploration as a
new means to a traditional goal
¯
ÒSticky-probingÓmakes
use of:
o
relatively trivial
problems
o
multiple class periods
o
teacher-student
interaction
o
group discussion
¯
Goal of problem
exploration is a deep understanding
¯
Outcome of problem
exploration is multiple representations of problems
Multiple representations
in problem exploration
¯
Multiple representations
of problems are prevalent in:
o
TeachersÕ instruction
o
Textbooks
o
StudentsÕ individual
work on problems
¯
Multiple representations
of problems emerge from students because:
o
Teachers value creativity
o
Students are not afraid
to make mistakes
o
Individuality of student
approaches are valued
o
Multiple Representations
are modeled by teacher and textbook
o
They are a natural
byproduct of problem exploration
Multiple Representations
in Exposition
¯
Textbooks function as
type of national curriculum, so pedagogical insights can be obtained from their
study
¯
In international
textbook comparisons, Japanese texts consistently demonstrated the value of
multiple representations (pictures, symbols & words)
¯
A second theme observed
was the emphasis on logical development
¯
Japanese teacher guides
facilitate:
o
Standard (high) level of
achievement
o
Horizontal alignment of
curriculum
¯
Abstractness in
conceptual understanding was observed, in particular for the concept of ratio
Slow pace and careful
attention to rigorous analysis and student progress
¯
Slow pace
¯
Careful attention to:
o
Rigor of analysis
o
Individual student
progress
o
Advanced students helped
slower students
Conclusion
¯
Pervasive attitudes of Japanese
Mathematics educations combine to shape their role in implementing the
curriculum
¯
Japanese teachers retain
goal of student understanding, but attain the goal in new ways
¯
Calculating tools are
valued pedagogically
¯
New pedagogical
practices include problem exploration and the exposition and discussion of
content via multiple representations