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

 

 

 

 

References

 

 

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