Land of the Rising Sun
AJapan has a significantly better record in terms of average mathematical attainment than England and Wales. Large sample international comparisons of pupils` attainment since the 1960s have establish that not only did Japanese pupils at age 13 have better scores of average attainment, but there are also a larger portion of `low` attainers in England, where, incidentally, the variation in attainment scores was much greater. The percentage of Gross National Product spent on education is reasonably similar in the two countries, so how is this higher and more consistent attainment in maths achieved?
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BLower secondary schools in Japan cover three school years, from the seventh grade (age 13) to ninth grade (age 15). Virtually all the pupils at this stage attend state schools: only 3 percent are in private sectors. Schools are usually modern in design, set well back from the road and spacious inside. Classrooms are large and pupils sit at single desks in rows. Lessons last standardised 50 minutes and are always followed by 10-minute break, which gives the pupils a chance to let off the stream. Teachers begin with formal address and mutual bowing, and then concentrate on whole-class teaching.
Classes are large – usually about 40 – and are unstreamed. Pupils stay in the same class for all lessons throughout the school and develop considerable class identity and loyalty. Pupils attend the school in their own neighborhood, which in theory removes ranking by school. In practice in Tokyo, because of the relative concentration of schools, there is some `competition` to get into the `better` school in particular area.
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CTraditional ways of teaching form the basis of the lesson and remarkable quite class take their own notes of the points made and the examples demonstrated. Everyone has their own copy of the textbook supplied by the central education authority, Monbusho, as part of the concept of the free compulsory education up to age of 15. Those textbooks are, on the whole, small, presumably inexpensive to produce, but well set out and logically developed.(One teacher was particularly keen to introduce colour and pictures into maths textbooks: he felt this would make them more accessible to pupils brought up in cartoon culture.) Besides approving textbooks, Monbusho also decides the highly centralised national curriculum and how it is to be delivered.
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DLessons all follow the same pattern. At the beginning, the pupils put solutions to the homework on the board, then the teachers comment, correct or elaborate as necessary. Pupils mark their own homework: this is an important principle in Japanese schooling as it enables pupils to see where and why they made a mistake, so that can be avoided in the future. No one minds mistakes or ignorance as long as you are prepared to learn from them.
After the homework has been discussed, the teacher explains the topic of the lesson, slowly and with a lot of repetition and elaboration. Examples are demonstrated on the board; questions from the textbooks are worked though first with the class, and then the class is set questions from the textbooks to do individually. Only rarely are supplementary worksheets distributed in a maths class. The impression is that the logical nature of the textbooks and their comprehensive coverage of different types of examples, combined with the relative homogeneity of the class, renders work sheet unnecessary. At this point, the teacher would circulate and make sure that all the pupils were coping well.
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EIt is remarkable that large, mixed-ability classes could be kept together for maths throughout all their compulsory schooling form 6 to15. Teachers say they give individual help at the end of a lesson or after school, setting extra work if necessary. In observed lessons, any strugglers would be assited by the teacher or quietly seek help from their neighbour. Carefully fostered class identity makes pupils keen to help each other – anyway, it is in their interest since the class progress together.
This scarcely seems adequate help to enable slow learners to keep up. However, the Japanese attitude towards education runs along the lines `if you work hard enough, you can do almost anything`. Parents are kept closely informed of their children`s progress and will play a part in helping their children to keep up with class, sending them to `Juku` (private evening tuition) if extra help is needed and encourage them to work harder. It seems to work, at least for 95 percent of the school population.
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FSo what the major contributing factors in the success of maths teaching? Clearly, attitudes are important. Education is valued greatly in Japanese culture; maths is recognised as an important compulsory subject throughout schooling; and the emphasis is on hard work coupled with a focus on accuracy.
Other relevant points relate to the supportive attitude of a class toward slower pupils, the lack of competition within a class, and the positive emphasis on learning for oneself and improving one`s own standard. And the view of repetitively boring lessons and learning the facts by heart, which is sometimes quoted in relation to Japanese classes, may be unfair and unjustified. No poor maths lessons were observed. They were mainly good and one or two were inspirational.
