CHAPTER 37: Mathematics as Problem Solving—A Japanese Way

We know from many international studies that Japanese students (and Asian students in general) do quite well in mathematics on knowledge-level questions and on deeper conceptual and problem-solving items (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992; Stedman, 1994; and many others). A question arises: How are mathematical concepts and problem solving approached in Japanese elementary schools?

My response to this question was largely formed during a research visit to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at the invitation of Harold W. Stevenson during spring/summer 1993.¹ His project team was in the midst of analyzing voluminous data gathered from classrooms in Taipei, Beijing, Sendai, and Chicago. Dr. Stevenson kindly made it possible for me to immerse myself in a set of classroom observations of 160 lessons taught by 40 teachers of grades 1 and 5 in Sendai, Japan.