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Mathematics Lesson Study Around the World pp 1–21Cite as

Lesson Study and Teaching Mathematics Through Problem Solving: The Two Wheels of a Cart

Part of the ICME-13 Monographs book series (ICME13Mo)

Abstract

The international education community has taken an interest in lesson study, the Japanese approach to school education. Lesson study first came to the attention of educators outside of Japan primarily through the publication of The Teaching Gap (Stigler and Hiebert in The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world’s teachers for improving education in the classroom. The Free Press, New York, 1999) and the TIMSS video study, which showed the typical structure of Japanese mathematics instruction in the classroom. However, while there has been tremendous international interest in using lesson study as a model for professional development, there has been less of a focus on applying the method of Japanese mathematics instruction, which is teaching mathematics through problem solving. This paper discusses the interplay between lesson study and teaching mathematics through problem solving and outlines suggestions for educators seeking to improve both teaching and lesson study outside Japan.

Keywords

  • Japanese lesson study
  • Teaching mathematics through problem solving
  • Structured problem-solving
  • Designed tasks
  • Kikan-jyunshi
  • Neriage
  • Matome
  • Kyozaikenkyu

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter is based on Yoshida’s doctoral dissertation (1999), which is now also available in book form (Fernandez & Yoshida, 2004).

  2. 2.

    The Japanese curriculum is national and revised every ten years or so.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan

    Toshiakira Fujii

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  1. Toshiakira Fujii
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Correspondence to Toshiakira Fujii .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Dr. Marisa Quaresma

  2. Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Prof. Dr. Carl Winsløw

  3. UER MS and 3LS, Lausanne University of Teacher Education, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Dr. Stéphane Clivaz

  4. Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Dr. João Pedro da Ponte

  5. School of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin

  6. Teacher Education, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Dr. Akihiko Takahashi

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Fujii, T. (2018). Lesson Study and Teaching Mathematics Through Problem Solving: The Two Wheels of a Cart. In: Quaresma, M., Winsløw, C., Clivaz, S., da Ponte, J., Ní Shúilleabháin, A., Takahashi, A. (eds) Mathematics Lesson Study Around the World. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75696-7_1

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