A Study of Independent Practices by Japan Teachers\u27Union in the late 1950s to 60s : Through the Case of Mathematics Teaching

This paper investigates the issue of whether Japan Teachers\u27Union\u27s (JTU) independent practices of aiming to improve(Kaizen) the method of Japanese mathematics teaching in the late 1950s to 60s succeed as an school policy to include students of various abilities. Two cases are chosen. One is the teaching of Functions, and the other the teaching of Demonstration of Figures in mathematics. Results of analyses show that JTU\u27s independent practices were slightly, though not dramatically, successful when compared to worldwide trend toward higher standards of mathematical contents and greater popularization of mathematics teaching in that era. However, ""slight success"" only means that the number of students who failed mathematics did not really increase, despite the raise in standards. It is also true that, in the midst of historical conflicts between JTU and the Ministry of Education, there was an inclination to criticize some of the JTU\u27s independent practices for the sake of criticism, and to deem some practices as too radical for school implementation. While Japan has done well in past international achievement tests, there are needs to conduct new researches to historically investigate how the learning of students was enhanced by school education