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Given that not only Japan but other countries are trying to improve pupils’ attitudes
towards mathematics as one of the main goals of mathematics education (Robitaille,
1997), examination of pupils’ attitudes to learning mathematics is also important in terms
of the social expectancies of schooling. In Japan, supporting children’s emotional
development is not restricted to those specifically responsible for moral education, but is
expected to be undertaken across all subject classes (Ministry of Education, 1999).
Parental expectations of school have been interpreted as including both cognitive
training and moral development (Fujita, 1978). This characteristic of education is often
described in other countries as developing the well-rounded, whole person (Cummings,
1980), Orwhole-Child education and values-rich education (Lewis, 1995). These qualities
of Japanese elementary education are seen to be responsive to children’s needs for
belonging, contribution and ∞mpetence (Lewis, 1995). In the UK, ‘spiritual, moral, social
and cultural development’ (DES, 1992a) is one of the aims of education across all
subject classes (e.g. DfEE, 1999). The USA also emphasises affective responses in
learning such as confidence, interest, perseverance and curiosity (Commission on
Standards for School Mathematics, 1989).
Despite the importance of pupils’ attitudes towards learning, most research has focused
on their levels of achievement. For instance, studies of the relative effectiveness of
different teaching methods have been conducted since the 1970s in the UK and USA.
Studies known as aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) specifically paid attention to the
relationships between the effectiveness of teaching methods and pupils’ individual
characteristics (Entwistle, 1972). For instance, Hodges (1983) and Dunn (1989) argued
that the cause of mathematics anxiety lay in the mismatch between individual preferred
learning styles and the learning styles actually employed in mathematics classes.
However, almost all of these studies consider the relative effectiveness of teaching
methods for improving pupils’ achievement, not their attitudes. Equally, the Japanese
mathematics education system has been much researched, but most studies have
examined, through observation in Japanese elementary schools, the effects of the
policies, teaching materials and teaching instruction on pupils’ achievement (eg. Stigler
et al. 1988 in USA; Stevenson et al, 1992 in USA; Whitburn, 2000 in UK). These studies
paid little attention to pupils’ attitudinal responses to the teaching methods deployed in
lessons.