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style is also reflected in the findings that being able to concentrate on the task promoted
positive affective attitudes. This may simply reflect generally increased levels of
independence as children grow older (Shwalb, 1991), but might support the findings
from the literature that pupils’ self-reliant learning style has been valued in Japan (e.g.
Tanner, 1977; Peak, 1991). Teachers believe that this indicates positive ease of
participation. This difference in perception might explain why teachers believe that this
factor contributes to pupils’ enjoyment and motivation, while pupils believed that this
factor contributed to their sense of security and sense of progress.
Teachers of both age groups cited that meeting pupils’ individual needs in mathematics
classes could promote pupils’ sense of security and sense of progress. However, 5th
grade teachers expressed their concerns about the negative effects of individual learning
on low achievers, despite the fact that they gave considerable Individual help to low
achievers in class. Although the time allocation of individual learning sessions in
mathematics classes increased as the pupils proceeded through the grades, teachers at
both grades did not perceive the provision of differentiated materials for each pupil
positively. This was chiefly because of egalitarian views of education held in Japan
(Tsuneyoshi, R.K. 1991). This contrasts with Western educational thinking which
suggests that setting tasks at an appropriate level for pupils promotes positive affective
attitudes (e.g. Harter, 1974, 1978, 1981). Few 8th graders indicated that meeting their
individual needs was important in positively promoting their affective attitudes.
Few teachers at both grades and 8th graders cited developing pupils’ mathematical
thinking abilities as positively promoting their affective attitudes, but teachers
commented in interviews that the process of developing solutions was more important
than finding the right answer. Many teachers perceived that their pupils measured their
progress from tangible results, e.g. a correct answer. This was a concern especially for
5th grade teachers, who valued the learning process itself. The Japanese government
has suggested that understanding of the curriculum and mathematical thinking abilities
are different; the former is indicated by acquisition of fundamental knowledge and skills,
while the latter is believed to include intuition, prediction, inference, induction, deduction,
examination and expression (Ministry of Education, 1999). The Japanese government
has emphasised developing pupils’ mathematical thinking abilities rather than
understanding of the curriculum for four decades, stimulated by the findings of FIMS in
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