5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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The incremental idea of intelligence also leads to valuing informational feedback,
because the Japanese believe that all children can learn equally if enough informational
feedback is provided. Uttal (1988) reported that Japanese mothers were reported to
attribute their child’s problems in mathematics learning to a lack of specific skills or
knowledge of mathematics, while American mothers holding an entity idea of intelligence
attributed problems to the child’s low intelligence or inability to pay attention. Provision of
informational feedback is believed to link to children’s positive affective attitudes, as
discussed in the early section of this chapter.

To summarise, age and cultural differences seem to exist in pupils’ goal orientations.
Western theories propose that pupils’ goal orientation moves from an incremental theory
of intelligence to an entity theory after around age of 12. As a result, pupils come to
focus on performance outcomes rather than on the learning process according to self-
set standards, and present maladaptive attributions which show negative influences on
cognition, affect and behaviour. Environmental factors such as criterion-based
assessment have been reported to support pupils in maintaining a mastery goal.
Japanese culture supports the incremental theory of intelligence, which leads to
Japanese pupils’ holding effort-based attribution styles and persevering to achieve goals,
and to informational feedback being provided in teaching. However, research shows that
Japanese pupils’ incremental idea of intelligence does not necessarily produce
confidence, satisfaction or expectancy of successful outcomes in learning.

2.5: Conclusions

How does the literature described above relate to the four questions set out at the
beginning of this chapter? The first question was what factors are assumed to influence
pupils’ affective attitudes towards learning. The literature suggests that pupils’
perceptions of their competence and their internal perceptions of control (autonomy)
determine their enjoyment in learning, i.e. intrinsic motivation. These factors also
influence pupils’ sense of security and progress. Although individuals are assumed to
perceive, interpret and make attributions about the social environment, the effects of
environmental factors on pupils’ perceptions of their competence and autonomy seem
substantial. It follows therefore that teachers can help pupils to form positive affective
attitudes towards learning.

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