Mathematics Curriculum Policies: A Framework with Case Studies from Japan, Korea, and Singapore
Mathematics curriculum policy (MCP) can be differentiated from mathematics curriculum by the former’s focus on the objectives of mathematics education and practices implemented at different systemic levels by different groups of stake-holders to bring abo
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Abstract Mathematics curriculum policy (MCP) can be differentiated from mathematics curriculum by the former’s focus on the objectives of mathematics education and practices implemented at different systemic levels by different groups of stakeholders to bring about those objectives, whereas the latter covers mostly mathematics curriculum standards, resource materials, and teaching strategies. Not much has been written about MCP in different education systems. In this chapter, we attempt to fill this “gap” by proposing a framework to cover four aspects of MCP: (a) policies about mathematics curriculum, the “what”? (b) agents who are engaged in policy-making, the “who”? (c) factors that influence the design of MCP within a particular “environment”, and (d) future directions of MCP. We will illustrate these four aspects by citing our experiences with MCP in three Asian countries, namely, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Further research in mathematics curriculum policy can be stimulated through in-depth descriptions of intra-national experiences of policy formulation and implementation and inter-national analyses of similar experiences. Keywords Mathematics curriculum policy · Japan · Korea · Singapore · Policy-making
Introduction Policies matter. They are statements, actions, or decisions that apply to a welldefined group of people to serve a fairly long-term goal in terms of years rather than weeks or months. They are “designed to bring about desired goal” (Trowler
K.Y. Wong (B) National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] M. Koyama Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan K.-H. Lee Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea Y. Li, G. Lappan (eds.), Mathematics Curriculum in School Education, Advances in Mathematics Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7560-2_5, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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2003, p. 95). Policies should be differentiated from expedient administrative acts or quick fixes that may not be aligned with these goals and espoused principles. Curriculum policies specifically direct what to teach in schools, how to teach it, who does the teaching, and who the learners are. Mathematics curriculum policies are discipline specific and overlap with general curriculum policies in broad education and socio-political contexts within a country. They include policies about those aspects of mathematics curriculum that differ from policies for other disciplines such as sciences, languages, and arts. However, “mathematics curriculum policy” (MCP) is less written about than mathematics curriculum. Mathematics curriculum (MC) has been studied extensively in terms of intended standards, textbooks and curriculum materials, implemented classroom practices, and achieved outcomes. This disparity in coverage between MCP and MC becomes quite evident as we are not able to locate seminal papers about MCP from literature and search engines. In this chapter, we attempt to fill this “gap” by proposing a framework to cov
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