Mathematics Education Lesson Study in Japan from Historical, Community, Institutional and Development Assistance Perspectives

Japanese mathematics education is characterized by structured problem solving (Stigler and Hiebert in The teaching gap. Free Press, New York, 1999). Lesson study, where a group of teachers develops a lesson together, refines it furthermore. This learning opportunity has spread to various levels of the educational system during the last one hundred years, forming the lesson study practice and of today and becoming a part of our educational culture. This chapter addresses the culture, which Japanese mathematics education has nurtured from three perspectives such as history, community, and institution. These perspectives are discussed with a basis on Bishop in Mathematical enculturation: A cultural perspective on mathematics education. Kluwer, Dordrecht (1989). Besides these, a fourth perspective, developmental assistance, is also employed to compare the perspectives of Japan with those of developing countries.