Rating: 
Summary: Teaching in different cultures
Review: This book reports the findings of a study of Mathematics classes in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Many lessons were videotaped in each country, and then analyzed by the researchers. I'm an English teacher but I still found the researcher's observations to be intriguing. After describing the general characteristics of classes in each country, the researchers focus on Japan and the way that educators there collaborate. The way the Japanese teachers collaborate very intensively and the Japanese attitude toward educational reform were pointed out to show how Japan has managed to greatly improve its educational system in the last 50 years while the US system has gone through reform after reform without seeming to achieve any results. Differences in the Japanese culture that have added to this success are pointed out, and reasons for these differences are discussed. As an experienced teacher in the US, who has also lived in Japan and taught Japanese students in America, I believe that their observations were very accurate, and don't bode well for the success of educational reform in America in the future. However, I think that every teacher who is truly interested in school reform should read this book. (And unlike many books about education, it is very readable-- no pretension jargon, or murky tangled sentence structure.)
Rating:
Summary: Short and to the Point
Review: This book, unlike many books in education, was very readable and to the point. We can learn a lot about how slow, teacher-driven reform can take education a long way rather than the top-down educational reform pushed onto teachers in the U.S.
Rating:
Summary: Short and to the Point
Review: This book, unlike many books in education, was very readable and to the point. We can learn a lot about how slow, teacher-driven reform can take education a long way rather than the top-down educational reform pushed onto teachers in the U.S.
Rating: 
Summary: A practical, readable roadmap for improvement of teaching
Review: This practical and readbable book is a must for any teacher. The authors and their international colleagues spent three years comparing teaching methods and test scores in Germany, Japan, and America. Their masterful use of the research from the TIMSS study brings clarity to the underlying cultural assumptions that determine the teaching methods of every nation. (American and Japanese emphasized) They note that in the last 50 years Japanese educators have taken an incremental approach to improving teaching by working together to enrich individual lessons. Teachers are given the time and resources to do the action research essential to improving daily lessons for all students. In America teachers are told by non-teaching "experts" what and how to teach and most often work in isolation. Well intentioned reform efforts over the years have not only resulted in little change in actual classroom practice, but have bred cynicism and distrust of the entire reform movement. The authors believe that when American teachers are given the time and support to collaboratively improve the profession of teaching at the individual lesson level will students achieve significant improvement in what students, know, understand, and are able to do. What Does this Suggest to American educators? We must recognize the cultural assumptions that define effective teaching for educators, students, parents, politicians, and school board members. Then we must work to change these cultural assumptions by incorporating research in learning and teaching methods so that students achieve the higher standards demanded in the global economy. This can only be accomplished with the support of the entire community and professional development leading to more effective teaching methods. All schools must give teachers the time and support to study teaching and develop more effective methods. Gimmicks and individual star teachers cannot achieve the evolution of standard educational practice in America. The star teachers of the 21st century will be those who collaborate to infuse the best ideas into standard educational practice.
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