School Mathematics Curricula: Asian Perspectives and Glimpses of Reform

School Mathematics Curricula: Asian Perspectives and Glimpses of Reform, edited by Catherine P. Vistro-Yu and Tin Lam Toh, is the fourth volume in a series of books about Asian education.  It is a collection of articles, each focused on a particular topic related to one country, providing up-to-date information about the state of educational reforms in Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India.  The volume illustrates the historical development, successes, and challenges faced in these countries involving the development and implementation of curricular reforms, particularly in pedagogical approaches as well as textbooks and assessments.  The material is mostly written from a policy perspective, and as such can be rather dry at times, although some sections include example problems from assessments to illustrate how assessments are utilized and analyzed.

 

This book will be useful to anyone interested in math curriculum development, particularly for readers outside of Asia who are interested in methods and policies utilized there, or readers in Asia who would like to know more about what other countries near them are doing.  The material is accessible for a general audience, however, only people with a solid interest or knowledge of educational policy will likely find it useful. Each article has an extensive list of references, which could be beneficial for newcomers to Asia to get a better grasp of the larger picture of educational reform in Asia.

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Adam Graham-Squire is an Associate Professor of mathematics at High Point University.  His research interests lie in voting theory, gerrymandering, recreational mathematics and mathematics education.