How Chinese Teach Mathematics and Improve Teaching

'This book sets out to explain a tradition of teaching and improving teaching that will be unfamiliar to most of its readers. However, the surprising and pleasing outcome is that by doing so, it offers significant new insights into mathematics teaching in Western countries.' - Kaye Stacey, Foundation Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia "This book challenges us to examine teaching and to make a commitment to improve teaching every day in every classroom in the U.S., as well as other countries of the world. Current and future students deserve our very best effort to engage them in exploring mathematics for its beauty, its utility, and its place in the lives of people worldwide." Glenda Lappan, University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University

Yeping Li is Professor of Mathematics Education, holder of the Claude H. Everett, Jr. Endowed Chair in Education, and Head of the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University, USA. Rongjin Huang is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Middle Tennessee State University, USA.

Foreword Alan H. Schoenfeld. Acknowledgments. List of Contributors. Section 1: Introduction and Perspectives 1. Learning and Understanding How Chinese Teach Mathematics and Improve Teaching: An Introduction Yeping Li, Rongjin Huang 2. Mathematics Classroom Instruction in China Viewed from a Historical Perspective Guanghua Shao, Yuchao Fan, Rongjin Huang, Ersheng Ding, Yeping Li 3. Characteristics of "Two Basics" Teaching in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms in China Hengjun Tang, Aihui Peng, Bifen Chen, Kongxiu Kuang, Naiqing Song Section 2: Chinese Teachers Regular Practices for Developing and Improving Classroom Instruction Preface David Clarke 4. Chinese Lesson Study: Developing Classroom Instruction through Collaborations in School-Based Teaching Research Group Activities Yudong Yang, Thomas E. Ricks 5. Knowing and Understanding Instructional Mathematics Content through Intensive Studies of Textbooks Meixia Ding, Yeping Li, Xiaobao Li, Juan Gu 6. Lesson Planning through Collaborations for Improving Classroom Instruction and Teacher Expertise Yeping Li, Chunxia Qi, Ruilin Wang Section 3: Mathematical Instruction Practices and Classroom Environment in China Preface Anne Watson 7. Teaching with Variation: Bianshi Mathematics Teaching Ngai-Ying Wong, Chi-Chung Lam, Anna Mei-Yan Chan, Chee Mok 9. Features of "Excellent" Lessons Valued Before and After the Implementation of New Curriculum Standards: A Comparative Analysis of Four Exemplary Mathematics Lessons in China Dongchen Zhao, Yunpeng Ma 10. The Learning Environment in the Chinese Mathematics Classroom Rui Ding, Ngai-Ying Wong Section 4: Selected Approaches and Practices for Improving the Quality of Teachers and Their Teaching Preface Gabriele Kaiser 11. Improving Classroom Instruction with Apprenticeship Practices and Public Lesson Development as Contexts Xue Han 12. Improving Mathematics Instruction through Exemplary Lesson Development in China Rongjin Huang, Yeping Li, Hongyu Su 13. The Teaching Contest as a Professional Development Activity to Promote Classroom Instruction Excellence in China Jun Li, Yeping Li Section 5: Commentary 14. This Book Speaks to Us James Stigler, Belinda Thompson, Xueying Ji