East Asian Students’ Mathematics Performance: A Values-Based Macroeducation Perspective

Attempts at importing and/or adapting pedagogical practices of more successful (mathematics) education systems have not produced desired sustainable and meaningful changes. In this chapter, research publications based on the analyses of country-level data were reviewed in order to identify the values which underlie mathematics pedagogical practices in high-performing East Asian jurisdictions. Twelve values were identified, namely, achievement, effort/perseverance, long-term orientation, product, mastery, not self-concept, class size, student behavior, school climate, school size, grade repetition, and valuing the teaching profession. These values can be organized along student, institutional, and societal levels. Intervening values and risk factors are also identified. It is recommended that future research investigate the role of religious values, as well as the interaction between (mathematics) learning values of migrant students and those of host countries.