The reform of school geometry in the early 20th century in England and Japan: The design and influences of the textbooks by Godfrey and Siddons

Abstract

The origins of the framework of current geometry teaching in Japan can be traced back to discussion in the 1920-30s, and imported ideas from western countries such as England, Germany, and the USA. This study aims to examine some aspects of these origins, and hence to reflect on the learning and teaching of geometry, which is still the subject of much discussion.

The subjects in this study are the teaching of geometry by Godfrey and Siddons, leading English reformers, and their influences on Japanese geometry teaching in the 1920s. This study begins with an examination of the developments in England 1900-12. The textbooks by Godfrey and Siddons together with situations before and after their publication are analysed in accordance with a theoretical framework mainly developed from the studies by Cooper (1985) and Schubring (1987). Their influences on Japanese geometry teaching are then examined, inspired by Yamamto's study (1999 et al), in terms of similarities and differences between the textbooks by Godfrey and Siddons and the HRGME, a leading research group in Japan in the 1920s.

The major findings in this study are as follows. Although the textbooks by Godfrey and Siddons were still based on Euclid's Elements, they expanded their ideas beyond the level of individuals. In this background, there was the fact that they had a good relationship with powerful groups such as Cambridge University. Contemporary pedagogy and psychology also had influences on their textbooks: heuristic approach; the rearrangement of theorems and Herbartian psychology; the role of intuition. The influences on Japanese geometry teaching were then examined, including the consideration of pedagogy. The textbooks by Godfrey and Siddons had partial influences on the design of experimental tasks, and heuristic approach in deductive stages of the textbooks by the HRGME. The implicit value of experimental tasks, the training of the habit of verification and intuition, was not understood by Japanese educators. In this background, there were different views between Godfrey and Siddons and Japanese educators with regard to the treatment of the introduction of experimental tasks. The results of this study include some important implications for improvement of the teaching of geometry; the roles of experimental tasks, the importance of intuition, and the organisation of deductive stages form psychological points of view.

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