Kumon 1

The Society for Japanese Studies
The Kumon Approach to Teaching and Learning Author(s): Nancy Ukai Source: Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Winter, 1994), pp. 87-113 Published by: The Society for Japanese Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/132785 . Accessed: 13/04/2014 12:05
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NANCY UKAI
to Teachingand Learning The KumonApproach
is thebeginning Memorization of intelligence. Kumon Toru' In the early summer of 1954, eight-year-old Kumon Takeshi, a second grader in Moriguchi City, Osaka, came home from school with a poor grade on his arithmetic test. His mother was concerned, but his father, Kumon Toru, a high school math teacher, was not. "In my opinion, his health . . . was the most importantthing during the elementary school course of study afterhe entered years;I plannedto put him on a structured middle school."2 But prodded by his wife, Mr. Kumon began thinking about how to help his son. He reviewed Takeshi's mathematicstextbook and was bewildered by the way concepts were introduced and then dropped. He turnedto commercial drill books but they only offered repetition of unimportantmaterial. Dissatisfied with what he had found available, Mr. Kumon began crafting a home study program. He wrote out worksheetsof minutely sequenced computationproblems, adjustedto Takeshi's ability level and assigned one each day. Happily, Takeshi'sgrades improved, but when they quit the regimen, his scores slipped again. The family returnedto using the worksheets, but found that if Takeshi skipped a few days of work, he was loath to restartthe schedule. Throughtrial and error, a useful system eventually emerged: a worksheet was done daily under Mrs. Kumon'ssupervision. Mr. Kumon corrected it that night and prepared the next day's problems, gradually increasing their difficulty.
I would like to thankThomas P. Rohlen, Craig Sherman, the anonymousreferees for the Journal of Japanese Studies, and my family. 1. Interviewwith KumonToru (chairman,KumonInstituteof Education),Osaka, Japan, July 18, 1991. 2. KumonToru, Yattemiy6, kodomono chitekikanosei o tsuikyushite(Tokyo:Seikosha, 1991), p. 186.
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Fouryears later, Takeshihad completed 1,000 worksheetsand was solving problems in differentialand integralcalculus. When Mr. Kumon gave his son a few university entrance exam problems, Takeshi, by now a sixthgrader,was able to solve most of them. Today, "Kumon-shiki,"or the Kumonmethod, is the most widely used supplementalsystem for studying mathematicsin Japan. The self-paced curriculumhas been expandedto over 5,000 timed worksheets, taking the learner sequentially and incrementally from prewriting skills and dotcounting exercises to college-level physics problems. The method was developed to teach mathematicsand is best understoodthroughthis curriculum, the focus of this article, but also should be seen as a method with broaderapplications.Approximately70 per cent of Japanesechildrenwho study Kumon math also enroll in Kumon'scourse for Japaneselanguage and a smaller proportion study English using Kumon. The method is mostly used by young children: 7 per cent of all Japanese elementary schoolchildrenstudy by Kumon twice a week at after-schooltutorialcenters. Their numbers, and the longevity of the method, have made the Kumon Institute of Education into Japan'slargest private educational enterprise in terms of enrollment. The Kumon method is controversialand occupies a special niche in the rich, variegatedworldof Japaneseeducation.Japanesecritics dislike the rote-style progressionthroughskill levels. Its most prominentcritic is the JapaneseMinistryof Education(Monbush6),which emphasizesthe development of critical thinking skills in mathematics-while Kumon stresses computation-and which establishes curricularstandardsfor each grade that Kumon then aims to have its studentssurpass. The individualizednature of the method runs counterto group-oriented methods, and Kumon is famous for nurturing"genius" children who solve calculus problems at age five in a society renowned for its uniformity.Japanesemothers seem to either love the method or hate it. Nevertheless, several features of Japan'seducationalculturehave worked in favor of its development:cultural acceptance of repetition, memorization, and mastery as valuable and essential aspects of learning; the importance of mathematics in education-success in mathematicsis vital to performingwell on entranceexaminationsand in school and thus a high value is placed on ways to study the subject;the structureof women'semploymentin Japan,which has provided the Kumon company with thousandsof active teacherswho, denied access to the mainstreameconomy and not licensed to teach in the public education system, neverthelesshave played a crucial role in the method's developmentand successful execution. Many have found a personalcalling and even spiritualmeaningin theirjobs as teachers, lending an air of nearreligious zeal to corporategatherings and publications. The structureof women's employment in Japanalso means that hundredsof thousandsof
Ukai: KumonApproach
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"educationmothers" are availablefor and dedicatedto carefully supervising their children'scompletion of Kumon worksheetsat home. Werethe Kumonmethodused only in Japan,it might be viewed merely as an interesting educational oddity that has lessons but not direct applications for people outside Japan.In fact, Kumon math is used by 350,000 children in 27 countries,3with 70,000 in the United States. As might be expected, usage of the method has developed along different lines in the United States. The most profound innovation is the use of Kumon in American public and private schools as a supplement to the regular curriculum. This adaptationhas shifted the focus of the programfrom home to school; from ambitious Kumon franchisee to overburdenedpublic or private school teacher;from a narrowlyexam-focused society to one that is not. Kumon also is used in the United States as an after-school program, and here as well adoption of the method has producedunexpected outcomes. This article will describe the Kumon philosophy and how the method is used in Japanand will examine the interplayof factorsthatmake Kumon effective in Japanand such an intriguingexperimentin the United States. Although the technical aspects of the curriculumare the same, different contexts lead to differentoutcomes, revealing much about the state of the two societies and the assumptionsthat each holds on how learning should take place. My own interest in the Kumon method originatedfrom personal experience, as an American "Kumon mother" whose young children were enrolled in a newly opened Kumon learning center in Irving, Texas. After observing my first-gradeson's relatively pleasant progress throughseveral hundredpages of curriculum, and, of greaterpersonal interest, his newfound confidence in his abilities as a "mathematician,"I began to pursue researchby readingMr. Kumon'sbooks, discussing the method with local parentsand children, travelingto area schools with Kumon managers, and randomlycalling out-of-stateteachers and principalsto gatherdata on test scores and their schools' experiences. I also traveled to Japan, where I interviewed Mr. Kumon and other Kumon representatives,parents, and instructorsin Osaka and Tokyo. The KumonMethod The Kumon method representsa clear example of what Westerneducational psychologists term "guided learning" theory. In contrastto "active" learning theories that stress cognition through the manipulationof
3. According to October 1993 figures, the largest enrollments overseas are in South Korea (147,000), the United States, Taiwan (58,000), Brazil (27,000), and Australia (18,000).
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materials,the explorationof ideas, and unstructured discovery, "guided," "reception," or "expository" learning draws on a behaviorist approach. As described by such educationalpsychologists as RobertM. Gagne and David Ausubel, the ultimate instructionalobjective is placed at the top of what will eventually become a complex pyramidof tasks. Lying beneath the goal is a progression of prerequisite tasks, starting with the most simple, which must be mastered before continuing to the next level of difficulty. The guided method stresses learning as a systematicprocess of adding on to that which the learner already knows. Explains Gagne, "knowing strategies . . . is not all that is requiredfor thinking;it is not even a substantialpart of what is needed. To be an effective problem solver, the individual must somehow have acquiredmasses of organized intellectualskills." 4 The goal of Kumon is precisely that:for elementaryschoolchildrento master the extensive corpus of manipulativeskills that lead ultimately to solving problems in differentialcalculus. Mr. Kumon'soriginal goal for his son was to help him masterthis level of mathematicssince eventually he would study it in high school. he knewthatevenhis son'seducation, about When[Mr.Kumon] thought in high school, have to learn differential Takeshi would equations tually math.Thenhe figured that sincethatwouldleadhimintouniversity-level andbeforethatcomes comestrigonometry, beforedifferential equations andpreceding thatis division, comesalgebra, Beforegeometry geometry. andaddition.5 subtraction, multiplication, After witnessing Takeshi'sachievement, which at the time he considered amazing, Mr. Kumon came to believe that small children were capable of solving calculus problems if introducedto the material in tiny steps at their own speed. He set thatobjective at the apex of his curriculum pyramid and worked down. This highly sequentialpresentationis key to the Kumon method and is a key factor in the theory of guided learning, especially as it is applied to mathematics. As Ausubel and Robinson explain: of sequential sucha highorder exhibits Mathematics learning dependence of thesubject, eachstepin thedevelopment masters thatunlessthestudent is impossible.6 further progress
4. In Lee Shulman, "Psychology and MathematicsEducation," in EdwardG. Begle, ed., MathematicsEducation: The Sixty-ninthYearbookof the National Societyfor the Study of Education (Chicago:NSSE, 1970), p. 35. 5. Interviewwith Ozaki Kazuyori(manager,overseas division, Kumon Instituteof Education), Osaka, July 18, 1991. 6. David P. Ausubel and Floyd G. Robinson, School Learning:An Introductionto Educational Psychology (New York:Holt, Reinhart,Winston, 1969), p. 143.
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To its sequentialpresentation,the Kumon method adds the principle of automaticity,or "overlearning,"which is the measureof whethermaterial has been mastered. Childrenmust practice computationuntil finding solutions becomes automatic. They progress to a higher level of work only after they show the ability to complete sheets accuratelywithin prescribed time and mistake limits. If either of the limits is exceeded, additionaldrilling is assigned. The method is put into practice as follows: 1. The newly enrolled child takes a 20-minute diagnostic test. After the score is evaluated, the child is placed at an extremely low skill level in orderto enhancehis or her early performanceand therebybuild confidence and motivation. 2. The child is presentedwith a new plastic Kumon box that contains several stapledpackets of 3 to 10 small-sized worksheets. One packet is to be completed each day, requiring15-30 minutes' study. 3. Twice a week, the child attends a Kumon classroom (kyoshitsu). The completed homeworkis turnedin and that day's packet is done at the classroom. 4. The child receives back previous worksheets and corrects the mistakes until a perfect score is returned.The process of correctingone's own mistakes is seen as an importantopportunityfor self-teaching. 5. The instructorcharts the child's progress in a detailed record book and, according to the most recent results, assigns more difficult work or repetitionof previous pages. 6. Kumon is practicedevery day of the year. The vehicle for learning the mathematicscurriculumis approximately 5,000 five-by-seven-inchworksheetswhose most striking feature are their long, regularrows of computationproblemsprintedin darkgrey ink. The 5,000 sheets are divided into 28 levels, with most containing 200 "small steps" or pages. Each level correspondsto the materialand concepts covered in a Japanesegrade, as shown in Table 1. The upper section of every worksheet has a uniform appearance, as shown in Figure 1: at the top left is a letter that identifies the curriculum level and a numberthat indicates the page within the level. Children who do Kumon glance at this corner when they receive new homework to see what level they'reat. At the top right is a rectangular box with spaces for enteringthe beginning and ending times, date, and name. There is a noticeable absence (in worksheets above preschool level) of words, pictures, and tables. The purpose is to focus the learner's attention on numbers. Kumon problems are sequenced to an astonishingly minute degree, giving the worksheetsthe appearanceof eye-pleasing order and regularity
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Table 1 Kumon MathematicsCurriculum by Level Japanese Curriculum Grade Level Level
Materialand Concepts Covered Numbergames; recognize, recite numbers 1-10 Zero; ability to recognize, recite numbers 1-30 Line drawing, mazes Numbertracing, dot counting Numbercharts, beginning addition Simple additionby mental calculation
Preschool Level
7a 6a 5a 4a 3a 2a A B C D E F G H I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Elementary
Addition, subtraction(mental) Verticaladdition(carrying), subtraction Multiplicationtables, multiplication,division Multiplication,division, fractions Fractions(reduction,four operations) Fouroperations, decimals, word problems Positive and negative numbers,algebraic expressions Linearequations, linear functions Polynomials, factorization,squareroots, quadraticequations Higher factorization,quadraticequations Variousfunctions (quadratic,fractional, irrational,exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric) Plane geometry calculus Progression,differential/integral Vectors/lineartransformations Applicationsof differentialcalculus Indefiniteintegralcalculus, application Integralcalculus, differentialequations College-level physics, mathematics
Middle
High
J K L M N 0
12
College
P Q-V
if one is sympatheticto the Kumon method, or mind-numbing repetitionif one is not. The reasons are two-fold: (1) so that the child is not pressured, since the degree of difficulty increases so gradually;and (2) to help the child discern numberpatterns. For example, a child working at Level 3A on preadditionskills will be given many pages containing problems such as 1 + 1, 3 + 1, 2 + 1, 5 + 1, 4 + 1, and so on. Having firmly masteredthat, she will continue practicing "adding 1" until 99 + 1. Then "adding 2," "adding 3," etc. is practiced. Concepts are not explicitly taught. Rather,throughrepetition, learners experience insight. For example, the means of solving such problems as 48 + 6 or 132 + 12 will be patentlyclear, without verbal or written explanation, to a child who has completed several hundredmultiplication
Ukai: KumonApproach
Figure 1 Sample of a Kumon Worksheet,Level E, page 21a (Fifth Grade)
93
"??ON
E21 a
Time lO:O_0 a Name
t ,
Date
AL)OJI
E 21
E21b
(9)
5
Ex. I
Dmitri
2
7 77 777 7 7 7 7 77 7
? 3. Addition of Fractions I (6 pts. each)
+ 5= S C
-
3 2
7
i 3 3
3 5
7
(10)
5+ 7
.3 +4 = 7 = I 7 7 7
(I I)
5
7
9 4= 7 7
2+ -_= 5 5
12
7
(12)
5
(13)
( 2)
__
4
7
6
7
o
1 J
(14)
7=
5 5 -
-]
(7)
4+59
(15)
6 +5
7
(4)
2 2+
4 =
(8)
+ -=
(16)
5 + 5 = =.
__
Copyright 1990.7 by The Kumon Instituteof Education. Used with permission. This two-sided worksheetcontains 16 problems and is assigned a StandardCompletionTime of 3-5 minutes. The company expects an averagestudentto work throughthreeto five pages a day, completing about 140 pages per month, of which 70 are new work and the remainder are repetition. (As worksheet content grows more difficult, the proportion of repetition increases.) According to company advancementmodels, by the end of one year, the student will have completed 1,390 worksheets and be working five months ahead of the school curriculum.
problems and to whom 6 x 8 and 11 x 12 are operations that have been "overlearned." (My interest in Kumon was frequently stimulatedby my son, who occasionally exclaimed "I get it!" as he worked problems.) As childrenbecome better calculatorsand as their body of knowledge grows, some discover shortcuts or different strategies for operations, injecting
94
"creativity" and intuitioninto what seems to be merely a mechanical operation. A Japaneseinstructorrecalled that her most able studentsaid that his favoritepartof doing Kumon was finding as many ways as possible to do a problem. At higher curriculumlevels, problems are groupedto show numerical
is introduced, patterns. A problem such as 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = _ At Level F, 18 - 9 is presented in the followfollowed by 5 x 2= _.
ing way:
11. 1.8 + 0.9 12. 1.8 - 0.09 13. 0.18 - 0.09 14. 0.18 - 0.9 = 15. 18 + 0.9 16. 18 ? 0.09 =
A thinking child may notice a patternin the answers-2, 20, 1/5, 2, 20, 200. But even those who do not pay attentionto the patternswill, in Kumon'sview, have benefitedfrom practicingcomputation. The volume of repetitionthat is necessary before progressingto more difficult work depends on the individual. Childrenwho quickly and accurately complete the two-digit division worksheets, for example, will move with little or no redundancyto three-digitdivision while others may repeat the two-digit section several, even dozens of times, before moving forward. Even the fastest-progressing students,however, work each 200-page level the equivalent of at least three times,7 according to the company. Completion of worksheets should requireless than 30 minutes a day, but if this schedule is adheredto, the pages add up rapidly.I was surprisedto learn that my daughter, who started doing animal mazes when she was three-and-a-half years old, completed 2,885 pages in two years, to finish three levels. My son had solved 3,370 worksheetsto complete five levels. A researcherhas noted the case of Kat6 Yukinori, who was enrolled in Kumon when he was four years and nine months old. Five years later, he was solving problemsinvolving vectors at Level O, having completed 800 sheets per level, with backsteps and redundanciesin certain areas, for a total of 13,570 worksheets!And he was only "12th best" in Japanfor third graders(as judged by how far he had progressedin the materials.)8 Not surprisingly,Kumon asserts that repetitionis fun. Young children
LatestExport:Can KumonHelp ImproveU.S. Mathematics 7. Craig Sherman, "Japan's Education?"(senior thesis, PrincetonUniversity,April 15, 1991), p. 101. 8. Ibid., p. 61. Sherman'sanalysis of the Kumon method is filled with many delightful observationsand anecdotesgleaned from his month-longexperience as a participant-observer in the company in July 1990.
Ukai: KumonApproach
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enjoy doing the same thing repeatedly;singing a TV jingle or drawingthe same picture over and over is satisfying and a crucial part of the learning process. MariaMontessori has observed: Tohavelearned is forthechildonlya pointof departure. When something of an exercise,thenhe beginsto enjoyrepeathe has learned the meaning
ing it. ... He enjoys executing that act because by means of it he is
his psychicabilities.9 developing If the child is solving problems at "just the right" (chodo ii) level, the act of calculating is effortless and rhythmic. Concentrationis intense and in some cases, the pencil appearsto literally fly down the page as the child mumbles meditativelyor even laughs with glee. Repeatedly doing calculations can become a much-hated task, however, when the concept is not understoodor the skill level too high. Children who previously zipped throughworksheetsmay rip them up, scribble in frustration,refuse to work, cry, etc. when assigned difficult work. At this point, sensitive guidance becomes crucial to successful usage of the worksheets. Expert teachers may assign extremely easy work, with a few hardersheets mixed in, to remindchildrenwhat they are capable of; assign fewer pages per day; ask for closer parentalguidance; or, in rarer cases, suggest to the company that possible flaws in the sequencing of problems be repaired. Holding the child's interest during these "hump" periods is the ultimate test not only of the quality of the worksheets but also of the teacher'sunderstanding of the method and skill in applying it. The job of instructors,which will be discussed below in more detail, is not to "interfere"with the child's learning, which will come throughinternalizing calculation skills, but to offer praise, hints, and individualizedfeedback on work. Teachersare called shid6sha (instructor),literally someone who gives guidance, ratherthan the traditionalsensei (teacher)which carries greaterinstructionalauthority. The company also employs psychological strategies, many imbedded into the worksheet structure, to keep children motivated. For example, each 200-page level is designed so that difficult "uphill" sections, which introducenew concepts, are followed by "downhill" slopes of repetition. Complicatedproblems that involve several intermediarysteps will be followed by a simple one that can be computedmentally. New studentsare startedat a level as much as two years, or 400 pages, below their actual ability as determinedby the diagnostic test. Startingso low helps develop concentration, speed, and motivation since the learner
9. MariaMontessori, The MontessoriMethod (New York:Schocken Books Inc., 1964), p. 357.
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can rapidly complete tasks that already have been mastered. Moreover, company studies show thatchildrenwho begin using easy materialadvance over the long run more quickly than those who do not. A Japanesetrainer explains: for thehighjump,a person whocanclear200 centimeters will In training for a long timeatjumping over 150 cm. If he starts havetrained training is the same.'0 at 200 cm, he maystrain a muscleor hurthimself.Kumon In a minusculebut highly celebratedpercentageof cases, childrenaged five and under graduallyprogress to solving algebra, geometry, and calculus worksheets. According to the company's regularly published Advanced Students List (Shindo Ichiranhyo), 600 children aged three years old and under were completing algebra-levelworksheetsout of a total enrollmentof 811,909 in spring 1991. Many adults find it difficultto believe thattoddlerscan achieve such proficiency,but professionalmathematicians say it is not unthinkable,merely unusual since most societies believe that children'stime is better spent doing other things. (Nor, perhaps, has there existed a popularizedmethodthatconsistentlyproducedthis outcome.) As a Japanesemathematicsprofessor observes, "For a baby, learning all the rules to speak a language is much more difficultthan learningalgebra, but language is more importantfor the child's survival."1 Kumon'sin-house magazines are filled with disproportionate examples of three- and four-year-oldswho are doing algebra, which are meant to instructand inspire. One such case is thatof Shiono Hitomi, whose mother received Kumon song cards, Chinese character (kanji) flashcards, and puzzles when Hitomi was born. Hitomi recognized the kanji for "ninjin" (carrot)when she was nine months old, spurringher mother to enroll her in Kumon mathand Japaneselanguagecourses two monthslater and in the English course when she turnedtwo. Hitomi, now threeyears old, is doing algebra and solving sixth-gradelevel worksheets in English and seventhgrade level in Japanese language. She does Kumon worksheets for two hours every day with her mother, can complete the Kumon 1-100 magnetic numberboardin 10 minutes, and reads 200 books per month.12 Is copying and drill productiveuse of a child's time? Critics liken Kumon to continuouslypracticingscales without studying music theory: the ability to successfully use an algorithmdoes not mean thatone understands "why." Kumon officials respondthat calculatingis a mental skill that has
10. Interview with Mori Hiroaki (educational director, Kumon Mathematex), Irving, Texas, May 1991. 11. Interview with Fujita Hiroshi (mathematicsprofessor, Meiji University), Tokyo, July 27, 1991. Anna seito, konna seito, Eigo E, Kokugo G, hoteishiki nisaiji 12. "Kyoshitsuarubamu: de gakushu," Yamabiko,No. 125 (Nov. 1990), pp. 32-35.
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instructivevalue in itself and that memorizationand drill precede deeper forms of understanding. Whenpeopleheara smallchildplayChopin,they'llsay, "it'sbeautiful, but does he understand whathe's playing?" I believethattherearemany levelsof understanding, andtheunderstanding he bringsto it at fiveyears old is valid,andwhenhe is 25, he will haveanevendeeper appreciation.13 Controversyover the Kumon method tends to center, understandably, on the central role of computation14 and the volume of repetition. In the tendency to focus on educationaltheory, however, other less obvious factors that can profoundlydiminish or enhance the power of the curriculum may be overlooked, such as the learner'senvironmentand the role played by the instructorand the family. Indeed, Kumon'scommercial and educational achievements can be attributedin large measure to the company's canny exploitationof many complex elements that characterizethe culture of modern Japanese education. Of particularrelevance are the nation's competitive exam-driven system, the social aspirationsof Japanese parents, and the availabilityof a large pool of educatedwomen who supervise and carry out the Kumon method. The KumonMethod in Japan Kumon has been able to flourish in Japanfor several reasons: (1) the Japanesemotherswho use it have a positive image of the method;(2) many childrenseem to enjoy doing it; (3) it is convenient for families; (4) society places a high value on education and Kumon is seen as a viable afterschool programthatpropels childrenbeyond grade-levelwork and prepares them successfully for competitive examinations. Accordingto a 1985 poll takenby the Mainichi shinbun, one of Japan's three largest daily newspapers, 66 per cent of 4,200 housewives in Tokyo and Osaka were aware of the Kumon method. Of those whose children were enrolled in the method, 45 per cent said they valued the good study habits that the method instills, and 28 per cent thought it would help their children learn how to think and concentrate. Nearly 40 per cent of enrolled families said they chose the programbecause it is liked by children,
13. Interview with S6og Takayoshi (president, Kumon Mathematex), Houston, Texas, March29, 1992. 14. Miwa Tatsur6,former mathematicsprofessor at TsukubaUniversity, explains: There is only you and a piece of paper. The idea is to look at the examples and find the rule. It's importantand necessary for children to find things out on their own, but not all people are capable of this. For example, if you have a problem like 2 - 1 = , then you might notice that two is the numberwhich precedes one, and that taking one away from two leaves one. But it is difficult to continually be making rules and finding out on your own how far the rules apply. (interview, Kyoto, July 28, 1991)
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Table 2 Enrollmentin Kumon Math for JapaneseElementarySchoolchildren (September1992) Numberof Students (Percentageof all Japanese elementaryschool students) 8,146 13,217 25,755 50,447 87,574 111,710 119,031 108,084 89,020 74,028
Age -2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Grade
Kindergarten 1 2 3 4 5 6
(6.3) (8.0) (7.9) (7.2) (5.9) (4.6)
Source: Kumon Instituteof Educationand JapaneseMinistryof Education.
and 35 per cent because it has a good reputationamong neighbors and friends.15 The company's user-friendlyreputationbelies its size and power. It operates 81 regional offices, 18,500 franchises, and in the fiscal year ending March 1992 reportedsales of Y47.5 billion ($448 million). Enrollment figures for September 1992 show that approximately 800,000 children study with Kumon, mostly in three subjects:math, Japaneselanguage, and English. According to the firm's figures, 790,000 children are enrolled in math, 605,000 study Japaneselanguage, and 240,000 study English. (The figures add up to more than 800,000 since many children enroll in more than one subject.) Some 70 per cent of childrenwho study math also study Japaneselanguage and 63,000 studentsstudy all three subjects. for all ages, but enrollKumon asserts that its method is appropriate ment statistics show thatJapaneseparentsoverwhelminglychoose Kumon math as a class for elementary schoolchildren. In fact, this age bracket accountsfor 80 per cent of all users.16 Enrollmentfor math startsto double each year from the two-year-oldlevel until the first grade. It peaks at elementarythirdgrade, as seen in Table 2. Kumon may be popularfor this age level because the method is seen as useful for cementing fundamentalarithmetic skills, which are introduced in the elementary years and which parents consider importantto
15. Sh6ji Shiba, "The Excellent Education System for One and a Half Million Children," ProgrammedLearning and Educational Technology, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Nov. 1986), p. 311. 16. Approximately 100,000 middle and high school students were enrolled in Kumon math as of September1992:
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future success in mathematics. Parents who are considering Kumon are told of the method's record of accelerating children beyond grade-level work. Since the method startsnew studentsat such a low beginning point, about six months is requiredfor them to reach their true ability level. By the end of one year, however, 50 per cent of children in the top half of their class have surpassedgrade-level work. Childrenin the top quarterof their class are already studying 0.75 years ahead. Within two years, children in the bottom quarterare studying ahead of grade level. Since the average Kumon student is enrolled for 28 months, it can be assumed that most children catch up with and eventually advance beyond their grade level. Kumon is used as an acceleratedcourse and for remedial purposes but, accordingto the company, the majorityof users are children of average ability. Of at least equal importanceto parentsis Kumon'sprovision of a structuredyet low-key formatthat, properlyused, can nurturedisciplined study habits and engage a child's attentionon an academic subject for a short but intense period of time each day. As many children'sfirst juku, or supplementary after-school class, it is a relatively unthreateningexperience. Unlike many other big juku companies which have an impersonal, urban image, Kumon ky6shitsuare more akin to a neighborhoodshop. Virtually all are run by women, half are run out of privatehomes, and it is common for children to walk directly from schools to their Kumon classes. After arriving, the child greets the teacher, turns in the homework, obtains his or her folder, and starts the day's assignment. In one Japaneseclassroom in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, a mother sat on the tatami with her 18-monthold son on her lap, quietly chanting "1 + 1" problemsto him as the children aroundthem chatted, gazed at the ceiling, and completed worksheets. Tuition consists of a one-time Y10,000 (about $95 @ Y105 = $1) registrationfee per family and Y6,000 monthly for primary school children, with a discount for more than one subject. Comparedto the price of other juku, some of which may charge monthly fees of over Y20,000, Kumon is consideredto be moderatelypriced. Many elements that help to explain Kumon's commercial success would seem to be in place: a large marketof interestedconsumers, timetested curriculum,sound company reputation,and competitive price. But what cannot be overlooked in an examinationof the Kumon method is the crucial roles women play in two areas: as supervisoryparentin the home and as company-trained instructor. Kumonextols its worksheetsas self-teaching, but learningwill not take place, of course, unless the daily worksheet set is completed. Much like getting a child to practice a musical instrumentor brush his teeth after meals, the role of a badgering adult is critical. In Japan, it falls to the motherto make sure that "doing Kumon"becomes partof the daily routine
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(the company recommendsdoing a packet before school). As Kumon parents will attest, the method is labor intensive, and the Japanesemother is well suited to its successful application. Women also account for more than 95 per cent of Kumon instructors. Kumon uses a franchise system to spread its network of classrooms, and women who obtain a franchise also serve as that classroom's instructor. Some successful franchisees/instructors operatemore thanone tutorialcenter, thus 16,586 franchisees run 18,487 classrooms. The employment structurein Japan offers such limited opportunityfor Japanese women, particularlyfor those who leave the work force to have children and later wish to return, that Kumon is able to select its franchisees from a deep pool of highly educated and willing applicants who are experienced in working with children. Among the group of franchisees hired in spring 1992, for instance, most were homemakersand 57 per cent had graduated from a four-yearcollege, and 36 per cent from a two-year college. Very few Kumon instructorsare professionally trained teachers: rather, their wish is to earn part-timeincome in a job that also offers the potential to help others. Economist Shiba Shoji has patronizinglydescribed them as "social bench warmers"whose talents have been unleashedby Kumon.17 Given the informationmade available by the company, it is not clear what the averageincome is for a franchisee. New franchiseespay Y70,000 in trainingand start-upfees, and operatingcosts vary widely. Each month, the averagefranchiseecollects tuition for 94 students, keeping 60 per cent of payments. In the case of extremely successful instructors,however, it is possible to earn the equivalent of $50,000 to $100,000 a year or more. FujiwaraHideko, who is now employed by Kumon as an educationaldirector in Houston, Texas, ran a famous franchisein Himeji City with several hundred students and 32 grading assistants. MinamiuraKumiko of Nara Prefecture is currently Japan'slargest franchisee, with nearly 400 students, virtually all of whom study two subjectsor more. The company takes great care in the hiring, training, and maintenance of standardsin its instructors. Kumon hires less than one of every ten applicants. Prospective candidatestake a general knowledge exam, a test in the subject they hope to teach, and a 30-minute interview with a local Kumon manager who judges the applicant's personality and "love of children." Successful applicants then enter a training period of over one year. classes, open theirfranchise, and They attendthreemonthsof introductory participatein a follow-up year of courses to study the curriculumand mo17. Shiba, "The Excellent Education System," p. 324. According to Shiba, 94 per cent of instructorsbelieve their role is to help children develop their potential, and 70 per cent would like to continue workingas long as they are healthy (pp. 226-27).
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tivation strategies. Math instructors, for example, must complete 2,000 worksheets throughLevel J (factorizationand quadraticequations), starting with 200 pages of mazes and drawing lines between cartoon figures. For at least the first several years, instructorsalso are requiredto earn a prescribednumberof credits by attendinglectures on educationaltopics, and twice a year they must take an exam in their subject(s). The latter requirementassures subject mastery, keeps instructorsmindful of the student's perspective, and works to enhance their esteem as "professionals." Fujiwarain Houston believes that the most diligent Kumon teachers are busier studying, attendingseminars, and correctingpapersthanthe average Japaneseschoolteacher.In addition, the company has createdan elaborate social world to motivate teachers, nurturetheir sense of professionalism, and instill a feeling of participationin a worthy educationalcause. Excellence is encouragedby publicly recognizing exemplary teachers. An elite group of superiorinstructors,who are judged by their innovative use of the method-which frequentlycoincides with their ability to amass huge enrollments-become superstarswithin the organization. Such famous instructors(yumei na shidosha) travel across the country delivering lectures to regional groups, grantinginterviews to company journals, and otherwise disseminating their ideas on learning and teaching. Dozens of others become headmastersof small schools. Kumon'stop 100 instructors average over 200 studentseach, but actually collect tuition for the equivalent of 500 users since most students sign up for two or three subjects. Inouye Mayumi of Kyoto Prefecture, who specializes in upper-level (junior high and above) worksheets and has published a booklet of hints, teaches 250 students, many of whom routinely stay at her juku for four years (almost double the averagelength of study). MoritaYukiko operates the "Triumph" kyoshitsu, attended by 260 students. She is well known within the organizationfor her work with gifted (yushuji)childrenwho are underthe age of five and who routinelywork linearequations, readEnglish stories, and study Japaneseessays thatuse up to 800 kanji. Suzuki Mieko, of Tanashi City, Tokyo, holds well-attended seminars for new parents on teaching English to infants. Teachers also gain recognition through contributingto or being featuredin companymonthlies, such as Yamabiko,a generalnewsletter;Nyiuy6ji, about teaching infants; and Tsukushi, for teachers of children with learning disorders. All instructorsare sent copies, which contain cheery accounts of high-achieving students, complete with baby photos and the obligatory sample of worksheets. One typical article featuredthe observations of a teacher'spoignantexperiences with a mentally handicappedboy who enrolled in her center as a third-grader-crying, unable to hold a pencil, and capable of readingonly seven hiragana. By the time he turned 15, he was reading kanji, solving math problems, and had obtained a job.
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Table 3 Hints in Kumon TeachingManuals
Level 5A (prewriting) Contents: Drawing lines Aim: To teach them how to hold and apply pressureto a pencil, to write neatly, and to work and concentrate To enable them to count aloud to 50 and to recognize numbersup to 30 Instructions: 1. Pay special attentionto the children'sexpressions and attitudes throughoutthe 5A-level materialsto be sure that they are always enjoying studying. 2. Score all the 5A-level materialswith 100%even if there are some mistakes. Make sure the childrencorrecttheir mistakes throughthe process of reviewing. 3. It is sufficientif the childrencan draw smooth firm lines even if they veer off the path somewhat. 4. The more advancedthe worksheets, the more there is to do per page. You may want to decrease the numberof worksheetsafter observing the progressof each child. 5. Have small childrenuse Kumon'sspecial pencils. Level E (fractionsand decimals) Pages E181-200 are difficultfor many students. They may go forwardif they can complete one page within seven minutes. Many childrenhave troubleconvertingdecimals into fractions .... Basic problems such as 0.5 = '/2, 0.25 = /4, 0.75 = 3/4 should be memorizedthrough practice. Sources: For Level 5A, "Points for Instruction,"Sept. 1990; for Level E, "Shid6 ni tsuite no ryuijiko," undated.
She emotionally concluded that "there is no other method like Kumon that furthers the intellectual development of handicapped people." 18 Expert instructors may be asked by the company for their help in researching a specific topic. "Monitors" (monitd) consider a given problem and make suggestions, such as where improvements can be made in sequencing problems or in breaking down concepts into smaller parts. We found that there is a difficultjump to go from doing 8 + 3 to 9 + 4 and thatmore practiceis needed on problemsthat lead up to solving 8 + 2.... The instructorswatch the childrenandtell us which spots in the worksheets give the children trouble. Sometimes a teacher will say, "one little girl cried when she couldn'tdo this one." We have the childrendo the problems and watch their responses. Another teacher told us, "the child was going along very smoothly until this point, when his pencil stopped." 19 The experience and expertise of past instructors also can be seen on the pages of detailed teaching manuals that offer hints and pinpoint trouble spots. Examples of these are shown in Table 3.
18. "Y6og gakko kara ippan kigyo ni shushoku," Tsukushi, No. 54 (April 1990), pp. 26-27. 19. Interviewwith Ozaki, July 18, 1991.
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On the other hand, some women have complainedof feeling exploited Resentmentmay be directedagainstcompany managerswho by the firm.20 are in supervisorypositions yet have little or no actual experience teaching Kumon. In cases such as this, the inspirationalexample of Mr. Kumon, who, at 78 years old, is the charismatic, hands-on chairmanof the firm, can be a powerful salve. He is passionate about spreadinghis method to help children "learn how to learn," and frequently speaks before Kumon conventions, writes newspaper columns, inquires about worksheet revisions, and holds staff meetings to discuss ways that Kumon can contribute to society, based on his own 70-item list of the method's positive attributes.21Admirerscomparehim to Suzuki Shinichi, the founderof the Suzuki method of violin instruction,which, like Kumon, emphasizespractice and memorization of skills and produces a high level of proficiency in young children. Both men, who are friends, believe that all children have genius potential and that it is the responsibility of adults to nurtureit to
maturity.22
Mr. Kumon's drive to continually perfect the method led to his own importantinnovations, such as a StandardCompletionTime (hyojun kansei jikan) for each page, and the Advanced Students List, which names childrenwho have advancedat least six months beyond their grade level.23
20. One Japaneserepresentativesaid that several women told him that they felt used by the company'sability to profitso handsomelyfrom their ideas and observations, but that they would not quit because they wanted to continue working "for the sake of children." 21. "Kumon-shikino tokucho" (March 1991) is a two-page, itemized list that is part data, part opinion, and part gospel. Item 10, for example, "Kan6sei no tsuikyfi," is a comparative data chart that states that in the 10 years between 1981 and 1991, the number of elementary school students solving Level J worksheets (square roots, quadraticequations) grew from 181 to 7,000. Item 25, "Kumon-shikishid6sha ni natte yokatta," quotes an instructoras saying that through Kumon, she understoodthe meaning of education and, as a result, developed a strongerlove of humanity.I happenedin on a Japaneserepresentativein Texas who was studying the list in his office and had circled this item and added his own notes. 22. For an absorbingdescriptionand analysis of the Suzuki method, see Lois Taniuchi (Peak), "Cultural Continuity in an Educational Institution: A Case Study of the Suzuki Method of Music Instruction,"in MerryWhite and Susan Pollack, eds., The CulturalTransition: HumanExperience and Social Transformation in the Third Worldand Japan (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986), pp. 113-40. 23. In 1958, Mr. Kumon introducedthe Advanced Students List, which contained the names of all students completing worksheets six months or more above grade level. Originally, it was intendedas a way to motivate students. One managersaid: The child feels pride in seeing his name on the list and so does the parent .... One can see the lowest achiever and the highest achiever and it is valuable to know what your own position is in relationto the top and bottom. (interviewwith Ozaki, 1991) But the "list," now publishedby region, seems to be of equal or greaterinterestto instructors, whose names and cities are published alongside those of the most advanced students. As of June 1992, mathenrollmentwas 770,223 students,of which half were completingworksheets six months ahead of the Japaneseschool curriculum.One fourth-grader, one fifth-grader,and
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Modern data analysis techniques underpinand refine basic concepts such as these. For example, using worksheet data collected from franchisees each month, the firm has establishedadvancementmodels that predictthe learning curves of children based on gender, age, and ability level. The same data are used to pinpoint the worksheets most frequentlyrepeated, an indication of possible flaws in the curriculum. (The curriculumnow devotes 460 pages to slowly introduce addition, but only one-fourth that number of worksheets to practice subtraction.)These findings and their efficient disseminationstimulate learning among instructorsand generate new opportunitiesfor growth. One veteran shidosha recalls how excited she and her colleagues were when worksheetdata became availableon the firstthree-yearold to complete level M (differentialequations). "All of the teachers were interested . . . to see which level had given him the most difficulty."24They were surprisedto learn that the culprit was level A, single-digit addition. This level and the one that precedes it are the most frequentlyrepeated. The KumonMethod in the UnitedStates The Kumon method is used by nearly 70,000 children in the United States, about half of whom use it in public and private schools with the remaining35,000 studentsenrolled in after-schooltutorialcenters. It is an experimentthat is being watchedwith perplexity,hope, and fascinationin The blend of social and culturalfactors that Kumon'sOsaka headquarters. contributeto Kumon'ssuccess in Japan-strong parentalcommitment,the continual, intensive training of instructors,and an extremely educationconscious society thathas a thrivingindustryof after-schooljuku-do not exist to the same degree in the United States. At the same time, the ability of American schools to freely adopt supplementalprogramshas provided business opportunitiesfor Kumon that do not exist in Japan, and by using professional schoolteachersthe need for extensive training becomes less important.Limited experimentswith using Kumon worksheetsin American corporationssuggest another fertile market. In an effort to enhance of elecproductivity,Texas Instruments,the nation'slargest manufacturer tronic calculators, uses Kumon worksheetsto preparesome of its employone sixth-graderwere among the 14 childrenwho completed the entire course, which ends in differentialgeometry. The concept of a Standard CompletionTime was introducedin 1976. It provides specific time limits for each page. Mr. Kumon and others observed that the highest achieversworked quickly and that when children had unlimitedtime to finish, their attentiondrifted. He also came to believe that a perfect score achieved too slowly did not constitutemastery. 24. Telephoneinterview with FujiwaraHideko (educationaldirector,Kumon Mathematex, Houston, Texas), Aug. 7, 1992.
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ees to take a timed, math skills test in which they are only allowed to use pencil and paper. The Kumon method arrived in the United States in the mid-1970s at the behest of Japanese expatriatebusinessmen who were searching for a supplementto theirchildren'smatheducation. Graduallythe methodbegan to spread among local populations on the West and East Coasts, mostly among childrenof Asian descent. Two-thirdsof Kumon'safter-school students in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, for example, are the children of first-generationJapanese and Korean parents. Similarly, children born to Chinese and Korean immigrantsare believed to account for two-thirds of the enrollment in New Jersey. In order to expose the method to "real Americans," the firm opened an office in Houston, Texas, in 1988. The Houston office planned to expand in the U.S. South and Midwest by opening after-school tutorialcenters. Ilene Black, an elementary school vice principalin Alabama, irrevocablychangedthis strategy.Black, of Sumiton Elementary School, viewed a news report on the Kumon method and was impressed by the company's claim of mastery. Despite initial protestationsby Houston officials that Kumon was not for school use, she persuaded the company to let her try Kumon as an in-school supplemental curriculum, and within one year teachers cited dramatic improvementsin standardizedtest scores. Sumiton first graders, who had routinely scored in the 20th percentile and below in the math portion of standardizedachievement tests, began to place in the 85th percentile. Before startingthe program,Sumitonranked 19th out of 21 among county schools in a comparison of scores on the Stanford Achievement Test, a norm-referencedtest, but after one year of practicing Kumon, Sumiton ranked9th out of 21 in math. "None of our teacherschanged, and neither did our textbooks. The only thing that was differentwas Kumon,"25 Black said. The most surprisingthing for her and the teachers, however, was that the children said they liked it, with some even wanting to skip P.E. to do Kumon worksheets. Major news media published articles about these outlandish claims of success. Time magazine took the unusual step of column folprinting Kumon's Houston address in its letters-to-the-editor lowing a large numberof queries from the public, boosting the profile of the company enormously. The in-school program,which startedwith 300 students in Sumiton in 1988, was expected to expand to 50,000 children in 36 states for the 1992-93 school year. Sumiton Elementary,in its sixth year of Kumon, is frequentlyvisited by teachersfrom all over the country, and even from abroad. Kumonused as an in-school programalmost always supplementsa core
25. Interview with Ilene Black (principal, Sumiton ElementarySchool), Sumiton, Alabama, May 18, 1992.
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math program, but that is where the uniformity ends. "In the U.S., the only norm is that there is no norm," one manager says.26 The ability to pay for the program is an important determinant in usage. Kumon charges a $5 monthly fee for each student ($45 per student for a nine-month school year). Private schools may choose to add $45 to the cost of the annual tuition, but in a public school, $45 must be multiplied by some 25 students per class, bringing the school's cost to over $1,000-for only one class. As a result, Kumon can be adopted only if a principal obtains a grant, if teachers find a way to raise money, or if parents are willing to pay for the program out of pocket, which may result in uneven participation. The dramatic displays of success claimed by Sumiton Elementary led to praise and optimism claims by observers. The Kumon company set a goal of enrolling two million American schoolchildren in its method by the year 2000, now viewed by most managers as unrealistic. What has become clear over the past few years, however, is that outcomes swing dramatically depending on the effort and attitude of the classroom teacher. Teachers who like the method and the facts-oriented curriculum tend to produce good results, while those who do not may obtain the reverse outcome. Enthusiastic teachers and schools report impressive gains in scores on standardized tests.27 My own random sampling of five schools which had used the method for at least one year also indicated that mathematics scores had increased by varying degrees, but since schools had used the method differently and without using the same control groups, the extent of real change could not be determined.28
26. Interviewwith MarkBurkhart (manager,North Texas Kumonoffice), Irving, Texas, Oct. 23, 1992. 27. Such samples are not scientificallymeasuredand cannotbe consideredrepresentative of other schools. Their common factor is higher test scores in the computationportion of tests and smallergains in problemsolving. For example, Holy TrinityEpiscopal standardized Day School in Bowie, Maryland, reportedthat school-wide averages (for 210 students in grades 1-6) increased from an average 72nd percentile in 1990, to the 88th percentile in 1992, and from the 80th percentilein problemsolving in 1990 to the 86th percentilein 1992, on the MassachusettsAchievementTest ("KumonKronicles," Sept. 1992, p. 3). In a followup telephone interview, a school representativeconfirmedthe test scores and attributedthe success of the Kumon programto a volunteer team of 60 parents who correct worksheets every night. Similarly, Cleora Public School in Cleora, Oklahoma, uses Kumon for all 130 children in grades K-8, and reportedthat the schoolwide averagefor total math (the average of three math sections: computation, problem solving, and concepts, on two standardized tests) rose from the 63rd percentile in 1990 to the 82nd percentile in 1993 on standardized who tests ("Kumon Kronicles," June 1992, p. 3). Woody Goins, the district superintendent initiated the program, said in an interview that the school pays for a full-time worksheet grader. 28. Desert Winds Elementary,Marana,Arizona;Gilboa-ConesvilleCentralSchool, Gilboa, New York;Judson Montessori School, San Antonio, Texas; P'tach School, Baltimore, Maryland;Roadrunner Elementary,Marana,Arizona.
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Successful Kumon schools cite behavioralchanges and improved selfconfidence which may then have the effect of lifting the child's performance. An elementary school principal in Atlanta, Texas, whose school uses Kumon for 70 kindergartners said, "We felt like it gives the kids a good head start. They get to feeling like they're good at math, and that's about half the ballgame. If you believe you can do it, you can." 29 Some schools that use curriculumsthat focus on concepts say that the method is useful in helping childrenmasterbasic arithmeticfacts. A Montessori school principalobserved, We look at Kumonaddition as the lowestlevel of math,where problems If youcando thiswithout aredeveloped. effort,so that speedandaccuracy it'ssecondnature, thenyou arefreerto thinkon a higher plane.30 The observations of the director of a programfor gifted and talented children, at the Universityof Tulsa, attractedinterestsince it is commonly assumed that academically advanced children do not need or like repetition. After using Kumon for 82 students from grades 1-7, for one year, she found in a survey that: 68 percent(56 children) saidthemethod helpedtheirconcentration, 54 percent(44) saidit helpedthemstayon task, 60 percent(49) saidit helpedthemlearnhowto workhard, 83 percent(68) saidit hadincreased theirspeed, 73 percent(60) saidit hadhelpedthemimprove accuracy, 91 percent(75) saidtheirmathskillshadimproved.31 But Kumon can fail spectacularlywhere teachersare less convinced of its efficacy. Additionalclass preparation and the massive amount of grading and record-keepingcan be staggering. Gradingworksheets for an avIf immediate erage class of 21 can take as much as two and a half hours.32 gradingand record-keepingis not carriedout, the wrong level of worksheet may be assigned, destroying the seamless progression of work that successful applicationof Kumon requires. Even where teachersdevise ways to alleviate the gradingproblem, such as by having students grade each other's work, rotating grading among work groups, or hiring a part-timegrader,studentsinevitably tire of doing
29. Telephone interview with Gus Schulmann (principal, Atlanta Primary School, Atlanta, Texas), Nov. 12, 1992. 30. Telephone interview with James Judson (principal, Judson Montessori School, San Antonio, Texas), Oct. 29, 1992. 31. PatriciaL. Hollingsworth, "A Reformer's'Retrogression':Speaking Out for Kumon Mathematics,"Education Week, Vol. XI, No. 13 (Nov. 27, 1991), pp. 23-25. 32. Sherman, "Japan's Latest Export," p. 96.
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worksheetswhen the novelty wears off or when the problems grow more difficult. Finding ways to handle the dropoff in interestbecomes a burden for the teacher, who is not paid to use Kumon and does not have the Japanese supportmechanismof active parentalinterest. Another problematicaspect of using Kumon in schools is that many participatingpublic schools use the programfor remedial students, whose materialsare paid for by federalgrants. Such studentsmay be severalyears behind their grade level to begin with, and startingthem at Kumon'straditionally low level means that they may be unable to make meaningful progress, which can be a source of discouragement. Thus, Kumon expects an annualattritionrate of approximately30 per cent, due to the aforementionedreasons, personnel changes, and lack of funds. A random survey of eight schools that had left the programfound that five cancelled due to lack of funds and the remaining schools found the program to be unproductiveand too much trouble.33Other teachers
simply dislike the method: "it's a lot of repetition for children ... I don't
see any great purpose in it. After awhile, if you've done it enough, you just memorize the answers."34The method also has run into opposition from a nationalmathematicsteachers'organization,which advocates a national curriculumbased on teaching problem-solvingskills and using calculators for computation. A former president of the National Council of Teachersand Mathematicssaid, "To want to be able to recite multiplication tables is a sad commentary (on math education) at the end of the
century."35
Approximately35,000 Americanchildren study Kumon math in afterschool learning centers, which are operatedin churches, community centers, schools, and malls. Students pay a $30 registration fee and $65 monthly tuition. Women, oftentimes schoolteachers who run centers on Saturdaysand professional tutors, account for 70 per cent of franchisees. A license and start-upkit costs $300 and the instructorkeeps 60 per cent of studenttuition. The biggest difference is that, until recently, American
33. PrestonHollow Elementary(Dallas, Texas) La Vega Elementary(Waco, Texas) Midfield School District (Midfield, Alabama) MansfieldHigh School (Mansfield, Texas) CurryElementary(Jasper,Alabama) Bonnie Brae (Ft. Worth,Texas) lack of funds lack of funds, disliked by teachers lack of funds
schedulingproblems schedulingproblems lack of funds (school for emotionally disturbedchildren) MariaImmaculate(Houma, Louisiana) schedulingproblems Ashland City Primary(Ashland, Tennessee) lack of funds 34. Telephone interview with Susan Allen (teacher, P'tach School, Baltimore, Maryland), Nov. 2, 1992. 35. Telephone interview with Iris Carl (former president of the National Council of Teachersof Mathematics,Houston, Texas), April 6, 1992.
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franchisees have undergone only several hours of training, largely by watching videotapes. A high drop-out rate plagues many centers. According to U.S. representatives,American studentstend to be oriented to short-termresults, such as passing an upcoming test or improving a grade, and are not classes. A Japanese stratfully accustomed to the idea of extracurricular their children to progress that mothers want observes "Japanese egist but when Americans catch their classmates, up, they feel satbeyond isfied and leave the program."36An American manager adds, "Most parents feel math is the school's job. . . . When kids leave school, it's hard enough to get them to do their homework let alone extracurricular homework."37 The extreme amountof repetitionis unacceptableto many parents, and due to the lack of teacher trainingand absence of a system to educate the user, some parents come to believe that the intent of the extremely low starting level and the voluminous repetition is to collect more tuition. In some franchises, instructorswho do not want to grade the worksheets ask parentsto grade them at home, and if the parentsfail to do so, the child's progresscannotbe monitoredaccurately.The task of chauffeuringchildren to yet another activity and the $65 monthly tuition are other obstacles to Asian-Americanparents, however, seem to participation.First-generation be less deterredby these factors and American Kumon centers most resemble their Japanese counterpartswhere first-generationKorean, ChiKorean nese, Japanese, and Indian families form the main constituency.38 "are not satisfied with the education Han Kim, here," parents system says a managerfor Kumon in southernCalifornia. "In Kumon, they see something very similarto what they learnedin Korea. They emphasizethis math very strongly for their children."39Other foreign-born Asian residents from Taiwanand China have expressed "relief" at finding a programsuch
36. Interviewwith Fujiwara,Houston, Texas, March28, 1992. 37. Telephone interview with Dave Walker (general manager, Kumon Mathematex, Houston, Texas), May 30, 1991. 38. In Toronto, Canada, Kumon franchisees adjust their marketingapproachaccording to place of family origin. New students are considered to belong to one of two categories: "Type A," whose parents are not native to North America, desire more rigor in their children'seducation, and who want their childrento advance beyond the school curriculum;and "Type B," whose parents are native Canadiansand who tend to view Kumon as a remedial program.FranchiseeLynda Montis, who with her husbandoperatesthree Kumon franchises with a combined enrollmentof 934 students, is known and valued within the Kumon organization for her success in attracting"Type B" children. They comprise approximately75 per cent of her enrollment. See "Success with Kumon," speech text by Lynda Montis (Aug. 7, 1993, Toronto, Canada). 39. Anthony Millican, "Presence of Koreans Reshaping the Region," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 2, 1992, p. 5.
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as Kumon in the United States. It seems to mirroran educationalstyle they find familiar. Conclusion A cursory inspection of Kumon worksheets seems to say everything that one needs to know aboutthe method:28 volumes of worksheetsfilled with calculationproblems that bespeak old-fashioneddrill, a familiar and now commonly rejected pedagogical method. But the Kumon phenomenon has much to teach us about how an effective instructionalmethod, groundedin acceptededucationaltheory, was developed, applied, and perfected. The worksheetshave been deridedas a "drill-and-kill"curriculum, but their meticulous sequencing and attentionto detail make them a much more complex body of material. The decades-long drive to perfect the worksheets is reminiscentof Japaneseindustrialmanufacturing processes and the resulting "product"has been likened to a Lexus luxury car among Edsels by educationalpsychologist Robbie Case. We also can increase our understandingof Japanese education by studying why Kumon has been well received for 35 years among a dedicated group of Japanese parents. It may be that Kumon in the Japanese context is a desirable complement to school learning, particularlyat the elementarylevel. Accordingto recent researchby Stigler and Stevenson,40 methods to conduct Japaneseelementaryschoolteachersuse inquiry-based math classes by using small groups to explore concepts, encouragingmistakes, and leading open-endeddiscussions. Classtime is rarely spent practicing computationalskills. In the evening, however, childrenpracticedrill and calculationat juku, by doing homeworksheets or by filling in practice books sold at cornerbookstores. Thus, concepts are consideredduringthe day and practice takes place at night.41Recent psychological researchindicates that this is a powerful combinationfor learning.42
40. Harold W. Stevenson and James W. Stigler, The Learning Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can Learn from Japanese and Chinese Education (New York: Summit Books, 1992), pp. 175-79. 41. Japanese math educators face problems of a different nature. One concern is the finding of the JapaneseMinistry of Educationand other researchgroups that while Japanese tests are among the highest in the world, Japanesechildrenalso math scores on standardized have the highest rate of disliking math. The ministry is recommendingin its guidelines that more time be spent in the classroom on kadai gakushtu,in which children must create their own problemsusing rules and applications. Critics also note that Japanese students do not place high in internationalmath olymthinkingand whose represent"genius"-level talent in mathematical piads, whose participants top performersusually come from the United States, China, and Europe. 42. Robbie Case, Intellectual Development: Birth to Adulthood (Orlando:Academic Press, 1985), chapter 15.
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Once Japanesechildren leave elementaryschool, however, their usage of the Kumon method and the individualand institutionalnatureof learning changes. In contrast to the nurturingfemale instructorsof Kumon, are strict, authoritarian male teacherswhose yobiko cram school instructors task is to mentally preparetheir charges for the narrowlycompetitive task of excelling on a standardizedentrance exam. The option of attending a Kumon kyoshitsuis only one component in a complex web of educational choices that Japanese parents make at different points in their children's careers. The Kumon method also supplements an educational system whose institutionsdo not provide a place for diverse learning styles and userschildren with learning disabilities, those who are extremely advanced, or others who simply want to study somethingoutside the standardofferings, such as German, French, Spanish, or Chinese. Kumonenrolls 2,000 users roughlyclassified as learningdisabled, includingchildren who are hearing impaired,autistic, Down's syndrome, or have other disabilities.43 Part of Kumon'sappeal also can be attributedto the fact that it is a modernexpression of deeply held beliefs about how teaching and learning should take place. Kumon'semphasis on learning through drill, physical repetition, and memorizationechoes Japanese instructionaltraditionsthat value "doing" as a partof knowing. The phrase "karadade oboeru" (literally, "memorizingthroughthe body") is commonly used in referenceto learning processes, whether one is learning how to bow, ride a bicycle, mastera no dance, or, in the case of Kumon, rapidlyperformmathematical calculations. This phase is the first step for novices and children. A Japanese music instructorwho has taught piano to children and young adults for 25 years says, "In methods like Suzuki and Kumon, you are making children learn throughtheir body. They aren'ttold 'why' yet. When they ask labout conceptsl you say 'just wait a little longer' lchotto matte kudasail, and you don't encourage them to think about that yet. Educationis a difficult process because you must switch to different styles depending on 44 the age of the learner." Repetitionalso is seen as nurturing positive character traits, such as endurance,patience, and discipline. Thus the Japanese teenager who completed 17 levels of Kumon English, and then repeatedit for reinforcement,viewed the exercise not only as a way to absorbknowledge, but also as a badge of his diligence and perseverance. Many traditional Japanese methods of instruction also rely on a
43. The company categorizes the learning problems as follows: autism or autistic tendencies (318), emotional disorders(126), Down's Syndrome (281), mentally delayed (527), hearing impaired(136), and other disabilities (552). Teachersadjusttheir guidance methods, but it appearsthat extreme repetition, such as using the same worksheet 10 or 20 times, one page at a time, is coimmon. 44. Interviewwith Yukie Kyuzaki (piano instructor),Dallas, Texas, Nov. 8, 1992.
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"guided method" in which a clear goal is set forth with detailed steps that, if closely followed, assure a high level of proficiency. Along the way, learnersare rewardedand motivatedwith an acknowledgmentof their incrementaladvancement:special licenses in the tea ceremony, differentbelt colors in the martial arts, promotion to a higher level of apprenticeship, or, in the case of Kumon, stickers, certificatesof achievementat the end of each "200-step" level, or mention in the Advanced StudentsList. This incrementalapproachallows for gradual mastery of a subject while enabling learnersto develop a sense of themselves as serious participantsin a learning process. For those who endurethe two-steps forward,one-step backward progression through the curriculum, it guarantees objective measures of success, confirming the view held by most Japanese that personalindustryis more importantto academic achievementthan natural intelligence. providesadditional Observingthe Kumonmethodin new environments how on how functions differ. Due to the method and users' needs insight Americanresistanceto intensive repetition,Kumonmay develop an abbreviated curriculumfor U.S. use without the repetitionthat Kumon deems 45 Kumon necessaryfor "overlearning.""The steps will become rougher." is being applied to new user groups in the United States, in corporations, prisons, and in English-as-a-second-language programs.Chinese-language newspapersin New Yorkcarry front-pageadvertisementsfor Kumon English.46Using Kumon cross-culturallyfocuses attentionon differentstandards of achievement. Although college-bound Japanese students are advised to complete Level O (differential and integral calculus) to ensure masteryof college entranceexaminationmaterial,Kumonanalystssay that an adequate goal for their counterpartsin an American K-12 system is completion throughLevel I and part of Level J (algebra) to score in the 70th percentile, or over 600 in the math portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. It has become clear that without Japanesesupportmechanisms, such as fervent parentalsupport, and other technical features, such as the uniform training of instructors,the method functions less evenly and effectively. (This became particularlyclear to my family when we switched from studying at the Texas office-which was a trainingcenter for some of the company'smost experiencedrepresentatives-to a privateNew Jersey franchise, where gradingwas left to the parents, guidance was sparse, and progression in the curriculumstagnated.) But, ultimately, the determining factor for success in using Kumon lies in the personal motivation of the individual parent or teacher. When parents and teachers become
45. Interviewwith Fujiwara,March28, 1992. 46. Shijie Ribao, Aug. 21, 1993, p. 1.
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closely involved, they achieve high outcomes and open up new areas for application. An Australianinstructorsuggested the idea for developing an English curriculumfor native speakers, Americans were the first to use Kumon in schools and companies, and Canadians now operate the two largest Kumon franchisesof all, in Toronto.
NEW JERSEY PRINCETON,

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