2022 年 22 巻 p. 1-12
This study examined the validity of the criticism of unit studies of mathematics education circa 1950, entailing the analysis of Yoshinobu Wada's objection to Hiraku Toyama's opinion. The result reveals the following aspects. First, when compared to academic achievement surveys circa 1940, no structural decline in academic achievement was observed during the early postwar period. The decline in academic achievement demonstrated by Shunichi Kubo was a temporary phenomenon noted immediately after World War II. Second, unit studies were criticized on the grounds that they overlooked the systematic features of mathematics. However, Wada refuted this theory by highlighting the logic that develops in children as a system. The legitimacy of Wada's logic was rooted in the arithmetic education reform implemented before the war. Third, the premise of the theory’s acceptance, which states that unit studies overlooked systematic features and its inheritance to this day, was a misreading of Wada's discourse and the 1951 Course of Study. Fourth, in the 1958 revision of the Course of Study, the principle of curriculum organization shifted from experience- to discipline-oriented learning. This shift could be understood as a change that required teachers to become increasingly aware of clarifying goals and systematizing content and simultaneously maintain the traditional educational philosophy.