Teaching the Multiplication Table and Its Properties for Learning How to Learn

Why do the Japanese traditionally introduce multiplication up to the multiplication table in the second grade? There are four possible reasons. The first reason is that it is possible to teach. The second reason is that Japanese teachers plan the teaching sequence to teach the multiplication table as an opportunity to teach learning how to learn. The third reason is that memorizing the table itself has been recognized as a cultural practice. The fourth reason is to develop the sense of wonder with appreciation of its reasonableness. The second and the fourth reasons are discussed in Chap. 1 of this book as “learning how to learn” and “developing students who learn mathematics by and for themselves in relation to mathematical values, attitudes, ways of thinking, and ideas.” This chapter describes these four reasons in this order to illustrate the Japanese meaning of teaching content by explaining how the multiplication table and its properties are taught under the aims of mathematics education. In Chap. 1, these were described by the three pillars: human character formation for mathematical values and attitudes, mathematical thinking and ideas, and mathematical knowledge and skills.