Western educators often denounce the "rote" learning which takes place in Asian countries, but what many of these teachers don't realize (at least with regards to math education) is that a high degree of rote learning is absolutely necessary to achieve proficiency in the subject. This repetition trains the brain in a particular way, which builds both speed and confidence in calculation, hence the apparent mastery of mathematics that many Asian students display in Canadian classrooms. They come from a system which does it right (or from supplemental programs such as Kumon). What we have in Canada are provincial half baked curriculums, where kids are neither exercising "creativity", nor are they truly learning what they need to know.