Session Information
24 SES 08, Multiethnic Environment & Comparative Studies
Paper Session
Contribution
International projects to assess education systems– MIMS and PISA – reveal that Portugal is not rated highly for pupil skills in mathematics.
What difficulties are encountered in teaching Mathematics in this country? How can we train teachers so that their pupils learn more and better?
This research addresses these fundamental issues. It takes place in a vertical grouping of schools, including 5 pre-schools, 6 primary schools (year 1 to year 4) and one middle school (year 5 to year 9). This is an Educational Area Priority Intervention (TEIP - Território Educativo de Intervenção Prioritária), serving underprivileged families that, as in many European cities, include a high percentage of emigrants from different ethnic origins. It is located in Vialonga, not far from Lisbon.
We asked 4 research questions related to what we feel are the main problems affecting the teaching of Mathematics in Portugal.
1. Is Mathematics teaching in Vialonga too concerned with the acquisition of techniques and does it overlook the importance of the concepts underlying mathematical reasoning?
2. Is it that Mathematics is taught in an essentially explanatory way? Do teachers give abstract explanations on particular topics, followed by the pupils doing exercises to apply these explanations? This teaching approach is not constructive, and it does not promote inter-action or provide the skills to solve problems.
3. (related to the previous question) Are maths lessons almost exclusively bound to pencil and paper, overlooking materials that can be handled, the information technologies and practical activities performed by pupils?
4. Do teachers have a strategic, vertical view of teaching content, which will ensure that a specific topic will only be taught after pupils have learnt what is required to acquire and command that topic?
The research is conducted in the form of a research-action, based on training for all teachers who teach mathematics to pupils aged 3 to 11, organised into age groups:
· 3 to 5
· 6 to 9
· 10 to 11
In training sessions teachers are encouraged to adopt a stimulating attitude and one that will promote an atmosphere of knowledge-building among pupils (constructivist learning in the group). Teachers are also helped to find vertical strategies for building mathematical knowledge and to encourage concept learning.
At the same time, teachers assist in workshops attended by pupils with learning difficulties in mathematics, one for children in years 1 to 4 and the other for years 5 and 6.
In working throughout a vertical grouping of schools, we can act at all teaching levels, which is very important given the nature of mathematics. Only the 7th., 8th. and 9th. years of schooling were not covered, because in these final middle-school years the difficulties accumulated in previous years were already considerable and required an investment that currently cannot be made.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
References Abrantes, P. (2001). Mathematical competence for all: Options, implications and obstacles. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 47, 125-143. Abrantes, P. (2003). Matemática, projectos e oportunidades. Educação e Matemática, 72, 1-2. Canavarro, A. P. (2005). Matemática na escola: Muro ou ponte. In Guimarães, H. & Serrazina, L. (Eds.), V CIBEM – Conferências (pp. 89-113). Lisboa: APM. DEB (2001). Currículo Nacional do Ensino Básico: Competências essenciais. Lisboa: Editorial do Ministério da Educação. English, L. (2002). Priority themes and issues in international research in mathematics education. In L. D. English (Ed.), Handbook of International Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 3-16). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jablonka, E. (2003). Mathematical Literacy. In A. Bishop, K. Clements, C. Keitel, J. Kilpatrick & F. Leung (Eds.), Second International Handbook of Mathematics Education (pp. 77-104). Dordrecht: Kluwer. Keitel, C. (2004). Para qué necesitan nuestros estudiantes las Matemáticas? In J. Giménez, L. Santos e J. P. Ponte (coords.), La actividad matemática en el aula (pp. 11-23). Barcelona: Graó. Malloy, C. (2002). Democratic access to Mathematics through democratic education: An introduction. In L. D. English (Ed.), Handbook of International Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 17-22). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. NCTM (2000). Principles and standards for school Mathematics. Reston: NCTM. Niss, M. (1996). Goals of mathematics teaching. In A. Bishop, K. Clements, C. Keitel, J. Kilpatrick & C. Laborde (Eds.), International Handbook of Mathematics Education (pp. 11-47). Dordrecht: Kluwer. OCDE (2003). The PISA 2003 Assessment Framework – Mathematics, Reading, Science and Problem Solving Knowledge and Skills. http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/14/33694881.pdf Ponte, J. P. (2001). A investigação sobre o professor de Matemática: Problemas e perspectivas. In Educação e Matemática em Revista, 11, 10-13. Ponte, J. P. (2003). O ensino da Matemática em Portugal: Uma prioridade educativa? In O Ensino da Matemática: Situação e perspectivas. (pp. 21-56). Lisboa: Conselho Nacional de Educação.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.