Session Information
24 SES 04, Exploring Text and Textbooks in Mathematics Teaching and Learning
Paper Session
Contribution
The here presented research is part of a larger research project that belong to the fast developing area of mathematics textbook research. From the different fields and areas of interest – one of the possible categorizations of textbook research by E.B. Johnssen is quoted in Sikorová (2010) and distinguishes between process-oriented (creation, production, approval process, selection, distribution), use-oriented (textbook in a mathematics classroom) and product oriented textbook research (content analyses). In the larger research project the author of the paper carries out process-oriented research (e.g. Moraová, 2014, 2015, in print). The proposed paper describes results of a study conducted within this project and focuses on what pre-service teachers of mathematics find important and focus on when evaluating a textbook of mathematics. Pre-service teachers are asked to assess a textbook of their choice from several perspectives.
It is crucially important that pre-service teachers be able to analyse textbooks and their appropriateness with respect to their beliefs, teaching methods, pupils in countries where education systems are decentralized and where there is no strictly defined national curriculum like e.g. in the Czech Republic where the research was carried out (Beneš, 2009) and where there is a wide selection of textbooks and course books. Czech education reform from the beginning of the 21st century replaced national curricula by Framework Education Programmes. Every school is expected to work with the Framework Education Programme creatively and design its own School Education Programme respecting the principles of the FEP. FEP defines the binding scope of education for its individual stages but the school defines how and when the goals will be achieved. This allows each school to construct its programme in such a way that it suits the needs of the school, its pedagogical staff, local background etc. In the ideal case teachers from a particular school collaborate and work very creatively, using their potential and skills, to construct the best possible School Education Programme for the given school and the specific group of children. However, what often happens is they take a textbook offered at the market and use its table of contents as the matrix defining the contents that will be taught in a particular grade and the education outcomes for each level.
This is why teachers must be able to analyse and evaluate a textbook in a way that will help them choose an adequate textbook for their pupils or school. Their ability to evaluate a mathematics textbook must by one of the skills acquired in their pre-service teacher training. The research analyses how students evaluate different aspects of textbooks, what discourse they use and what kinds of textbooks they recommend for use at schools.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bauersfeld, H. (1980). Hidden dimensions in the so-called reality of a mathematics classroom. In: Educational studies in mathematics, 11(1), pp. 23-41. Beneš, Z. (2009): Učebnice (dějepisu) a vícestupňová kurikuula. K perspektivám školního vzdělávání (pp. 127-134). Brno: Paido Bohlmann, N., Straehler-Pohl, H. & Gellert, U. 2014. Decon-structing the Filtration of Reality in Word Problems. In G. Aldon (ed.), Pre-Proceedings, CIEAEM 66: 78-81. Lyon: ENS. Framework Education Programme for Elementary Education (2007). Prague: Research Institute of Education (VÚP) in Prague, http://rvp.cz/informace/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/RVP_ZV_EN_final.pdf Moraová, H. (2014). Non-mathematical aspects of mathematics textbooks - A case study. Contribution presented on the Conference on Mathematics textbooks and curricular resources in the digital era. Island: Reykjavik Moraová, H. (2015): Non-mathematical aspects of mathematics textbooks – What are the values and who is responsible for them. Proceedings of the 14th Conference on Applied Mathematics (Aplimat, Slovakia), pp. 589-601, Bratislava, Slovak University of technology in Bratislava Moraová, H. (in print): The Role of Publishers in Production of Textbooks. In Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, ISSN 1877-0428. Rezat, S. and Straesser, R. (2012) ‘From the didactical triangle to the socio-didactical tetrahedron: artifacts as fundamental constituents of the didactical situation’, ZDM – The International Journal on Mathematics Education (vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 641-651) Sikorová, Z.: Učitel a učebnice: Užívání učebnic na 2. stupni základních škol. Ostrava: OUO 2010
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