The role of international organisations in the New Math reform process

Author(s):

Shaghayegh Nadimi(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

17. Histories of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

17 SES 01,

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-22

13:15-14:45

Room:

K3.12

Chair:

Geert Thyssen

Contribution

This paper studies a particular school reform that travelled over countries and continents. The target reform of this paper is the New Math reform, which started in the United States and travelled through many European countries. This article is part of my PhD project. I previously presented some of the results in different conferences, for instance: (Nadimi, 2015a, 2015b, 2016). The present paper studies the role of the international institutions in the adaptation of the reform in Luxembourg

In 1958, the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) in the United States started a series of mathematics reform under the title “the New Math reform”. The aim of this reform plan was to promote the “problem solving” abilities in students (Phillips, 2014, pp. 16- 59). Many of mathematicians and math educators who became a member of the SMSG, had already started working on a new system of math education at the University of Chicago since 1955. However, the launch of Sputnik satellite by the USSR in 1957 gave the opportunity to trigger the New Math reform.

The origin of the New Math reform was the ‘modern mathematics’ of the French Bourbaki group. A group of French mathematicians, since 1935, under the pseudonym Nicolas Bourbaki founded the “modern mathematics” by publishing the series of Elements of Mathematics (Bourbaki's_homepage). The reform came back to its land of origin through a conference organised by OEEC (Organisation for European Economic Co-operation) in the Royaumont abbey in Paris to foster the reform movement in Europe (OECD, 1961). The official title of the conference was “New thinking in mathematics education”, but it is known as the “Royaumont seminar”. OECD (the Organisation succeeding the OEEC) published the proceeding of the conference and organised other following conferences. The fact that OEEC/OECD hosts these conferences shows the politico-economic aspect of this reform. (Tröhler, 2015, p. 6) indicates that organisations like OEEC were created to link the national and the international, to create a global sphere, and to form an institutional or organisational channel to transfer desired ideas, policies, and curricula.

The practical implementations of the New Math reform, in Europe, were discussed in two international organisations: ICMI (International Commission on Mathematical Instruction), founded in 1908, and CIEAEM (Commission Internationale pour l’Étude et l’Améloration de l’Enseignement des Mathématiques), established in 1950 (Vanpaemel, 2012). Furthermore, there were also local institutions, such as Centre Belge de Pédagogie de la Mathématique (CBPM). This centre had a close collaboration with Luxembourgian teachers and school stakeholders.

This paper reviews the process of the New Math reform in Luxembourg by focusing on the interactions between the international institutions and the local school system. By telling the story of Luxembourg, the paper reveals a part of history related to the acts and efforts of the mentioned international organisations in the dissemination of the New Math reform idea in Europe. It shows how the national and international interactions could help the advancement of the reform and where the collaboration met challenges. The central question that shapes the paper is that up to what point the international cooperation of Luxembourgian stakeholders could be influential at the national level. This can be an example of how the acts and efforts of international organisations interact with the local interested parties in the development of an educational idea.

Method

The methodology of this paper is based on analysing the data drawn from texts and other documents relevant to the reform. These documents include both official publications and unpublished archival work. I historicize and contextualise the extracted data based on the time, place and context where it was produced. Furthermore, I look at the links and the interconnections between different texts. In brief, while analysing a text, I ask when, where, by whom and to whom this text was produced. Furthermore, I also consider the politico-social background of the author and if relevant the addressee of the text. Moreover, I examine the case of Luxembourg in the context of Europe, and as a member of the OEEC/OECD and other international organisations or unions. These ways of contextualisation will help me to understand and to interpret my sources from different national and international standpoints to examine how the adaptation of the New Math reform proceeded. Moreover, as (Tröhler, 2007, p. 17) notes the contextual approach helps to “avoid believing in ‘timeless truths’ to be found in different texts”.

Expected Outcomes

Luxembourg as a European country and a member of OECD played its role in the promotion of the reform at the international level by participating in the relevant events or even organising them. Most of mathematics and primary teachers were trained to be ready for the New reform in the CBPM. However, despite all the collaboration and empathy with the international movement, the reform did not advance as fast as in other countries, specifically in Belgium and France. At the national level, the country saw other issues on its agenda, which forced the math reform to be postponed to a later time. The postponing arguments were strong enough to push the reform of the primary education to 1980, five years after the US back out the New Math. My research traces the root of these challenges in the definition of the national identity and the expectation from a Luxembourgian future citizen at the era of the study. However, these international interactions were not without effect. They served to keep ‘the need for a math reform’ as a topic of discussions in the country. The three ICMI conferences in Echternach (a town in Luxembourg) (1965; 1969; 1973) brought the mathematics education into the topic of everyday life through newspaper articles and the radio programme. The teacher training and the programme developed at the CBPM later served the mathematics community of the country. This paper aims to have a closer and deeper look at where these international organisations were able to help the advancement of the reform at the national level.

References

Bourbaki's_homepage. Association des collaborateurs de Nicolas Bourbaki Retrieved from http://www.bourbaki.ens.fr/ Conference1. (1965). Les Repercussions de la Recherche Mathématique sur l'Enseignement : Textes originaux des conférences faites au seminaire organisé par la C.I.E.M. á Echternach (G.-D. de Luxembourg) été 1965., Echternach, Luxembourg. Conference2. (1969). Le passage du secondaire à l'université et les études mathématiques. Conférences et exposés du 2e séminaire organisé par la C.I.E.M. à Echternach, Echternach, Luxembourg. Conference3. (1973). New Aspects of Mathematical Applications at school level. Conférences du 3me Séminaire organisé par le C.I.E.M., Echternach, Luxembourg. Nadimi, S. (2015a). Cultural conditions in the adaptation of the global ideology of New Math Reform in Luxembourg in the 1960s and 1970s. Paper presented at the International Standing Conference for the History of Education, Istanbul, Turkey. Nadimi, S. (2015b). National Adaptation Of New Math As A Cold War ‘Globally’-disseminated Idea In Luxembourg: Confrontation Of National Values And International Urges. Paper presented at the National Adaptation of New Math as a Cold War ‘Globally’-disseminated Idea in Luxembourg: Confrontation of National Values and International Urges, Budapest, Hungary. http://hdl.handle.net/10993/24123 Nadimi, S. (2016). A historical study of applying a new perspective on mathematical concepts for improving education of “mentally handicapped” children. Paper presented at the ISCHE 38, Chicago, United States. OECD. (1961). New thinking in school mathematics (1 ed.). Paris: OECD. Phillips, C. (2014). The New Math: A Political History. In (pp. 287-288). doi:10.7208/ chicago/ 9780226185019.001.0001 Tröhler, D. (2007). Philosophical Arguments, Historical Contexts, and Theory of Education, Educational Philosophy and Theory. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content, 39(1). Tröhler, D. (2015). Trajectories in the development of modern school systems. New York: New York : Routledge. Vanpaemel, G. (2012). Belgian contributions to the New Math movement in Europe. The role of international organizations and the influence of the periphery. Paper presented at the 8th STEP Meeting - Corfu,, Corfu. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273143778_Belgian_contributions_to_the_New_Math_movement_in_Europe_The_role_of_international_organizations_and_the_influence_of_the_periphery

Author Information

Shaghayegh Nadimi (presenting / submitting)

University of Luxembourg

Mrs

Luxembourg

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