Berinderjeet Kaur

The Learner’s Perspective Study

Learning environments are never identical. Research findings from the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS) affirm just how “culturally-situated are the practices of classrooms around the world and the extent to which students are collaborators with the teacher, complicit in the development and enactment of patterns of participation that reflect individual, societal and cultural priorities and associated value systems” (Clarke, Emanuelsson, Jablonka, & Mok, 2006, p. 1). In this book we attend closely to this collaboration with our focus on the voice of the student.

Mathematics education : the Singapore journey

This comprehensive book is a state-of-the-art review of research and practices of mathematics education in Singapore. It traces the fascinating journey from the original development of the Singapore mathematics curriculum in the 1950s to the present day, and reports on diverse findings about the Singapore experience that are not readily available in print. All of the authors are active mathematics educators or senior mathematics teachers in Singapore, thus adding authenticity and distinctiveness to the stories covered in this book. The issues they so earnestly explore in this book will undoubtedly be of interest to graduate students, mathematics educators, and the international mathematics education community.

Student voice in mathematics classrooms around the world

The Learner’s Perspective Study ascribes to the premise that the investigation of social practice within the mathematics classrooms must attend to the learners’ practice with at least the same priority as that accorded to the teachers’ practice. In focusing on student voice within this partnership, as enacted in many different guises across different cultures and socio-political learning environments, we hope that we will be better informed to understand the relationship between pedagogy and learning mathematics, and between pedagogy and the empowerment of diverse learners.

Low attainers in primary mathematics

An Exploratory Study on Low Attainers in Primary Mathematics Mathematics Content Knowledge Home Related and Self Related Characteristics Learning Experiences Recommendations for Teachers.

Reasoning, Communication and Connections in Mathematics: An Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the chapters in the book. The chapters are organised according to three broad themes that are central to reasoning, communication and connections. The themes are mathematical tasks, classroom discourse and connections within and beyond mathematics. It ends with some concluding thoughts that readers may want to be cognizant of while reading the book and also using it for reference and further work.

Reasoning, Communication and Connections in Mathematics : Yearbook 2012, Association of Mathematics Educators

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the chapters in the book. The chapters are organised according to three broad themes that are central to reasoning, communication and connections. The themes are mathematical tasks, classroom discourse and connections within and beyond mathematics. It ends with some concluding thoughts that readers may want to be cognizant of while reading the book and also using it for reference and further work.

Mathematical Problem Solving: Linking Theory and Practice

Mathematical problem solving is the primary goal of school mathematics curriculum in Singapore. Prospective secondary school mathematics teachers, as part of their teacher education at the National Institute of Education, undertake a 96 hour course called Teaching and Learning of Mathematics. Throughout the course, as part of the study of content and pedagogy of various topics of secondary mathematics, they are engaged in solving mathematical problems. A formal introduction to mathematical problem solving and review of the relevant literature is done at the beginning of the course. As an introduction to mathematical problem solving, we engage our teachers in two tasks, The Circular Flower Bed and Solve 4 Problems, to jump start discussion on mathematical problem solving and bridge theory into practice. The goals of the tasks are as follows. The Circular Flower Bed task engages prospective teachers in problem solving and initiates discussion on the process of finding a solution, specifically the feelings, emotions and regulation of thinking during the process. The Solve 4 Problems task engages prospective teachers in clarifying the definition of a problem, distinguishing heuristics from strategies and making connections with Polya’s (1973) four phases of problem solving.

How to Teach and Assess Whole Number Arithmetic: Some International Perspectives

This chapter focusses on the diverse theoretical and methodical frameworks that capture the complex relationship between whole number arithmetic (WNA) learning, teaching and assessment. Its aim is to bring these diverse perspectives into conversation. It comprises seven sections. The introduction is followed by a narrative of a Macao primary school lesson on addition calculations with two-digit numbers, and this sets the context for the subsequent three sections that focus on the development of students’ mathematical and metacognitive strategies during their learning of WNA. Apart from examining the impact of teachers’ knowledge of pedagogy, learning trajectories, mathematics and students on children’s learning of WNA, learning theories are also drawn on to interpret the lesson in the Macao Primary School. Two interpretations of the variation theory (VT), an indigenous one and a Western perspective, provide much needed lenses for readers to make sense of the lesson. In addition, the theory of didactical situations (TDS) is also applied to the lesson. The chapter also includes a reflection on possible classroom assessment and the role of textbooks, both of which were less apparent in the lesson, for the teaching and learning of WNA.

Teaching for Metacognition Project: Construction of Knowledge by Mathematics Teachers Working and Learning Collaboratively in Multitier Communities of Practice

Teaching for metacognition project affirms a gradual shift in the centre of gravity away from the University-based, “supply side”, “offline” forms of knowledge production conducted by university scholars for teachers towards an emergent school-based, demand-side, online, in situ forms of knowledge production conducted by teachers with support from fellow teachers, lead and senior teachers, and other experts such as university scholars and curriculum specialists. The project facilitates the participation of mathematics teachers in two-tier communities of practice. In this chapter, we describe the design of the project and the learning of two teams of teachers from two schools participating in the project. It is apparent from the findings that the teachers worked and learned collaboratively whilst participating in a first-tier and a second-tier community of practice. Their participation in the communities of practice enabled them to develop a deeper understanding of metacognition and also teaching for metacognition.

What Really Matters to Students? A Comparison between Hong Kong and Singapore Mathematics Lessons

The original concept of giving students a voice was initiated by Rudduck who suggested that student voice approaches could offer a practical agenda for change in education at a variety of levels (Fielding, 2007). Following this idea, McGregor (2005) suggested students as ‘experts’ in schooling and argued that students had knowledge of the school which adults might not have. In this sense, students could hold different views regarding what is important in enhancing standards which could meet their individual needs.