Book Review: Algebra teaching around the world. Frederick K. S. Leung, Kyungmee Park, Derek Holton, & David Clarke (Eds.) (2014)

Ian Jones
2015 Educational Studies in Mathematics  
In Algebra Teaching around the World, 23 mathematics education researchers investigated the teaching and learning of algebra in eighth grade classrooms in various countries. The book comprises 13 chapters and an appendix. A key strength of the book is that the data were collected in a range of countries using identical methods, as part of the Learner's Perspective Study (LPS). Culture is included among the various influences on classroom practice and the book explores whether a division between
more » ... Confucian-Heritage and Western cultures provides a useful explanatory distinction. The teachers observed and interviewed were those considered effective within their own countries. In order to investigate teaching, learning, classroom culture, and wider contexts, multiple sources of evidence were collected, including videos and field notes of lessons, interviews with teachers and students, and documentary sources including student work and achievement data. Several chapters provide extensive detail about the local education context, for example by including detailed curricular specifications, and authors offer a detailed connection between the data and conclusions drawn, including substantial transcript excerpts and meticulous interpretation. Recurrent themes, such as within-country differences and the mismatch between stated and enacted curricula, ensure that the book contributes important and thought-provoking insights to the field. In this review I will focus on international differences, within-country differences, theoretical differences, and cultural differences, respectively.
doi:10.1007/s10649-015-9650-y fatcat:7niewkajrreevab7ohsotddpv4