The book has been written by an international group of very activeresearchers and scholars who have a passion for the study of Chinesemathematics education. It aims to provide readers with a comprehensiveand updated picture of the teaching and learning of mathematicsinvolving Chinese students from various perspectives, including theways in which Chinese students learn mathematics in classrooms, schools and homes, the influence of the cultural and socialenvironment on Chinese students'' mathematics learning, and thestrengths and weaknesses of the ways in which Chinese learnmathematics

"Efforts to improve mathematics teaching and learning globally have led to the ever-increasing interest in searching for alternative and effective instructional approaches from others. Students from East Asia, such as China and Japan, have consistently outperformed their counterparts in the West. Yet, Bianshi Teaching (teaching with variation) practice, which has been commonly used in practice in China, has been hardly shared in the mathematics education community internationally. This book is devoted to theorizing the Chinese mathematical teaching practice, Bianshi teaching, that has demonstrated its effectiveness over half a century; examining its systematic use in classroom instruction, textbooks, and teacher professional development in China; and showcasing of the adaptation of the variation pedagogy in selected education systems including Israel, Japan, Sweden and the US. This book has made significant contributions to not only developing the theories on teaching and learning mathematics through variation, but also providing pathways to putting the variation theory into action in an international context.“This book paints a richly detailed and elaborated picture of both teaching mathematics and learning to teach mathematics with variation. Teaching with variation and variation as a theory of learning are brought together to be theorized and exemplified through analysis of teaching in a wide variety of classrooms and targeting both the content and processes of mathematical thinking. Highly recommended.” – Kaye Stacey, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia “Many teachers in England are excited by the concept of teaching with variation and devising variation exercises to support their pupils’ mastery of mathematics. However, fully understanding and becoming proficient in its use takes time. This book provides a valuable resource to deepen understanding through the experiences of other teachers shared within the book and the insightful reflections of those who have researched this important area. – Debbie Morgan, Director for Primary Mathematics, National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, United Kingdom"

This book that explores the mathematics education of Latinos/as in 13 original research studies. Each chapter represents research that grounds mathematics instruction for Latinos/as in the resources to be found in culture and language. By inverting the deficit perspective, this volume redresses the shortcomings found in the previous literature on Latino/a learners. Each study frames language (e.g. bilingualism) not as an obstacle to learning, but as a resource for mathematical reasoning. Other chapters explore the notion of cultural variation not as a liability but as a tool for educators to build upon in the teaching of mathematics. Specifically, the book reframes culture as a focus on the practices, objects, inscriptions, or people that connect mathematical concepts to student thinking and experiences, both in and out of school. The book's four sections divide the research: The first section of the book focuses on mathematic learning in classrooms, specifically exploring bilingual, Latino/a students; the second section explores Latino/a learners in communities, including the role parents can play in advancing learning; the third section includes chapters focused on teacher professional growth; the final section concerns the assessment (and mis-assessment) of Latino/a learners. The research shared in this volume provides ample evidence that mathematics educators who choose to ignore language or culture in their pedagogy risk shortchanging their Latino/a students.

Efforts to improve mathematics teaching and learning globally have led to the ever-increasing interest in searching for alternative and effective instructional approaches from others. Students from East Asia, such as China and Japan, have consistently outperformed their counterparts in the West. Yet, Bianshi Teaching (teaching with variation) practice, which has been commonly used in practice in China, has been hardly shared in the mathematics education community internationally. This book is devoted to theorizing the Chinese mathematical teaching practice, Bianshi teaching, that has demonstrated its effectiveness over half a century; examining its systematic use in classroom instruction, textbooks, and teacher professional development in China; and showcasing of the adaptation of the variation pedagogy in selected education systems including Israel, Japan, Sweden and the US. This book has made significant contributions to not only developing the theories on teaching and learning mathematics through variation, but also providing pathways to putting the variation theory into action in an international context. "This book paints a richly detailed and elaborated picture of both teaching mathematics and learning to teach mathematics with variation. Teaching with variation and variation as a theory of learning are brought together to be theorized and exemplified through analysis of teaching in a wide variety of classrooms and targeting both the content and processes of mathematical thinking. Highly recommended." - Kaye Stacey, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia "Many teachers in England are excited by the concept of teaching with variation and devising variation exercises to support their pupils' mastery of mathematics. However, fully understanding and becoming proficient in its use takes time. This book provides a valuable resource to deepen understanding through the experiences of other teachers shared within the book and the insightful reflections of those who have researched this important area. - Debbie Morgan, Director for Primary Mathematics, National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, United Kingdom

How Chinese Teach Mathematics and Improve Teaching builds upon existing studies to examine mathematics classroom instruction in China. It combines contributions from Chinese scholars with commentary from key Western scholars to offer a truly systematic examination of some important and distinctive features of mathematics classroom instruction. Viewing classroom instruction as part of teachers' instructional practices, this book goes beyond teachers' in-classroom instructional practice by also examining Chinese teachers' approaches and practices in developing and improving teaching. Through this unique approach, How Chinese Teach Mathematics and Improve Teaching expands and unpacks the otherwise fragmented knowledge about Chinese practices in developing and carrying out mathematics classroom instruction.

Lesson study is a professional development process that teachers engage in to systematically examine their practice, with the goal of becoming more effective. Originating in Japan, lesson study has gained significant momentum in the mathematics education community in recent years. As a process for professional development, lesson study became highly visible when it was proposed as a means of supporting the common practice of promoting better teaching by disseminating documents like standards, benchmarks and nationally validated curricula. While the body of knowledge about lesson study is growing, it remains somewhat elusive and composed of discrete research endeavors. As a new research area there is no coherent knowledge base yet. This book will contribute to the field bringing the work of researchers and practitioners together to create a resource for extant work. This book describes several aspects of Lesson Study, amongst others: it gives an historical overview of the concept, it addresses issues related to learning and teaching mathematics, it looks at the role of the teacher in the process. The last two sections of the book look at how lesson Study can be used with preservice mathematics teachers and at university mathematics methods teaching.

Building Support for Scholarly Practices in Mathematics Methods is the product of collaborations among over 40 mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) who teach mathematics methods courses for prospective PreK?12 teachers in many different institutional contexts and structures. Each chapter unpacks ways in which MTEs use theoretical perspectives to inform their construction of goals, activities designed to address those goals, facilitation of activities, and ways in which MTEs make sense of experiences prospective teachers have as a result. The book is organized in seven sections that highlight how the theoretical perspective of the instructor impacts scholarly inquiry and practice. The final section provides insight as we look backward to reflect, and forward with excitement, moving with the strength of the variation we found in our stories and the feeling of solidarity that results in our understandings of purposes for and insight into teaching mathematics methods. This book can serve as a resource for MTEs as they discuss and construct scholarly practices and as they undertake scholarly inquiry as a means to systematically examine their practice.

Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Research demonstrates that virtually all young children have the capability to learn and become competent in mathematics. Furthermore, young children enjoy their early informal experiences with mathematics. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Improvements in early childhood mathematics education can provide young children with the foundation for school success. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood lays out the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores the extent to which they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children. This book serves as a call to action to improve the state of early childhood mathematics. It will be especially useful for policy makers and practitioners-those who work directly with children and their families in shaping the policies that affect the education of young children.

Efforts to improve mathematics education have led educators and researchers to not only study the nature of proficiency, beliefs, and practices in mathematics learn¬ing and teaching, but also identify and assess possible influences on students’ and teachers’ proficiencies, beliefs, and practices in learning and teaching mathematics. The complexity of these topics has fascinated researchers from various back¬grounds, including psychologists, cognitive or learning scientists, mathematicians, and mathematics educators. Among those researchers, two scholars with a similar background – Alan Schoenfeld in the United States and Günter Törner in Germany, are internationally recognized for their contributions to these topics. To celebrate their 65th birthdays in 2012, this book brought together many scholars to reflect on how their own work has built upon and continued Alan and Günter’s work in mathematics education. The book contains 17 chapters by 33 scholars from six different education systems. This collection describes recent research and provides new insights into these topics of interest to mathematics educators, researchers, and graduate students who wish to learn about the trajectory and direction of research on these issues.

Necessary Conditions of Learning presents a research approach (phenomenography) and a theory (the variation theory of learning) introduced and developed by Ference Marton and taken up by his wide and varied following around the world—together with their practical applications in educational contexts. Reflecting Marton’s whole lifetime's work, the unique and significant contribution of this book is to offer an evidence-based answer to the questions "How do we make novel meanings our own?" and "How do we learn to see things in more powerful ways?" The presentation makes use of hundreds of empirical studies carried out in Europe and Asia which build on the theory. The line of reasoning and the way in which the examples are put together is consistent with the theory—it is both presented and applied. The main argument is that in order to learn we have to discern, and to discern the intended ideas we must be presented with carefully structured variation, against a background of invariance. We then go through processes of contrast, generalization, and fusion in order to make sense. These insights form a practical framework for those who design teaching and teaching materials. Necessary Conditions of Learning is a major original work for which scholars of pedagogical theory have been waiting a long time.