Thank you for asking and starting this post, Barbara. There are two parts to my response, and in part due to me reflecting on Matthew Watts's post in a related thread in which he shared slides from some of the international approaches he studied, and in particular Asian countries. I remember while in the graduate school more than a decade ago, we had a visiting professor who gave a talk about the challenges faced by US colleges and universities in the mathematical preparation of future and current elementary school teachers. An article regarding his work was shared with graduate students and faculty prior to the talk at the time (sometime in 2010, citation below this post).
The visiting professor had talked about the curriculum and textbook that he and a co-author had developed to train future elementary and high school teachers, which also used selected books from the Primary Mathematics sequence in Singapore Mathematics in conjunction with their textbook in supporting and building future teacher's ways of thinking about mathematics. In learning about his work (and Singapore Mathematics) the idea of bar models resonated with me and had I used those principles in supporting student's thinking my own classes, especially when teaching in the Mathematics for Elementary Teachers courses. His work at the time, based on international research, was one that influenced my future teaching. The visiting professor in question was Scott Baldridge, he later went on to become the one of lead curriculum writers of the Eureka Math/EngageNY curriculum, which is now widely used across the United States both at the Elementary and Secondary levels. I see this as an illustration in which proven international best practices in mathematics became part of the standard US curriculum.
I would personally love to learn more about the culturally responsive part of the teaching and learning. I live in the Southwest. At a nearby university to the south of our own, I've seen powerful examples of its potential and possibilities in mathematics (see link to one such example) when we affirm and include the cultures and histories of the students whom we teach. Mexico is our neighbor to the South, where many of our students at our institution have cultural ties to.
Manisha, I enjoyed reading your examples of global learning. I am curious about other colleagues' experiences. There is so much we can learn from each other.
Source:
Baldridge, S. The Singapore mathematics curriculum and implications for adopting and developing curricula in the US. Retrieved April 21, 2024 from https://www.math.mnrt.net/standards/Scott%20Baldridge%20Story%20of%20Mathematics%20%20REV%201.pdf .
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Frank Marfai, Ph.D.
Phoenix College
MARICOPA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Mathematics Faculty | Mathematics
President | Arizona Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges
Chair, Research in Mathematics Education for Two-Year Colleges ANet
1202 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013
frank.marfai@phoenixcollege.edu
https://www.phoenixcollege.edu/
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-16-2024 09:17:47
From: Barbara Leitherer
Subject: IMPACTful Discussions: Influences of Research and Cultural Environment on Teaching Practices
What proven international math teaching or research practices would you like to incorporate in your classroom (in the US)? How do you embed the cultural context and environment in which you teach?
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Barbara Leitherer
Professor of Mathematics
CC of Baltimore County - Essex
Baltimore MD
bleitherer@ccbcmd.edu
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