Structural exclusion through school mathematics: using Bourdieu to understand mathematics as a social practice

Research on learner errors in mathematics education is beginning to focus on how teachers can learn to identify and engage with the reasoning behind these errors. Research on professional learning communities is beginning to show that they present powerful opportunities for on-going teacher collaboration and learning. In this paper, I bring the two areas of research together. Drawing on data from one professional learning community in the Data Informed Practice Improvement Project, I show how teachers in this community came to understand key concepts about learner errors and shifted their ways of talking about learner errors. I identify three important shifts that the teachers made in their learning about learner errors: from identifying to interpreting errors; from interpreting to engaging errors; and from focusing on learner errors to focusing on their own knowledge. I argue that these three shifts suggest a deepening of teachers’ thinking in relation to learner errors.     

Research, practice and theory in didactics of mathematics: Towards dialogue between different fields

Acknowledging the complex relationships which the field of didactics of mathematics has with other research fields (e.g. mathematics, educational sciences, epistemology, history,psychology, semiotics, sociology, cognitive science), the authors analyze in this paper some cases of fruitful and some of failed dialogue between experts of the different fields. They discuss the results of these dialogues, drawing on research studies carried out by the authors, within the paradigm of the Italian research in Mathematics Education.     

Modeling students' interest in mathematics homework

The authors examine the factors influencing mathematics homework interest for Chinese students and compare the findings with a recent study involving U.S. students. The findings from multilevel analyses revealed that some predictors for homework interest functioned similarly (e.g., affective attitude toward homework, learning-oriented reasons, monitoring motivation) across the two cultural samples, while some others did not (e.g., parent education, family homework help, and teacher feedback), suggesting that cultural differences influence students' interest in homework. In addition, this study bridges a gap in previous research on homework, by revealing that mathematics homework interest was positively related to mathematics self-concept. These findings were discussed relating to previous research in the field, and in the context of cultural values and societal influences.     

Towards a theory of leadership practice: a distributed perspective

School‐level conditions and school leadership, in particular, are key issues in efforts to change instruction. While new organizational structures and new leadership roles matter to instructional innovation, what seems most critical is how leadership practice is undertaken. Yet, the practice of school leadership has received limited attention in the research literature. Building on activity theory and theories of distributed cognition, this paper develops a distributed perspective on school leadership as a frame for studying leadership practice, arguing that leadership practice is constituted in the interaction of school leaders, followers, and the situation.     

Effects of homework motivation and worry anxiety on homework achievement in mathematics and English

Direct and mediating effects of homework worry anxiety on homework effort and homework achievement and the differences in the structural relations among homework motivation constructs and homework achievement across mathematics and English homework were examined in 268 tenth graders in China. Homework motivation included task value, homework self-efficacy, homework worry anxiety, and motivation application. Homework accomplishments were rated by mathematics and English teachers. Homework value had positive effects on homework effort and worry anxiety in both subjects. Homework self-efficacy had positive and negative effects on homework effort and worry, respectively. Homework worry mediated the relation of homework value to effort and to achievement; the relation was more prominent in mathematics than in English homework. The mediating effects of worry anxiety in the relation of self-efficacy to homework effort and to achievement were significant only in mathematics. The domain specificity and direct and mediating effects were discussed in the cultural and educational context.     

Towards a theory of school leadership practice: a Bourdieusian perspective

Despite the ‘practice’ turn in the broader management literature, very little work in educational administration has engaged in a theoretical discussion about what constitutes leadership practice. Theoretically informed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper contributes to the long-established critical tradition in the educational administration literature, to argue that: (i) ‘leadership’ is a label of the managerialist project of the state; (ii) leadership should be thought of as a disruptive practice; and (iii) Bourdieusian theory can enable this thinking, but not as it is frequently mobilised in the educational administration literature. The alternative put forth in this paper is not merely replacing one external narrative (managerialism) with another (Bourdieusian), but rather advancing a theoretical position on what is leadership that paves a way forward for a research programme.     

融合与超越:礼貌实践观刍议

礼貌在交际中扮演着十分关键的角色,与人际关系的建立和维护紧密相关。作为语用学、社会语言学等相关领域中的重要议题,礼貌研究经历了研究范式的变化。针对第二波礼貌研究缺少能将各种颇具价值的观点融合于一体的理论框架,KádárHaugh(2013)提出了礼貌实践观。该理论以"社会实践""时间"与"社会空间"为核心概念,首次将礼貌界定为一种评价性社会实践,为多视角理解礼貌提供了具有一定操作性的分析框架,代表礼貌研究的最新发展成果。本文在诠释礼貌实践观的基础上,探讨该理论与其他经典礼貌理论之间的异同以及不足,并对未来礼貌研究进行展望。     

Self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior: An empirical investigation

The authors examined self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior (i.e., mathematics homework management). The participants consisted of 796 eighth-grade students (46 classes) in China. Multilevel results showed that mathematics homework management was positively associated with value belief at the class and individual level. At the individual level, students' management in mathematics homework was positively related to affective attitude, expectancy belief, learning-oriented reasons, homework interest, parent education, teacher feedback, adult-oriented reasons, and value belief. Meanwhile, students' management in mathematics homework was negatively related to time spent on television. Our findings were discussed in the context of related theoretical frameworks (e.g., self-regulation and expectancy value) as well as previous findings pertaining to homework.     

Emotion regulation in mathematics homework: An empirical study

The author examined 2 distinctive aspects of emotion regulation in mathematics homework, including emotion management and cognitive reappraisal. Participants were 1,799 high school students from 46 classes in China. Two multilevel models were run, 1 with emotion management and another with cognitive reappraisal as the dependent variable. Both emotion management and cognitive reappraisal were positively associated with 5 individual-level variables (monitoring motivation, managing time, learning-oriented reasons, self-concept, and teacher feedback) and 1 class-level variable (self-concept). In addition, at the individual level, emotion management was associated negatively with adult-oriented reasons but positively with arranging the environment and prior mathematics achievement. Meanwhile, cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with parent education at the class level.     

Online homework impact in undergraduate mathematics and business statistics courses

This evaluation examines the impact on student success rates related to changes in instructional programmes in undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses. Success for students taking courses with a computer-based homework component was compared with success of students who took the course in prior semesters without the computer-based component. Graphical and analytical tools are used to compare results. Results come from multiple semesters of each type of homework application, for both pre-calculus algebra and business statistics courses. Students whose performance is utilised in this study are undergraduate students taking introductory level college mathematics or business statistics courses, with mostly no prior instruction at this level. Comparing the success of the intervention group with the success of the baseline control group, findings support that the students using the computer-based homework instruction are just as successful as those using the traditional method of homework instruction. Utilising the online homework applications, provide several important advantages in today’s universities, including the reduced time for faculty grading, consistency of graded assignments across all sections of a course and most importantly, immediate feedback for students.     

Prospective primary teachers’ perceptions about the use of mathematics homework

The benefit of homework (HW) has been the subject of ongoing debate among various stakeholders. Within this debate, and in relation to teacher development, prospective teachers’ views of HW have received limited attention. In this study, we survey primary pre-service teachers’ (‘PSTs’) views of HW use (n = 45 teaching grades 2–5; n = 39 teaching grades 6 and 7) in a single discipline (mathematics) at one large Australian university.

The literature suggests students in upper primary and secondary grades will benefit from the use of mathematics HW. Results of the study, in contrast, suggest our PSTs teaching early primary grades planned to give proportionally (but not significantly) more mathematics HW than those teaching later grades. Reasons for this disparity are discussed. We argue there is a need in teacher development to equip PSTs with a better understanding of how classroom and home-based learning work together in the development of mathematical understanding.     

初中数学作业前瞻性评价方式的建构

当前,我国初中数学作业的评价存在着评价主体及评价方式单一,各环节脱节、老师理论欠缺及理念落后等问题。因此,急需构建一个完善的前瞻性的数学作业评价体系,找到个评价因素的问题,在新课标的指导下,克服现阶段出现的问题稳步推进实施前瞻性的作业评价方式,以求促进学生的全面发展。     

The effects of cooperative homework on mathematics achievement of Chinese high school students

This study examined the effects of cooperative homework on mathematics achievement, taking into account team characteristics. Results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that three-member teams high in ability (three high achievers or two high achievers plus one middle/low achiever) seem preferable in organizing cooperative learning for mathematics homework. Middle and low achievers all benefited from cooperative mathematics homework, whereas high achievers did not although they still maintained their top position in mathematics achievement.     

Implications of competing interpretations of practice for research and theory in mathematics education

In this paper we explore the issue of interdependency of theory and research findings in the context of research on the practice of mathematics teaching and learning at school. We exemplify how analyses of a lesson by using two different theoretical perspectives lead to different interpretations and understandings of the same lesson, and discuss the implications of competing interpretations of practice for research and theory in mathematics education.     

作为哲学理论的历史唯物主义和作为社会历史理论的历史唯物主义辨析

本文通过论述马克思关于哲学理论的历史唯物主义以及其与作为社会历史理论的历史唯物主义的异同性进行两者关系分析。