On mathematics education and culture: Critical afterthoughts

This paper centers on the May 1988 Special Issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics devoted to mathematics education and culture, which is now available in book form. It questions some of the current tenets about the meaning and significance of the concept culture for a theory of mathematics education. More generally, it also argues against the cooping up of scientific problems by dividing the mathematics education community into small circles of experts which behave like a peculiar breed of mutual benefit societies, without giving due attention to the needs of scientific democracy and the simple pursuit of truth. Ultimately, it calls for an open scientific debate, unfettered by moral and ideological prejudices and, whenever necessary, disrespectful of fashionable notions. In this essay, all these points are tackled in close relation to a thorough — and unusually long — review of the book.     

Learning outcomes in professional contexts in higher education

With the policy of developing a, transparent and competitive European higher education sector, learning outcomes (LOs) are attributed a foundation stone role in policy and curriculum development. A premise for their implementation is that they bear fundamental similarities across national, institutional or professional/disciplinary contexts. In contrast, detractors suggest that LOs cannot communicate precisely across programmes or national boundaries. With this as a backdrop, this article analyses how LOs are used to communicate what students are to learn and the extent to which their use drives standardisation. The analysis is based on a case study of how LOs are formulated in study programme documents in two professional education programmes in Norway and the UK. The findings indicate that LOs can be considered to drive standardisation through the same presentation using bullet points. The study also finds that LOs are framed in different ways in the two countries and within the different study programmes and in a web of interconnected documents. This ‘local’ structural use of LOs disrupts their ‘foundation stone’ role as a vehicle for standardisation and weakens the establishment of sameness across institutions and nations.     

Teacher-chameleons: the glue in the alignment of teacher practices and learning in policy

This article investigates how learning outcomes, a concept inspired by an Anglo-Saxon curriculum approach, are expressed in policy documents, with an emphasis on expectations articulated to teachers. Developments in education policy for the last two decades reflect a widespread expansion of learning outcome orientation in curricula and assessment in most of the modern world. These developments have led to changes in how education is governed and practised, and this makes it necessary to form critical concepts to understand how curricula are formed and functioned today. The research questions of the study are: How is learning outcome-oriented policy defined in key policy documents and what are the implications of these policies for the teaching profession? The topic is investigated through a document content analysis of key policy documents. A complex picture of teachers emerges in which they are to be both controlled and autonomous. The study also identifies a strong belief in ‘alignment between teachers’ competences and practices and students’ life opportunities. The findings indicate that the policies move back and forth between different parameters for describing teachers and teaching, and as such, teachers must be able to adapt as chameleons in the context of each policy.     

Pédagogie and didactique: An incestuous relationship

This article deals with the evolution of pedagogical theory in the Francophone world. At present, two major currents of reflection on education exist in the Francophone world. The first, called didactique – didactics – relates to teacher planning, working chiefly from considerations about the pupil's cognitive characteristics. The second, called pédagogie – pedagogy – relates to the features of pedagogical reflection-in-action. This article analyzes the distinctions between the two currents with a view to determining whether they constitute genuine differences.     

Typology of motivation and learning intentions of users in MOOCs: the MOOCKNOWLEDGE study

Educational technology research and development - Participants in massive open online courses show a wide variety of motivations. This has been studied with the elaboration of classifications of...     

Les repre´sentations des futurs enseignants que´becois du primaire au regard de la formation initiale et des responsabilite´s des formateurs

Dans cet article, nous faisons état des résultats d'une recherche menée auprès des divers intervenants du processus de formation initiale à l'enseignement préscolaire et primaire à l'Université de Sherbrooke. L'objectif de la recherche était de dégager les représentations sociales des diverses catégories d'intervenants au regard des concepts de compétence, de pédagogie et de didactique, ainsi que sur la place et les fonctions attribuées par les étudiants aux différents types de formateurs. Les résultats suggèrent que les étudiants ont des positions beaucoup plus rapprochées de celles des enseignants du primaire que de celles des formateurs universitaires. Ils montrent également plusieurs distinctions quant à l'attribution des compétences de formation aux divers types d'intervenants et quant aux lieux privilégiés de formation. Ces constats soulignent l'importance d'établir un dialogue plus étroit entre les divers partenaires de la formation initiale des futurs enseignants. In this paper, we present various results of a piece of research undertaken with different partners involved in the teacher education programme offered by the University of Sherbrooke (Canada). The main purpose of the research was to identify the place and role that should be taken by various categories of trainer. Our results suggest that students align their behaviour far more closely to that of serving teachers than they do to those of academics. Results also reveal many distinctions between students' categories about what are the specific competencies of the trainers as well as what is the best training context. These results confirm the importance that should be given to improving dialogue between the various partners in programmes of teacher education. En este artículo tratamos de los resultados de una investigación realizada con los varios actores del proceso de formación inicial docente al preescolar y al primario en la Universidad de Sherbrooke. El objectivo central de esta investigación era de indicar las representaciones sociales de dichas categorías de actores a propósito de los conceptos de competencia, de pedagogía y de didáctica, asíque el lugar y la función atribuida, de parte de los estudiantes, a las varias categorias de formadores. Segun los resultados de la investigación, las representaciones de los estudiantes quedan mucho mas cercanas de aquellas compartidas por los docentes del medio (preescolar y primario) que de las representaciones de los docentes universitarios. Se notan también muchas diferencias en terminos de reconocimiento de unas competencias a la formación y de lugares de formación mas importantes atribuidas a las varias categorias de formadores. Estos logros van en el sentido de mejorar el diálogo entre los varios partenarios de la formación de los docentes. In diesem Artikel stellen wir die Ergebnisse einer wissenschaftlichen Forschungsarbeit gegenüber verschiedener Intervenienten im Entwicklungsprozess der Grundausbildung in der Kindergartenausbildung sowie in der Grundschulausbildung auf der Universität von Sherbrooke vor. Vorhaben dieser Forschung war es die sozialen Vorstellungen der verschiedenen Kategorien von Interventienten gegenüber der Vorstellung von Kompetenz, Pädagogik und Didaktik, sowie die Stellung und Funktion verschiedener Ausbildungstypen hervorzuheben. Die Ergebnisse lassen darauf schliessen dass der Standpunkt der Studenten näher an den der Grundschullehrer herankommt als an den der Universitätsausbilder. Sie zeigen auch grundlegende Unterschiede in der Zuteilung der Kompetenzen der Ausbildung in den verschiedenen Interventionstypen sowie in den bevorteiligten Ausbildungsorten. Diese Feststellung unterstreicht die Wichtigkeit eines engeren Dialogs zwischen den verschiedenen Partnern der Grundausbildung des zukünftigen Lehrpersonals.     

Formation à l'enseignement et interdisciplinarité: Un mythe ou une exigence? Dépasser l'interdisciplinarité et penser circumdisciplinarité

L'article a pour objectifs de discuter des rapports existant entre le système des disciplines scientifiques et la formation à l'enseignement conçue dans une perspective de professionnalisation. Après un rapide rappel historique du processus d'inféodisation de la formation professionnelle par le système des sciences, l'article introduit une distinction entre l'interdisciplinarité en éducation et l'interdisciplinarité scientifique. Il met en exergue, à la suite de ce double éclairage, la complexité des interrelations entre les différents types de savoirs dans un contexte de formation professionnelle à l'enseignement et la nécessité de dépasser les perspectives interdisciplinaires pour prendre en compte la circumdisciplinarité, c'est-à-dire l'insertion des savoirs qui résultent des pratiques professionnelles elles-mêmes au sein même de la formation. This paper discusses the existing relationships between the scientific subject matter system and teacher education from a professionalisation perspective. After a brief historical reminder of how professional training was subjugated by the scientific system, we introduce a distinction between interdisciplinarity in education and scientific interdisciplinary. The article then highlights the complexity of interrelationships between different types of knowledge, in a context of the professional training that is teacher education, and the necessity of going beyond interdisciplinary perspectives in order to take into account the circumdisciplinarity, which means the integration of knowledge that results from the very professional practice that is at the center of the teacher education. El objetivo central de este articulo es el de discutir de las relaciones entre el sistema de las disciplinas científicas y la formación a la enseñanza, dentro de una perspectiva de profesionalización. Después de una breve descripción del proceso histórico que llevó a la sumisión de la formación profesional al sistema de las ciencias, se introduce una distinción entre los conceptos de la interdisciplinaridad en la educación y la interdisciplinaridad científica. Se subraya el carácter complejo de las interrelaciones entre varios tipos de conocimientos dentro de un contexto de formación profesional a la enseñanza y de la necesidad de ir mas allá de las perspectivas interdisciplinarias para tomar en cuenta la circumdisciplinaridad. Este ultimo concepto suele significar la integración de los conocimientos o de los conocimientos que resultan de las prácticas profesionales en se, dentro del proceso de formación. Dieser Artikel untersucht die bestehenden Beziehungen zwischen den wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen und der Lehrerausbildung mit einer Professionalisierungsperspektive. Nach einem kurzen historischen Rückblick, wie das System der Berufsausbildung durch das Wissenschaftssystem geprägt wurde, unterscheidet der Artikel zwischen der Interdisziplinarität in der Lehrerausbildung und der in den Wissenschaften. Nach dieser Unterscheidung hebt er die Komplexität der Verhältnisse verschiedener Wissenstypen in einem Kontext der Berufsausbildung hervor, sowie die Notwendigkeit interdiziplinäre Perspektiven zu überschreiten, um die Zirkumsdiziplinarität zu berücksichtigen, das heißt, das Wissen, das sich aus der Praxis ergibt, in die Lehrerbildung einzubeziehen.     

Effects of a nonlinear pedagogy intervention programme on the emergent tactical behaviours of youth footballers

Purpose: This study analysed the effects of a training intervention programme using principles of Non-Linear Pedagogy (NLP) on the decision making (DM) and performance behaviours (P) of youth footballers.

Method: 19 footballers (U12 yrs) participated in 14 training sessions, spread over three phases: Pre-intervention, Intervention, Retention. The intervention was based on Small-Sided and Conditioned Games. We assessed progress during the intervention phase at two different points: intermediate and final. The GPET instrument was used to analyse the DM and P during the completion of 3208 passes in the intervention.

Results: Results shown significant improvements in the DM and P after the intermediate and final points of the acquisition phase. Moreover, significantly higher values were also obtained in both variables in the retention, compared to the pre-intervention phase.

Conclusion: Results indicated that the NLP intervention programme was effective in improving both aspects of team games performance in youth players, with effects consolidated over time.