The challenges of mathematics teaching and learning – in the US and Denmark
v/ Alan Schoenfeld og Tomas Højgaard
Why is mathematics so difficult to teach and learn? And, how much variation is there between nations? We have been thinking about the challenges in the US and Denmark, and have come to represent them in terms of three concentric circles (Schoenfeld, 2022):
The innermost circle consists of the mathematical content and practices we would like students to learn. What are those – and what are the obstacles, in curricular terms, that make them challenging? The middle ring concerns the classroom. What do we know is effective, and what is the reality in practice? The outer ring is about the ways society and schooling are organized, and about the understandings (and biases) that shape what is possible in classrooms.
We will describe these in the US and Denmark, discussing what we would hope to see and what makes it difficult to attain. The framework itself helps us see more clearly. We think the framework is general at the level described here – but the details in the US and Denmark will overlap in some ways and differ in others. Those differences can set the stage for an interesting conversation between all participants.
PROGRAM
14.00: Seminar
v/ Alan Schoenfeld, University of California, Berkeley, USA og Tomas Højgaard, DPU, Aarhus University, Denmark
Surrounded by discussions in groups and in plenary among all participants
17.00: Vinreception
where the discussions can continue more informally.