Learning fractions in two schools
Case studies on teaching and learning in Japanese supplementary
schools
Doctoral candidate
Abstract
In general, the mathematical knowledge and practice that occurs in an institution within a society depends on the specific institution, and more also varies between institutions established by different societies.
This PhD thesis addresses the questions: “What didactic phenomena occur when Japanese mathematics is taught and learned outside Japan?” and “What didactic phenomena arise when children are exposed in parallel to two different mathematics curricula?” To explore these initial questions, we focus on the teaching and learning of fraction arithmetics in Japanese Supplementary Schools (JSS) attended by children in Sweden and Denmark. simultaneously. The Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD), which provides the necessary institutional perspective for the elaboration and analysis of these questions, serves as the core framework for this doctoral project. Specifically, three types of knowledge within the institution are considered: knowledge to be taught, taught knowledge, and learnt knowledge; these are analysed sequentially and relationally. To achieve this, the study will analyse the Japanese mathematics curriculum related to fractions, data from lesson observations, and semi-structured interviews. Among the main results, it was found that: first, the Japanese praxeologies regarding fraction arithmetics, as defined by the Japanese Noosphere, are all being taught in the Japanese supplementary schools, despite different conditions and constraints, such as teachers’ and pupils’ background and the extent of teaching. The differences turn out to imply a lesson structure that focuses heavily on acquiring techniques. Secondly, it became evident that the context of the specific institutions, including students’ parallel schooling and multilingual background, influences both the teaching of fractions and the children's acquisition of corresponding knowledge at the level of both praxis and logos. We argue that the findings of this thesis, along with the specific new methodology based on ATD, contribute not only to the understanding of mathematical practice in JSS, which has not been extensively studied yet, but also to providing new perspectives on the comparison of mathematics education practices between Japan and Western countries. Furthermore, these findings contribute to elucidate the mathematical experience of bilingual children who attend monolingual educational institutions. This includes the mathematics education of foreign children in Japan, which remains under-researched despite recent concern and increased prevalence, as well as the more general educational phenomena related to bilingual (multilingual) children who have received part of their education in one country and then moved to another one.
Download the thesis: Learning fractions in two schools Case studies on teaching and learning in Japanese supplementary schools
Assessment committee
Associate Professor Ricardo Avelar Sotomaior Karam (chair), Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen
Associate Professor Marianna Bosch, University of Barcelona, Spain
Associate Professor Koji Otaki, Hokkaido University of Education, Japan
Chair of defense
Professor Lene Møller Hansen, Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen
Supervisors
Main Supervisor: Professor Carl Winsløw, Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen
Second Supervisor: Associate Professor Yukiko Asami-Johansson, University of Gävle, Sweden