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Semiosphere lens for mathematics teacher education

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Abstract

This paper discusses the lack of compulsory practices for mathematics teachers’ professional development in Italy, as well as the challenges that arise when trying to implement changes in teaching and learning practices. The 2018 OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey shows that merely providing a body of knowledge may leave some teachers uncertain about the necessary steps to enact meaningful changes. Barriers such as scheduling conflicts and insufficient incentives further hinder participation in professional development programs, while transforming teaching practices remains challenging due to cultural, psychological, pedagogical, and disciplinary issues. Scholars provide the epistemological legitimacy of the taught knowledge, but there is a need for sustainable mathematics teacher education, as well as research into cultural and social aspects to enable mathematics teachers’ critical reflection. This study uses Lotman’s Semiosphere lens to analyse data collected during Lesson Study experiences in mathematics, which is a Chinese teacher professional development methodology that can trigger critical reflection. Examining two case studies involving grade 5 and grade 12 students in the domains of probability and combinatorics, the research illustrates the essential activation of teachers’ reflective practices concerning both the mathematical concept itself and instructional methodologies within this culturally sensitive practice for professional development. The presented case studies serve as examples illustrating the theoretical positioning. As a research finding, mathematics teacher education that also focuses on cultural aspects has a more sustainable and fruitful outcome.

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Notes

  1. https://www.sgen-cfdt.fr/actu/communique-formations-constellations/.

    http://50.sgenbn.fr/formations-en-constellation-plan-francais-maths/.

    http://www.cafepedagogique.net/LEXPRESSO/Pages/2020/06/29062020Article637290123216351278.aspx.

  2. Nomen omen. Concretely verifiable through any web translator, kenkyuu jugyou means lesson study, “and refers to the lessons that teachers jointly plan, observe and discuss. Jugyou kenkyuu—using the same two words in the reverse order—means lesson research, and refers to the process of instructional improvement of which the research lesson is the core piece” ([42], p. 4).

  3. A text is an assemblage of signs, as conventionally used in Semiotics. See Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/.

  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombola_(raffle) A well-known game in Italy, from children to the elderly. In order to win one of the prize lots, the player must be the first to complete it, i.e. the first to see all the numbers in his sequence come up.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the “National Group for Algebraic and Geometric Structures, and their Applications” (GNSAGA – INdAM).

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  1. Department of Mathematics “G. Peano”, University of Torino, Via Carlo Alberto, 10, 10123, Torino, Italy

    Carola Manolino

  2. Department of Social and Human Sciences, University of Valle d’Aosta, Str. Cappuccini, 2A, 11100, Aosta, Italy

    Carola Manolino

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Manolino, C. Semiosphere lens for mathematics teacher education. Boll Unione Mat Ital 17, 435–455 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40574-024-00411-0

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