{ "type": "Article", "authors": [ { "type": "Person", "familyNames": [ "Vithal" ], "givenNames": [ "YoshinoriShimizuandRenuka" ] } ], "identifiers": [], "references": [ { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib1", "authors": [], "title": "\nG. Howson, C. Keitel and J. Kilpatrick, Curriculum\ndevelopment in mathematics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1981) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511569722" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib2", "authors": [], "title": "\nG. Howson, and B. Wilson, School mathematics in the 1990s\n(ICMI Study 2). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1986) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139013529" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib3", "authors": [], "title": "\nY. Li and G. Lappan, Mathematics curriculum in school\neducation. Springer, Dordrecht (2014) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7560-2" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib4", "authors": [], "title": "\nY. Shimizu and R. Vithal, School mathematics curriculum\nreforms: Challenges, changes and opportunities. (Proc. 24th ICMI Study Conf.). University of Tsukuba, Japan (2018)\n" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib5", "authors": [], "title": "\nY. Shimizu and R. Vithal, Mathematics curriculum reforms around\nthe world: The 24th ICMI study. Springer, Cham (2023) ", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13548-4" }, { "type": "Article", "id": "bib-bib6", "authors": [], "title": "\nD. R. Thompson, M. A. Huntley and C. Suurtamm, International\nperspectives on mathematics curriculum. Information Age, Charlotte, NC (2018)\n" } ], "title": "ICMI column", "meta": {}, "content": [ { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx1", "depth": 1, "content": [ "Mathematics curriculum reforms around the world:\nReport on the 24th ICMI Study" ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx2", "depth": 1, "content": [ "Introduction and background" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p1", "content": [ "School mathematics curriculum reforms are a widespread and very\nlong-standing practice across the world. Yet it is only in this\n", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "twenty-fourth" ] }, " ICMI Study that this critically important and most\nimpactful area in mathematics teaching and learning has come under scrutiny as an ICMI Study. The last ICMI Study that focused on\nmathematics curricula\nwas ICMI Study 2 on ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "School Mathematics in the 1990s" ] }, " [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib2", "content": [ "2" ] }, "].", { "type": "Note", "id": "idm15", "noteType": "Footnote", "content": [ { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "footnote1", "content": [ "ICMI Studies may be accessed at\n", { "type": "Link", "target": "https://www.mathunion.org/icmi/digital-library/icmi-studies/icmi-study-volumes", "content": [ "https://www.mathunion.org/icmi/digital-library/icmi-studies/icmi-study-volumes" ] }, "." ] } ] }, "\nThis ICMI Study 2 followed after the publication of a seminal volume five years earlier, ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "Curriculum Development in Mathematics" ] }, " [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib1", "content": [ "1" ] }, "] that provided an overview of school\nmathematics curriculum reforms in the preceding decades." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p2", "content": [ "The ICMI Executive Committee announced the launch of ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "ICMI Study 24: School Mathematics Curriculum Reforms: Challenges, Changes and\nOpportunities" ] }, " in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2016 during the\n13th International Congress on Mathematics Education\n(ICME-13). A diverse International Programme Committee (IPC) met the\nfollowing year in Berlin, in November 2017, to finalize the ICMI Study 24\nDiscussion Document, which set out the scope of the study and called for\npapers for the ICMI Study 24 Conference [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib4", "content": [ "4" ] }, "]. The\nStudy Conference took place in Tsukuba, Japan, a year later in November\n2018, after which the task of compiling the Study Volume began. The work\nof developing the Study Volume, which in itself was a complex task given\nthe study topic, faced several additional setbacks during the\ndevastating global\nchallenge of COVID-19, but endured and was finally\npublished\nin June 2023 [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib5", "content": [ "5" ] }, "]." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx2.p3", "content": [ "ICMI Study 24 demonstrates a diversity of studies and findings from\ninternational experience and research that can and do influence the\nnature of curriculum changes, and the possibilities of educational\nreform and its implementation: curricular design results; a revised role\nfor components in the teaching of mathematics (e.g., mathematics\ncontent, pedagogy, and assessment); the role of technology; and new\ncognitive, sociocultural and sociopolitical perspectives. The consideration\nof curriculum reforms from various perspectives and constructs\n(mathematical literacy or competencies, for instance) raises many\nissues from scientific, political and cultural points of view, which\nneed to be taken into account by communities of researchers, teachers\nand policymakers involved." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx3", "depth": 1, "content": [ "The scope of the Study, the Discussion Document and the Study Conference" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx3.p1", "content": [ "ICMI Study 24 was conceptualized to focus on ", { "type": "Emphasis", "content": [ "School Mathematics Curriculum Reforms: Challenges, Changes and Opportunities" ] }, ". This topic\ninvoked not only questions about changes in curriculum design but also\nabout the implementation of these changes across an educational system.\nWhat functioned (or not) at the time of implementing a curricular\nchange? What are the limitations? How have resources (e.g., textbooks\nand technology) influenced the reforms and their enactment? How should\nlarge-scale teacher preparation be conducted to achieve the reform\ngoals? How do diverse social, economic, cultural and national contexts\ncondition the nature and extent of curricular reforms, especially\nteacher expectations, attitudes and beliefs, and the social and cultural\nbackground of students? How do assessments of students’ learning\ninfluence curriculum reforms? The study opened opportunities for a\nsynthesis or meta-analysis of different aspects of school mathematics\nreforms historically, geographically and globally." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx3.p2", "content": [ "The overarching question of this ICMI Study, as captured in the\nDiscussion Document, was to explore what school these\nreforms have been or are taking place, especially at a meta, macro or\nsystem level; and to learn about the many different aspects of\nmathematics curriculum reforms from past experiences, to specify the\ncurrent status and issues in reforms worldwide, and to identify\ndirections for the future of school mathematics. The Discussion Document\nwas disseminated in December 2017, inviting participation in the Study\nConference, which took place in the Tsukuba International Congress\nCenter from November 25 to 30, 2018. The conference was organized around\nworking groups in the five themes described in the next section. These\ngroups met in parallel during the conference and their work is captured\nas chapters in the ICMI Study Volume. The Conference Proceedings\nprovided the foundation for discussions during the conference and the\nproduction of the Study Volume." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx3.p3", "content": [ "The ICMI Study 24 Conference attracted 96 participants and 68 papers\nfrom various countries or regions and from educational systems with\ndifferent cultural, economic, political, and historical backgrounds. The\nStudy Volume included 71 authors, with 66 participants contributing\nchapters from the Study Conference. This diversity provided rich\ndiscussions on current and future thinking about school mathematics\ncurriculum reforms, cases of reforms, and opportunities to juxtapose\ndifferent cases highlighting commonalities and differences. The range of\ncountries (approximately 30) represented in the Study Conference\ntranslated into a diverse authorship in the Study Volume, drawing on\nmathematics curriculum reforms across the world, while acknowledging\nunder-representation from some world regions. The diversity of the Study\nConference and of the Study Volume also brought a variety of\npositionalities in respect to mathematics curriculum reforms as\nreceivers or drivers of a particular reform and with differing\nknowledge, skills, expertise and experiences." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4", "depth": 1, "content": [ "The main themes in ICMI Study 24" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.p1", "content": [ "When developing the Discussion Document for ICMI Study 24, the IPC came\nto a consensus on five main themes, which provided the basis for the\nStudy Conference Proceedings and for the Study Volume. For each theme, a set\nof questions was identified which addressed curriculum elements\nsuch as content, pedagogy, textbooks, technology, assessment, teacher\nprofessional development, curriculum development, design processes, and\nthe role of agents. Contributions were invited to the separate themes\nand distinguished by the theme foci and questions." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4.SSx1", "depth": 2, "content": [ "A. Learning from the past: Driving forces and barriers shaping mathematics curriculum reforms" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.SSx1.p1", "content": [ "This theme provides historical perspectives on school mathematics\ncurricula, highlighting key issues around past reform\nmovements, thereby ensuring that their lessons and challenges can inform future movements. The first chapters in this theme\npresent four cases of national reforms in the period since the 1960s and\nthen extend the empirical landscape framed by each case. It addresses\nresearch questions about the aspects of mathematics teaching, and\nlearning processes certain international reforms attended to, identifies\nkey stakeholders in curriculum reforms, factors that underpinned\ncurriculum reforms and barriers that inhibited reform efforts. Relations\nbetween curriculum reforms and cultural values are also analyzed, as is\nthe question of mathematical content and how it is treated and affected\nby past curriculum reforms. The theme concludes by summarizing the\ndrivers and barriers of school mathematics curriculum reforms." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4.SSx2", "depth": 2, "content": [ "B. Analyzing school mathematics curriculum reforms for coherence and relevance" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.SSx2.p1", "content": [ "This theme on coherence and relevance of school mathematics reforms\nexamines the role and importance of mathematics as a school subject and\nits relation to other subjects in an educational system. Chapters in\nthis theme begin by examining the notion of coherence in depth, within\nand between components of curricula, and between the curriculum and the\nsystem in which it is enacted. Then the focus moves to the relations\nbetween mathematics and other disciplines and explores the role\nmathematical modeling plays in transdisciplinary approaches to school\ncurricula. The next chapter identifies the increasing range of physical\nand digital curriculum resources that have been developed to support\nparticular curriculum reforms, the characteristics of such resources,\nand the constraints that weigh on achieving the goals of coherence and\nrelevance. A chapter that examined theories and methodologies for\nresearching and analyzing mathematics reforms and their limitations is\nalso featured. Some guiding principles deriving from the theme are set\nout in the concluding chapter." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4.SSx3", "depth": 2, "content": [ "C. Implementation of reformed mathematics curricula within and across contexts and traditions" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.SSx3.p1", "content": [ "The cultural, social, economic, historical and political contexts and\npositions for the implementation of a school mathematics curriculum are\nimportant considerations in reform efforts. Chapters in this theme begin\nby sharing experiences and examples about the implementation of\nmathematics curriculum reforms in different countries or regions from a\nplenary panel, which demonstrate how reforms are diverse,\nmultifactorial, uncertain and require both top-down and\nbottom-up strategies. This is followed by a chapter that examines\nfactors that intervene within mathematics curriculum reforms and seeks\n‘processes, models, or best/common practices’ that can be relevant for\nthe progress or success of a reform. Next, the initial preparation and\nprofessional development of teachers in curriculum implementation, and\nthe interrelation between reform and teachers’ actions are analyzed. The\nconcluding chapter proposes several ‘laws’ from the studies in this\ntheme." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4.SSx4", "depth": 2, "content": [ "D. Globalization and internationalization, and their impacts on mathematics curriculum reforms" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.SSx4.p1", "content": [ "This theme points to factors that advance globalization and\ninternationalization, and influence mathematics curricula through rapid\nchanges in the nature of communication and availability of information.\nIt begins with an exposition on the definition of key concepts. This is\nfollowed by a chapter on the emergence of numeracy and mathematical\nliteracy and their relationship with curriculum reform processes. Then\nthe impact of TIMSS and PISA is compared in economically and\ngeographically diverse countries. The inclusion of new areas in recent\nmathematics curriculum reforms of algorithmic/computational thinking is\nexamined next. The theme concludes by mapping out future visions of the\nimpact of internationalization and globalization on school mathematics\ncurriculum reforms, and offers recommendations for future reforms." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx4.SSx5", "depth": 2, "content": [ "E. Agents and processes of curriculum design, development, and reforms in school mathematics" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx4.SSx5.p1", "content": [ "This final theme acknowledges that curriculum reform processes are as\nmuch a political matter as they are educational; and nowadays involve a\nbroad range of stakeholders with vested interests. The first chapter\ncomprises four contributions from prominent leaders of mathematics\ncurriculum reforms in different cultures, countries and contexts. The\nnext chapter proposes a model of curriculum reform as a system of:\nagents (who is involved); objects (what materials, etc. they are working\nwith); processes (how agents work with objects and other agents); and in\nterms of arenas (where the reform takes place). This is followed by a\nchapter on communication and negotiation among stakeholders in different\ncommunities of practice. The professional dynamics stemming from the\nrelationship between the stakeholders leading the reform and the\nstakeholders responsible for translating the official curriculum into\nthe classroom is examined in the next chapter. The concluding chapter\naddresses implications for active curriculum reform work, challenges for\nconducting curriculum reform research, and future research directions." ] }, { "type": "Heading", "id": "Sx5", "depth": 1, "content": [ "Reflections and commentary on ICMI Study 24" ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx5.p1", "content": [ "The 24th ICMI Study Volume was released on June 29, 2023, as an open\naccess book, and within a month had garnered more than 100,000\ndownloads. There are several points of reflection in the Study Volume.\nThe first is raised by Jeremy Kilpatrick, in a chapter that captures a\nhistorical perspective and his reflections on the current status and\nfuture trends in school mathematics reforms. A second point of\nreflection is offered by Berinderjeet Kaur in a chapter as a reaction to\ntwo contrasting curriculum perspectives, namely, the OECD Learning\nCompass 2030 framework (Miho Taguma) and the Common Core State Standards\nin Mathematics in the USA (William McCallum), with reflections based on\nher experience and involvement in the Singapore school mathematics\ncurriculum reforms. A third point of reflection consists of two\ncommentaries on the volume as a whole, from two leading scholars in\nmathematics education research with a keen interest in school\nmathematics curriculum reforms, who did not participate in the ICMI\nStudy 24 Conference. Anjum Halai draws attention to the importance of\nlanguage in mathematics reforms as an equity issue; and Paola Valero\noffers a cultural-political reading of mathematics curricula." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx5.p2", "content": [ "The final point of reflection is offered by the editors in the\nintroductory and concluding chapters. In the first chapter, it is\nacknowledged that school mathematics curriculum reform has been a\ndiverse and widespread practice but an un- or under-explored area of\nresearch in mathematics education, and therefore there is not much\nscholarly work to guide and understand this critical aspect of\nmathematics education. The final chapter distills key learning points\nfrom the themes and chapters that may be of use to school mathematics\ncurriculum reform researchers, practitioners and policymakers. This\nincludes: difficulties in defining school mathematics curriculum\nreforms; inadequate theories and methodologies for studying mathematics\nreforms; significant shifts in the content of mathematics curriculum\nreforms; the crucial role of teachers, teacher education and\nprofessional development to make or break a curriculum reform; the\ngrowing importance of resources and technology in reform efforts; the\nalignment of components of a mathematics curriculum reform; and\nrecognition of how these reforms are context bound and\nhave invariant aspects." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "Sx5.p3", "content": [ "This ICMI Study allowed for a more informed and comprehensive analysis\nof the roles of different actors, of the many aspects influencing and\nshaping mathematics curriculum reforms and of the possibilities and\nmeans to tackle a curricular reform in the current scenario. It is as crucial an issue for the global South and the global North, given the\nwidespread changes taking place in societies, as they confront challenges of\ngrowing inequality, unemployment, poverty, mass migration, environmental\ndisasters, various forms of discrimination and conflicts, to name but a\nfew, within which school mathematics reforms must take place. New\nphenomena such as actions against infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19),\nand the massive shift to online teaching and learning create urgent\nimperatives related to mathematics curricula. ICMI Study 24 demonstrates\nthat further research and publications on mathematics curriculum reforms\nare needed, notwithstanding recent volumes [", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib6", "content": [ "6" ] }, ", ", { "type": "Cite", "target": "bib-bib3", "content": [ "3" ] }, "], which point to the potential for\nevidence-based mathematics curriculum policy generation and\nimplementation. By continuing to study curriculum reforms across diverse\ncontexts, key messages and lessons may be derived to inform, improve and\nbetter conduct future mathematics curriculum reforms." ] }, { "type": "Paragraph", "id": "authorinfo", "content": [ "\nYoshinori Shimizu is a professor of mathematics education in the Faculty\nof Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research\ninterests include international comparative study of mathematics\ncurriculum and classroom practice. He is currently president of\nthe Japan Society of Mathematical Education. He served as the chair of the\ncommittee for the current National Curriculum Guideline (The Course of\nStudies) for elementary school mathematics in Japan.\n", { "type": "Link", "target": "mailto:yshimizu@human.tsukuba.ac.jp", "content": [ "yshimizu@human.tsukuba.ac.jp" ] }, "\nRenuka Vithal is currently the deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning\nand a professor in mathematics education in the Faculty of Education at\nthe University of Fort Hare, South Africa. Her research interests are in\nthe social, cultural, political dimensions of mathematics education,\nteacher education and higher education. She has served as a member of\nthe Executive Committee of ICMI and is a member of the Academy of\nScience of South Africa.\n", { "type": "Link", "target": "mailto:rvithal@ufh.ac.za", "content": [ "rvithal@ufh.ac.za" ] } ] } ] }