Diversity of approaches to mathematics education in a cultural context

The purpose of the study was to explore the ways in which different schools met cultural contexts. Cultural context and language are important aspects of children's learning in school. The study involved observations and interviews in four countries. The themes that arose from the analysis were aspects of cultural context, meeting language differences in different ways, maintaining culture in different ways, teaching in a cultural context, teaching mathematics in a cultural context, having an emphasis on national values, using national language appropriately, and developing context-specific strategies for diversity. Each theme is illustrated by descriptions from the different contexts and discussed in terms of their impact on the learning in that cultural context. The differences were often unexpected but significant for our understanding about how school systems and teachers mediate context.