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Analyzing a teacher’s learning through cross-cultural collaboration: a praxeological perspective of mathematical knowledge for teaching

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Abstract

Teacher collaborative learning is key in teacher professional development. Yet, how teachers learn in cross-cultural professional development settings remains largely unexplored. This paper examines the case of a Chinese mathematics teacher who learned through addressing various challenges when teaching in an English school in a China-UK exchange program. A praxeological perspective was used to analyze the data, including lesson plans, classroom observation notes, and post-lesson meetings. Results showed that collaboration and adaptation helped the teacher address the obstacles generated by cultural differences. The analysis revealed the difficulties the teacher encountered and how the mathematical and didactic praxeologies implemented evolved and helped overcome these challenges, broadening her mathematics knowledge for teaching. Finally, the implications of the case study on teacher collaborative learning in cross-cultural settings are discussed.

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Funding

The China-England Mathematics Teacher Exchange Program (2014–2020) was supported by the Research Institute for International and Comparative Education. Project Q-Mundo (RTI2018-101153-B-C21) was supported by the Programa Estatal de I+D+i orientado a los Retos de la Sociedad (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for International and Comparative Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Xingfeng Huang

  2. Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA

    Rongjin Huang

  3. Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain

    Marianna Bosch

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  1. Xingfeng Huang
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  2. Rongjin Huang
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  3. Marianna Bosch
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Correspondence to Xingfeng Huang.

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Huang, X., Huang, R. & Bosch, M. Analyzing a teacher’s learning through cross-cultural collaboration: a praxeological perspective of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Educ Stud Math 107, 427–446 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-021-10057-w

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