The ICMI Study 15 investigated mathematics teacher education programs around the world. It found that teachers play a key role in students' learning of mathematics and that teacher education needs to better prepare new teachers for the transition from university to the realities of the classroom. The study also highlighted the need to recruit and retain mathematics teacher educators and the importance of international perspectives on improving teacher education.

1. Lessons from
some recent ICMI Studies
Ja ime C a r v a lh o e S il v a
S ec re ta ry-G enera l of ICM I
Un iversi ty of C oi m bra, Po rt ug a l
CMU C/Projec t U I 324 - 2011-2012

2. ICMI

3. ICMI
Founded in 1908

4. ICMI
Founded in 1908
First president was Felix Klein

5. ICMI
Founded in 1908
First president was Felix Klein
90 countries

6. Executive Committee

7. Executive Committee
South Korea, China, USA, Israel, France
New Zealand, Italy, Costa Rica, South Africa,
Australia, Portugal

8. commission of IMU

9. IMU is member of ICSU

10. ICMI activities
ICMI Studies
ICME - International Congress on Mathematical
Education
ICMI Bulletin
ICMI News (newsletter)
ICMI website

11. ICME congress

12. ICME-12 in Korea

13. ICMI Affiliated Study Groups
HPM: The International Study Group on the Relations
between the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics
(1976)
ICTMA: The International Study Group for Mathematical
Modelling and Application (2003)
IOWME: The International Organization of Women and
Mathematics Education (1987)
PME: The International Group for the Psychology of
Mathematics Education (1976)
WFNMC: The World Federation of National Mathematics
Competitions (1994)

14. Multi-national Mathematical
Education Societies
affiliated to ICMI
CIAEM: Inter-American Committee on Mathematics
Education (2009)
ERME: European Society for Research in Mathematics
Education (2010)
CIEAEM: International Commission for the Study and
Improvement of Mathematics Teaching (2010)

15. What is an ICMI Study
Activity created in 1985 when Jean-Pierre
Kahane was President of ICMI.
The goal is the production of a Study Book. The
first five were published by Cambridge
University Press and are now online.

16. First five ICMI Studies

17. What is an ICMI Study
Each Study focuses on a topic or issue of
prominent current interest in mathematics
education.
Each Study reflect the great variety of issues
and concerns in the field of mathematics
education
It is intended to promote and assist discussion
and action at the international, regional or
institutional level.

18. What is an ICMI Study
Studies are of interest to educational
researchers, curriculum developers,
educational policy makers, teachers of
mathematics, and to mathematicians and
educators involved in the professional
education and development of teachers of
mathematics.

19. Methodology
First, the Executive Committee of ICMI decides
upon a theme. It then appoints the co-chairs
and an International Program Committee
(IPC)
The IPC produces a Discussion Document in
which a number of key issues and sub-themes
related to the theme of the Study are identified
and described in a preliminary manner. The
Discussion Document is widely disseminated
internationally to solicit papers from the field.

20. Methodology
Thirdly, an international conference is
organized to bring together both experts in the
field and newcomers with interesting ideas or
promising work in progress, as well as to
gathering representatives with a variety of
backgrounds from different regions, traditions
and cultures.

21. Methodology
Finally, a research volume, presents a state-of-
the-art expert report.
The Study volumes constitute presently the
(New) ICMI Studies Series (NISS),
appearing under the general editorship of the
President and the Secretary-General of ICMI.
Volumes are now published by Springer.

22. ICMI Studies

23. ICMI Studies

24. ICMI Studies
15. The Professional Education and Development
of Teachers of Mathematics.
16. Challenging Mathematics in and Beyond the
Classroom.
17. Digital Technologies and Mathematics
Teaching and Learning: Rethinking the Terrain.
18. Statistics Education in School Mathematics:
Challenges for Teaching and Teacher Education.

25. ICMI Studies
19. Proof and proving in mathematics education.
20. Educational Interfaces between Mathematics
and the Industry (EIMI)
21. Mathematics Education in Multilingual
Contexts
22 Task Design

26. ICMI Study 18
ICMI
New ICMI Study Series
Study
 New ICMI Study Series
Carmen Batanero · Gail Burrill · Chris Reading Editors
Batanero · Burrill · Reading Eds.
Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics-Challenges
for Teaching and Teacher Education
A Joint ICMI/IASE Study: The 18th ICMI Study
In recent years, there have been an expansion and renewal of the statistics content Carmen Batanero
in the mathematics curricula in many countries through all school grade levels from
primary to secondary levels. However, no similar attention has been paid to the prepa-
ration of mathematics teacher to teach statistics at these levels. This book presents the
Gail Burrill
results from the Joint ICMI/IASE Study, Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics.
Challenges for Teaching and Teacher Education that was intended to address the lack
Chris Reading Editors
of attention to teaching statistics by promoting international collaborative research
specifically focussed on the education and professional development of teachers to teach
Teaching Statistics in
statistics.The volume covers a very wide field, including examples of statistics curricula
and teacher education programmes around the world; analysis of the fundamentals
to teaching statistics; survey chapters of research related to teachers’ attitudes, beliefs
and knowledge related to fundamental statistics ideas and its teaching; and analyses of 1
School Mathematics-
challenges and experiences related to training teachers to teach statistics. The book is
designed to be useful to researchers in mathematics education and statistics education
teacher educators, and people involved in curricular development in statistics with the
Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics-Challenges
hope that it will foster further research in the problems related to educating teachers to
for Teaching and Teacher Education
Challenges for
teach statistics at different school levels. It could be of interest to teachers themselves,
since the basic ideas for teaching statistics and the research summarised in the book
both in learning difficulties or teaching strategies is applicable in both the training of
students and teachers.
Teaching and
Teacher Education
A Joint ICMI/IASE Study:
The 18th ICMI Study
Education
ISBN 978-94-007-1130-3

27. Executive Summary
Although the teaching of statistics in secondary
schools has a long tradition, in recent years many
countries have also included statistics in the
primary curriculum. In addition, more attention
has been paid to developing statistical thinking
in students across all levels of education.

28. Executive Summary
Most teachers acknowledge the practical
importance of statistics and are willing to give
more relevance to the teaching of statistics.
However many mathematics teachers, do not
consider themselves well prepared to teach
statistics nor face their students’ difficulties.

29. Executive Summary
There is a continuing need for finding
approaches for preparing teachers that promote
teachers’ statistical literacy and reasoning, that
engage teachers with real data and statistical
investigations, and that connect teacher
education to their teaching practice and the
reality of their classrooms.

30. Executive Summary
The rapid development of statistics and statistics
education implies that further research in
statistics education is needed. The analyses,
research, and case studies reported in the Study
provide a rich starting point for such research.

31. Press release
Press Release EMBARGO: 26.6.2011
New Book Helps Statistics Teachers Stay Ahead
quantitative areas for
a modern information society, including a sound understanding of statistics. But for teachers
trying to help students to appreciate and use the concepts and principles of statistics, the odds
are often against them.
Authors of a new book, Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics: Challenges for Teaching and
Teacher Education, advocate that the key to successful statistics education starts with teachers
t consider themselves well prepared to teach statistics nor
This innovative book is a useful guide for teachers, and those who educate teachers, seeking to
overcome these challenges. It identifies new approaches to enha
literacy that bridge teacher education with teaching practice in the classroom. The growing
appreciation for the importance of an understanding of statistics means that in many countries
the subject is now taught throughout school levels, including across primary school. But in
order to teach statistics effectively, teachers must understand the nature of statistics and its
benefit from
organising initiatives to help increase statistical literacy of all citizen
Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics is the product of a joint collaboration between the
International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) and the International
Association for Statistical Education (IASE). It is the 18th in a series of studies commissioned by
the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). The 18th study is also a
product of the 2008 IASE Roundtable Conference. Each ICMI study is meant to foster
understanding and resolutions of the challenges that face multidisciplinary and culturally
diverse research and development in mathematics education by focusing on a topic or issue of
prominent current interest in mathematics education. Similarly each of the Roundtable
Conferences in Statistics Education, which have been held since 1968, focuses on a prominent
topic in statistics education and produces refereed Proceedings. These Roundtable
conferences were organised before 1992 by the International Statistical Institute and since
1992 by the IASE.
Thus both ICMI studies and IASE Roundtable studies are built around international conferences
with the goal of preparing a published volume that can promote discussion and action at the
international, regional or institutional level. The result of this innovative and exciting
collaboration is Teaching Statistics in School Mathematics, which will be presented at the
Conferencia Interamericana de Educación Matemática (CIAEM) conference in Recife, Brazil,
June 26 -­‐ 30, 2011, published by Springer and will be released in August 2011.
For further information please contact: Carmen Batanero, (Editor): batanero@ugr.es
Lena Koch (ICMI Administrator, IMU Secretariat) icmi.cdc.administrator@mathunion.org
International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (www.mathunion.org/ICMI)
International Association for Statistical Education (www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/
International Mathematical Union, Secretariat, Markgrafenstr.32, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 20372-­‐432, Fax: +49 30 20372-­‐439

32. ICMI Study 15
Co-chairs:
Ruhama Even (Israel)
Deborah Loewenberg Ball
(USA)

33. ICMI Study 15
scientific committee
Gilah Leder La Trobe University
Jo Boaler Stanford University AUSTRALIA
USA
Shiqi Li East China Normal
Chris Breen University of Cape University CHINA
Town SOUTH AFRICA
Romulo Lins State University of
Frédéric Gourdeau Université Sao Paulo at Rio Claro BRAZIL
Laval CANADA
João Filipe Matos Universidade
Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen Lisboa PORTUGAL
Utrecht University
NETHERLANDS Jarmila Novotna Charles
University CZECH REPUBLIC
Barbara Jaworski Loughborough
University UK Aline Robert IUFM de Versailles
FRANCE

34. ICMI Study 15
The study was designed to investigate practices
and programs of mathematics teacher education
in different countries and to contribute to an
international discourse about the professional
education of prospective and practicing teachers
of mathematics

35. ICMI Study 15
The premise of this study was that teachers are
key to students’ opportunities to learn
mathematics.
What mathematics teachers know, care about,
and do is a product of their experiences and
socialization both prior to and after entering
teaching, together with the impact of their
professional education.

36. ICMI Study 15
there is a growing need to design policy-oriented
studies according to a typology of comparative
differences within and across regions that can
give better insights on the teacher education-
teacher practice-pupil learning continuum,
taking into account contextual differences.

37. ICMI Study 15
The first years of teaching can be seen as a
transition with many interdependent
components: from being a teacher student in a
university environment, where mathematics and
teaching is often considered in more theoretical
ways, to a (more or less autonomous) status of
being a professional in a school, in charge of a
number of practical problems related to teaching
and school mathematics.

38. ICMI Study 15
The international perspective seems very
important; here, as it may help us to reject the
fatalism that often results from a perspective
which is confined to a single system of education

39. ICMI Study 15
Needless to say, systems of schooling—including
teacher education—display a surprising level of
inertia. Looking beyond them may help us
recognize that their defaults are not inevitable.
This seems in particular to be the case for some
of the problems faced by beginning teachers,
including isolation and lack of resources for
professional growth as a mathematics teacher.

40. ICMI Study 15
It appears certain that the recruitment and
retention of mathematics teacher educators will
need to be a major focus of institutions of higher
education in future years.
Who becomes a teacher educator, the
motivations and incentives for doing so, and the
tasks and duties of teacher educators are all
worthy of further discussion on an international
level.

41. ICMI Study 15
A split between pedagogy courses and content
courses might not be productive. It is possible to
teach courses that address both at the same time.
There is no agreement on what the role of
mathematicians in pedagogy courses should be.
Many responses pointed to the opportunity to
capitalize on mathematicians’ knowledge of
mathematics and “how mathematics works” and
their experiences as learners and teachers of
mathematics.

42. ICMI Study 16
Co-chairs:
Edward Barbeau (Canada),
Peter J. Taylor (Australia)

43. ICMI Study 16
Discussion Document:
“Mathematics is engaging, useful, and creative. What can we do to make it
accessible to more people?”
“Recent attempts to develop students' mathematical creativity include the use of
investigations, problems, reflective logs, and a host of other devices. These can
be seen as ways to attract students with material that challenges the mind.”
“Initiatives taken around the globe have varied in quality and have met with
different degrees of success. New technologies have enabled us to refine our
efforts and restructure our goals. It is time to assess what has been done, study
conditions for success and determine some approaches for the future.”

44. ICMI Study 16
Discussion Document:
“What is a mathematical challenge?”
“How do we provide challenges?”
“How do challenges contribute to the learning process?”
“How can challenges be used in the classroom?”

45. ICMI Study 16 conclusions
Those responsible for curriculum design and
assessment need to question whether their
policies inhibit or promote an authentic and
productive mathematical experience in the
classroom.

46. ICMI Study 16 conclusions
The time has come for a gathering of the
available materials and the formulation of
research and field trials involving the use of
challenges that will allow us to move forward in a
sound and measured way.

47. ICMI Study 16 conclusions
Teachers value and are more easily persuaded, if
someone involved in the development process
can actually work with their class and show how
the process they are proposing can produce gains
by their students.

48. ICMI Study 17
Co-chairs:
Celia Hoyles (England),
Jean-Baptiste Lagrange
(France)

49. ICMI Study 17
Discussion Document:
“identify and analyse some of the challenges in mathematics teaching and
learning, practically and theoretically, in the light of the use of digital
technologies”
“What new types of mathematical knowledge and practices emerge as a result of
access to digital technologies, particularly computational, dynamic visualisation
and communication technologies?”
“What role can the "mathematics laboratory" play in different educational
contexts, including primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education?”

50. ICMI Study 17
Section 1: Design of learning environments and
curricula
Section 2 Learning and Assessing Mathematics
with and through Digital Technologies
Section 3 Teachers and Technology
Section 4 Implementation of Curricula: Issues of
Access and Equity

51. ICMI Study 17
Section 5: Future Directions
Future of technology? Kindle? iPads?
SmartPhones?

52. ICMI Study 17
Section 5: Future Directions
Future of technology? Kindle? iPads?
SmartPhones?

53. ICMI Study 17
Seymour Papert (inventor of LOGO): “spend
reasonable part of the time and energy thinking
about possible futures, freeing our minds of the
current constraints.”

54. ICMI News

55. more about ICMI
www.mathunion.org/icmi/

56. Thank you for your
attention
Ja ime C a r v a lh o e S il v a
S ec re ta ry-G enera l of ICM I
Un iversi ty of C oi m bra, Po rt ug a l
CMU C/Projec t U I 324 - 2011-2012