Studying the Method of Teaching Mathematics Across Multicultural Context

Seto Marsudi
Mathematics Education 2009
Yogyakarta State University

A. Introduction

Indonesia is a developing country. In the development, Indonesia needs his people to build the country into a country that established well and strong. How can the people build the country into the state that dreamed by everyone? Of course, building and enhancing Indonesia can only be done by using science. Without science, there will be no progress. Indonesia will only be a country that dreams for something that other countries have. We will never have train, bus, and plane without science. We could not improve the usefulness of our assets without science.

Mathematics is one kind of science that Indonesia needs. Mathematics is base of every kind science in the world. You can not make a society without mathematics there. But, we are facing the problem. The problem is, so many people in Indonesia have low skill in mastering and understanding mathematics, and also the young generations is including there. How can we apply mathematics if we have not understood it well?

In this case, we ought to see and learn from other countries in the world. We are not alone in this world. We have so many neighbor countries which are developed well by using their science, by using their mathematics. How can Malaysia build their monorail? How can Japan always improve their technology? How can Russia be one of the leaders in military technology? They use their knowledge. They use their technology. They use their mathematics.

We can ask, learn, discover, research, find out and apply their knowledge to our country. Although we are different in many things, especially culture, the mathematical thinking does not work by that way. It does not care about the diversity that human have, it cares on as long as you are human you can build your own mathematical thinking. Mathematics is through the multicultural culture in this world.

B.  The Same Problem of Difficulties in Teaching Mathematics

We have so many difficulties in teaching mathematics to students, the young generations of Indonesia. It is shown by our score in National Examination is still low. In other case, students think that it is so hard to understand mathematics because it is an abstract thing. Something that they can not find out how they can relate the material into their real world. They integrate, differentiate, draw a curve, find the volume, but what for? It is so hard for them to reveal the answer. There something wrong in our system of learning mathematics.

In other side of the world, our neighbor countries also have faced same kind of problem. Japan has been downed by bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Japan lost so many of their teachers, especially mathematics teacher. Malaysia, during 1960, faced great problem in teaching knowledge to their students. They even ‘imported’ teacher from Indonesia to teach there, including mathematics teacher. But we can look now that they have passed the troubles. They have developed now.

C.  Seeing Other Countries’ Context

It is not impossible to learn and enhance our knowledge of mathematics by studying to other countries. It does not matter whether we eat rice and English eat bread, we wear batik and Japanese wears kimono. The diversity is some kind of beauty that God creates in this world. The diversity does not stop and block the way of mathematical thinking, it enhances and improves the mathematical thinking.

There are so many alternatives that other country has that can be applied in our country to improve the process of understanding mathematics -which Freudenthal said as ‘mathematization’- and also to improve the process of teaching mathematics.

Singapore

As Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong said in his inaugural National Day Rally Speech in 2004 urged Singapore schools to “Teach Less” so that our students can “Learn More”. In 2005, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore adopted the Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) movement which is about teaching better, to engage our learners and prepare them for life, rather than teaching for tests and examinations. There is more quality in terms of classroom interaction, room for expression, and the learning of life-long skills such as thinking through innovative and effective approaches. At the same time, there is less focus on rote-learning, repetitive tests, and following prescribed answers and set formulae.

Russia

Russia has other method to improve their teaching learning process and differentiate with other country, they said it as Open Lessons. Ivan Vysotskiy from Moscow Institute for Open Education said that Open Lessons (OL) were the usual studying form when students begin their work at schools as young teachers. One can say that OL play the same role in Russia as LS do in Thailand, Japan and other economies joined to the project. But the understanding of OL is slightly wider, than LS. Russian school practices OL for tens of years using them for different purposes

(a) Training young teachers;

(b) Exchange of experiences between teachers;

(c) As educational tools for continuous teachers’ education programs;

(d) As part of teacher’s certification program (every five years);

(e) Presentation of new education technologies, editions, or methods.

Malaysia

Ui Hock CHEAH said that the current focus of teaching and learning in Malaysia places emphases on the processes of mathematical thinking in addition to the integration and application of technology. The importance of mathematical thinking is translated in the curriculum to include the various mathematical processes: problem solving, mathematical communication, mathematical reasoning and mathematical connection. The current classroom practice seems to focus on getting the students to arrive at the procedures as determined by the teachers.   

Japan

The work of Minoru Ohtani from Kanazawa University is collaborating the Realistic Mathematics Education with social theory of Vigotsky. They proposed a unit design for teaching proportion in a sixth-grade of Japanese elementary mathematics classroom based on cultural-historical theory in which cultural tools such as table, graph and formula become symbol of proportion in collective discourse. They described a hypothetical learning teaching trajectory only for numerical table. Results from the interpretation of the data reveal that the process of symbolizing consists of four phases. This hypothetical trajectory could be applied for of symbolizing graph and formula as well. Teaching experiment reveal that classroom collective discourse functions as social resources for promoting process of symbolization. Through collective discourse, the cultural tools are gradually appropriated by the pupils as cognitive means for regulating their personal mathematical activity. Thus, process of symbolizing of cultural tools is characterized by changes of their function form collective use to private one.

Marsigit

Marsigit thinks that for Indonesian context, the aim of mathematics education from now on is still urgently to promote mathematical thinking and to take it into actions. Accordingly, these lead to suggest that it needs to conduct classroom-based research to investigate the necessary driving factors towards students’ ability to develop mathematical thinking. Marsigit’s work indicated that mathematics would have to be applied to natural situations, any where real problems appear, and to solve them, it is necessary to use the mathematical method. The knowledge, skills, and mathematical methods are the foundation to achieve the knowledge on science, information, and other learning areas in which mathematical concepts are central; and to apply mathematics in the real-life situations.

D. Conclusion

There are so many knowledge and new informations by studying to other countries. They have different culture and method of teaching their students but they also face the same problem in mathematics, just like us. By learning and discovering their hints and their ways of improving the skill of mathematics, we can also improve our skill of mathematics.

One thing that people should concern is not all of other country ways work on our country. It is because they apply their way based on their culture, their environment, etc. We have to modify into our culture, our environment, and everything that Indonesia-based. We also have to beware that we should not absorb all of their ways because we can lost our identity. We can lost our characteristics. Learn and adopt just only what we want and just what we need, not all of them.

References

Marsigit. 2007. Mathematical Thinking Across Multilateral Culture. [Online]. http://staff.uny.ac.id/sites/default/files/penelitian/Marsigit,%20Dr.,%20M.A./Mathematical%20Thinking%20Across%20Multilateral%20Culture_Makalah%20Marsigit%20Semnas%20di%20Jurdik%20Matematika%20UNY%202007.pdf [November 21^st, 2011].

Peggy Foo. 2006. Improving Lessons on Mathematical Thinking through Lesson Study ~3CaseStudies.[Online].http://apec-lessonstudy.kku.ac.th/upload/paper%20apec/Peggy%20Foo.pdf [December 1^st, 2011].

Ivan Vysotskiy. 2011. Stochastic Line In Russian Junior School (7 - 9 grades). [Online]. http://apec-lessonstudy.kku.ac.th/upload/paper%20apec/Ivan.pdf [December 1^st, 2011].

 Ui Hock CHEAH. 2010. Improving Assessment in the Primary Mathematics Classroom through Lesson Study. [Online]. http://www.crme.kku.ac.th/APEC/APEC%202010/Paper/Ui%20Hock%20CHEAH.pdf [December 1^st, 2011].

Minoru Ohtani. 2007.  Design Research in Mathematics Education: in Case of Teaching Direct Proportion. [Online]. http://www.crme.kku.ac.th/APEC/APEC%202010/Paper/Minoru%20OHTANI.pdf [December 1^st, 2011].