Multiculturalism, Migration, Mathematics Education and Language - Teachers' Needs and Teaching Materials

The multicultural nature of modern society constitutes one of the most significant changes to have influenced schools in many European countries, especially at primary and middle school level. The teacher’s job is all the more difficult because he/she is usually not sufficiently prepared to deal with the new classroom context with pupils having a migrant background, coming from countries with different cultures and different languages. The teacher is seldom aware of the need to rethink and if necessary modify his/her methodological and pedagogical approach. This attitude is even more evident in maths teachers who often consider their subject universal and culture-free. Little has been done in Europe as far as maths teaching in multicultural contexts is concerned. The different languages and cultures present in the classroom make the teaching/learning process even more arduous than it already is, especially for pupils from minority cultures and/or with a migrant background or for Roma pupils. This project envisages the design and piloting of materials for both the initial and in-service training of middle school maths teachers who constitute the project’s primary target group. The secondary target group is their pupils, in particular those from other cultures. The materials have been produced after careful analysis of the video recordings of teaching activities. Their focus was also on the role of language in the communication of mathematical concepts and their aim was to stimulate the maths teacher’s awareness of the need to find a satisfactory balance between mathematical language and classroom language, especially when dealing with pupils with a different culture and language. The project’s training proposals aimed at promoting maths teaching strategies which are relevant to activities and problems taken from everyday life including that of different cultures in order to highlight their positive aspects.