Chile
Chile has taken important and decisive steps to improve the quality of its mathematics teaching, below are the positive and negative aspects that were identified in Chilean education:
Positive aspects
Strengthen the link between professional mathematicians and school teachers.
Positive experiences in conducting mathematical olympiads at local or national level, this emphasizes the need to increase the quality of mathematics teaching and connects professional mathematicians with school teachers.
By receiving a low international evaluation, there was more empathy for all mathematics professionals to teach in a different way involving the entire community and not complaining about the educational system.
They have developed a special educational course to certify mathematics teachers at the secondary level, where they prepare to develop skills in teaching mathematics. They will soon implement it for primary school teachers.
Negative aspects
Children are not taught to the level they need to live their lives and work productively.
Chile has international evaluations with very low results, even in relation to other countries that have a much lower GDP than Chile.
The majority of students from Latin countries are below PISA level 1, that is, they do not know how to identify information or carry out routines in explicit situations.
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Contributions to the solution in Colombia
By analyzing the reading, I can propose a solution that mathematics teachers should not teach the concept or procedure, they teach so that the student reaches the concept, that is, the student must find the need to learn and use mathematical concepts. In Colombia we have a traditional teaching style, that is, here the majority of teachers teach with plans, with meaningless exercises, what I propose is that the teacher prepares classes simulating some situations and the student must find a way to solve said situation through mathematical processes that the student must discover and conceptualize, because currently placing a student to solve exercises is not useful, that makes it an application, what must be taught is what we can do with that method in something every day. Classes should be focused on what the PISA tests evaluate, since these are the index of quality, not of school learning, but of how one acts in a situation.
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Costa Rica
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Costa Rica has one of the best elementary educations in the region. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in the math and sciences field.
Here are some positive and negative aspects regarding Costa Rica’s math education:
Positive aspects:
• They have one of the best elementary school systems in Latin America.
• They put a lot of effort into the training of the math teachers in university.
They have better ranking that other countries in the region.
• The students in training to become math teachers in university could choose also become mathematics, this shows the level of commitment in the math teachers’ education.
• They score better in math and reading tests than other Central American countries.
Negative aspects:
• Besides the score being better than other Central American countries, their ranking worldwide is lower than the average in reading and math skills, according to the data of the 2022 PISA, where Costa Rica occupied place No. 56.
• There is still much space for improvement and innovation in math teaching as the traditional approaches probably are not bringing the expected results.
• There is no mention of many math competitions or math Olympics being promoted in the country. Also, it will be good to host international competitions.
• The hours that elementary students spend studying math and doing math homework are less compared with other countries that lead the ranks as Singapore and Korea.
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Contributions to the solutions in Colombia
Regarding education in Colombia, it is important to implement new educational programs that can prepare mathematicians to become teachers as well. It is also crucial to learn from countries with high math scores and to invest in training with international teachers, gaining insights from their experience and trajectories. Furthermore, it is vital to promote the benefits of learning math and to engage students' interest by applying math concepts outside the classroom with real-life applications. Additionally, students should be allotted more time to apply mathematical concepts, enabling deeper learning. This means investing more time in math preparation. Finally, mathematicians should be offered better salaries, as many professionals and scientists in Colombia prefer to work abroad due to more attractive pay.
Brasil
Brazil has one objective and that is to reach the best level in mathematics, and therefore they apply a test to evaluate the level of the students and to raise this level in general. Brazil gives students a program that provides benefits for those students who perform well.
Positive aspects
• Brazil has an exam that evaluates the academic level in mathematics, called the Brazilian Mathematics Olympics for public schools (Olimpiada Brasileira de Matemática das Escolas Públicas, OMEP).
• Scholarship benefit programs where around 3,000 thousand students can be beneficiaries. Likewise, a program for teacher training helps to improve the quality of education.
• They put their greatest efforts into improving students' academic performance in mathematics.
• The most important part of OMEP is the scholarship program for young people. This program also counts on the participation of professors, for whom the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) offers special programs.
Negative aspects
• They only focus on raising the overall level of math. Students need better teaching strategies.
• Teachers need better training in mathematics teaching strategies.
• They need better strategies that provide the opportunity for better learning.
• It motivates students, but it is not dynamic, playful, or recursive for their learning in mathematics. Compared to other countries that focus on games for student learning.
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Solutions to reduce the problem
At the national level there are several challenges in education and teaching of mathematics and specific mandatory areas for the learning of people, in all countries there is a struggle to improve teaching, but a greater impact on education has not been achieved. Today we have at our disposal technological tools that can be articulated to teach mathematics, also teachers must contribute to it and must have training in the same, for me the solutions are that each government of the different countries of the country invest more in their human talent, in their training, updating to the decades and management of ICT, which are a way in which the student feels support to impact on education, in the learning of their students.
Also teaching mathematics with dynamic strategies, and playful with different resources that are not the typical known that we already know does not give more fruit in the learning of students, mathematics is about providing solutions to different problems and it is very important that a student can contribute with different solutions to the different problems presented, also that these new strategies serve as motivation and learning for students, contributing to their academic and professional growth.
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12 México
México has education for almost all of its young people. Unfortunately, the quality of education is often poor.
Here are some positive and negative aspects regarding Mexico math education:
Positive aspects:
• Collaboration between the Sociedad Matemática Mexicana, the Academia
Mexicana de Ciencias, and the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación to improve teacher training
They have better ranking that other countries in the region.
• Development of programs by the Sociedad Matemática Mexicana and the Academia
Mexicana de Ciencias to enhance teachers' mathematical knowledge
• "La Ciencia en tu Escuela" program bringing scientists to primary and secondary school teachers to change attitudes towards mathematics and science
• Success of the Olimpiada Mexicana de Matemáticas at an international level.
Negative aspects:
• Region needs better training for mathematics teachers
• Undervaluation of the teaching profession with low salaries that demotivate and undermine the importance of this profession
• Lack of comparable international data as an obstacle to improving mathematical education in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Predominance of traditional teaching methods like lectures that do not encourage student participation or the development of critical thinking skills
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Contributions to the solutions in Colombia
The teaching of mathematics in Colombia has historically been very deficient and it is fully documented that students do not acquire the minimum mathematical skills to be able to develop competitively in our country. Proof of this can be found in the results of national evaluations such as the Saber Tests of the Colombian Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education (ICFES) and the international program for student evaluation (Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA).
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BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
D’Amore, B. (2008). Epistemology, didactics of mathematics and teaching practicesOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader. Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Vol. 7, 1, pp 1-22.
http://www.dm.unibo.it/rsddm/it/articoli/damore/636%20%20Epistemology.pdf
Adams, D., & Hamm, M. (2014). Teaching Math, Science, and Technology in Schools Today: Guidelines for Engaging Both Eager and Reluctant Le https://elibronet.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/es/ereader/unadenglish/136030?page=4arners (Vol. Second edition). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Bosch C; Álvarez, L; Correa, R: Druck, S; & McEaching, R. (2010). Mathematics education in Latin America and the Caribbean: a reality to be transformed. Science for a Better Life: Developing Regional Scientific Programs in Priority Areas for Latin America and the Caribbean. Volume 4. Mexico City, ISBN 978-0-930357-80-1.
http://docplayer.net/20952213-Mathematics-education-in-latin-america-and-thecaribbean-a-reality-to-be-transformed.html
Dawson, A. (Il.), Jaworski, B. (Il.) & Wood, T. (Il.). (2003). Mathematics Teacher Education: Critical International Perspectives.Taylor & Francis Group. https://elibronet.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/es/ereader/unadenglish/157751?page=1
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