Some Problematics in International Collaboration in Mathematics Education

TLDR: Atweh et al. as mentioned in this paper discussed data from interviews with mathematics educators from Australasia and Colombia on their views of, experiences in and expectations from the internationalisation and globalisation of their discipline.

Abstract: This paper discusses data from interviews with mathematics educators from Australasia and Colombia on their views of, experiences in and expectations from the internationalisation and globalisation of their discipline. International collaboration is essential for moving the discipline forward in a globalised world and avoiding the colonialism of the past - and allowing the discipline to play its role in bridging the increasing gap between developing and developed countries. The aim of this analysis is to examine some problematical aspects of this collaboration between countries of unequal "power" and resources. In a previous publication (Atweh & Clarkson, 200Ib), we argued that mathematics education is perhaps the most internationalised subject in higher education. This is evidenced by both the similarities on curricula around the world and the number of international organizations, conferences, journals and handbooks in the discipline. However, there has been very little research which examines their causes and effects on the different players in the global scene. In particular we drew attention to some voices from developing countries calling for increased collaboration with developed countries, even to the extent of "a global minimum curriculum below which no continent should be allowed to drift, however under-developed" (Kuku, 1995, p.407). On the other hand, few voices from developed countries have expressed great concern about the effect of international exchanges of the past and their effect on developing countries. In the words of a leading mathematics educator in Australia with a notable reputation and international experience: Over the past 20 years I have often had cause to reflect that it is Western educators who were responsible not only for getting their own mathematics teacher education equation wrong, but also for passing on their errors to education systems around the world. (Clements, 1995, p.3) Both these views were expressed in an ICME regional conference on regional collaboration in mathematics education. Arguably, these specific views may be contentious and perhaps not widely shared within the mathematics education community in their respective regions. However, as we argue in the previous publication, these differences of voice from developed and developing countries do point to the need for further research and dialogue around the world between educators from developing and developed countries about the aims, processes and outcomes of international exchanges in the field. In another conference paper (Atweh & Clarkson, 2001a) we discussed the issue of a "global curriculum vs. global collaboration" in mathematics education. We have argued that while a global curriculum may be an anathema to many mathematics educators, global collaboration is essential for moving the discipline forward in this globalised world - at the same time avoiding the colonialism of the past - and allowing the discipline to play its role in bridging the ever-increasing gap between developing and developed countries. This paper discusses data from two focus group interviews with leading mathematics educators - one conducted with educators from Australia and New Zealand and the other conducted in Colombia in Latin America. This is part of a project funded by the Australian