Equal in diversity: reflections on Primary Teachers' Learning

Abstract: An unexpected observation made during an international study exploring mathematical misconceptions in primary schools (Cockburn and Littler, 2008) was that there was a large commonality in what was observed even though, in discussion, we noted that there remarkable differences in the way the teachers taught and had been trained. For example the equals sign, together with arithmetic algorithms and structural properties, gave rise to misconceptions (Parslow-Williams and Cockburn, 2008) which, in some cases, extended well beyond the primary years of schooling (Marchini and Cockburn, 2008). Closer examination of the data revealed that, although many of the misconceptions may have originated in the earliest years of schooling, frequently they did not become manifest for several years. As we will demonstrate, in spite of the many differences in culture, language and experience, it was striking that the teachers in Italy and England discussed similar implications for their future practice.