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<div><br></div>
<div>ICMI News 5: August 2008</div>
<div><br>
A Bimonthly Email Newsletter from the ICMI-International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction</div>
<div>Editor: Jaime Carvalho e Silva, Dep. Matematica, Universidade de
Coimbra, Portugal</div>
<div><br>
CONTENTS<br>
</div>
<div>1. Editorial: Yes, it was worth it!</div>
<div>2.<font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font> (1)</div>
<div>3.<font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font> (2)</div>
<div>4.<font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font> (3)</div>
<div>5. New Executive Committee of ICMI for 2010-2012</div>
<div>6. The Proceedings of ICME-10 have now been published</div>
<div>7. WFMC welcomes you!</div>
<div>8. PUBLIMATH - Bibliographical database on mathematics
education</div>
<div>9. The 1000th subscriber to ICMI News</div>
<div>10. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI
Community</div>
<div>11. Historical vignettes: <font color="#000000"> The
unexpected fate of a mathematics curriculum</font></div>
<div>12. Subscribing to ICMI News</div>
<div><br>
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<div><br></div>
<div>1. Editorial: Yes, it was worth it!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A Congress like ICME-11 takes at least four years to organize;
the budget you need to get is huge, you need to coordinate more than
500 organizers and collaborators, you need to balance a program with
more than 500 sessions (and you are not sure all sessions are worth
it), the bureaucratic problems involved are sometimes frightening. In
brief: you are sure to get hundreds of headaches. Some people
say that to organize such a huge congress is not worth it. I say it is
worth it, and ICME-11 was worth it. We had very good 9 plenary
activities of a quite diverse nature, 7 survey teams presenting
interesting new perspectives on very different topics, we had around
50 regular lectures on a huge array of themes, there were more than 60
groups to present and discuss ideas and projects. The International
Program Committee carefully choose proposals that offered interesting
choices, and the quality of most of the speakers was obvious. Only in
a big congress like this you have the opportunity to listen to talks
and participate in workshops in such a big number of different themes,
with people from very different parts of the world speaking about
different aspects of research, personal or national experiences or
projects. The diversity of offerings is a big plus.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But the most important aspect was the impact on Latin America.
When an ICME congress is organized somewhere you are sure that the
people in the region will benefit most and this was no exception. We
had 392 participants from Latin American countries when in ICME-10
they were only 72. Even if you subtract the Mexican participants (164)
you still get more participants in ICME-11 from Latin American
countries (228) than in ICME-10. We had participants from 16 different
countries in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela. We need surely to find
ways to get even more countries involved, but this was a good
number.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>If you add to this the fact that there was also an Ibero American
Program in Spanish inside ICME-11, you see that this kind of offering
and opportunity is unique. Of course it can be improved. The problem
of the language is still not at all solved. It is true that English is
the language for international contacts, but a lot of people do not
feel comfortable enough to discuss educational topics in English. In a
presentation you can always have your slides in English but in a
discussion things are more difficult. This must be discussed
carefully. A nice example connected to this issue was the final
presentation by Bernard Hodgson where he mixed written slides and oral
presentation in several different languages.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As a final remark I want to present you the list of the countries
with 20 or more registrations. This is an interesting list because it
shows the enormous diversity of the countries of origin of most of the
participants:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Argentina: 31, Australia: 75, Brazil: 126, Canada: 68, China:
154, Denmark: 35, France: 53, Germany: 44, Israel: 22, Italy: 41,
Japan: 73, Mexico: 164, New Zealand: 27, Norway: 20, Portugal: 51,
Singapore: 27, South Africa: 36, South Korea: 39, Spain: 45, Sweden:
64, United Kingdom: 92, United States: 412</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I have great expectations for ICME-12. I hope we will all meet
there.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Jaime Carvalho e Silva, Member-at-large EC ICMI,
jaimecs@mat.uc.pt</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>PS - We have reached 1000 subscribers of our email newsletter.
Please keep spreading information about our newsletter so that we
reach as many people as possible.</div>
<div><br></div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>2. <font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font>
(1)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>There are two people that attended all the ICME congresses
starting with the first one. They are known as "old hands":
Jerry Becker (USA) and Claude Gaulin (Canada). Jerry Becker gave us
his impression about this 11th ICME.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>IMPRESSIONS OF ICME-11</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The program was rich, varied and presented much from which to
choose. In my judgment, it was an excellent congress and, for me, it
ranks among the very best [and I have participated in all of them].
Several years ago Alan Schoenfeld gave a talk which he concluded with
a moral, namely,<i> two theorems</i>: 1. Mathematics is a living,
breathing and exciting discipline of sense-making. 2. Mathematics
students will come to see it that way if and only if they experience
it that way in their classrooms. A corollary is that virtually all
standard classroom instruction needs to be enhanced, or replaced, by
instruction in which students grapple with challenging mathematics in
intellectually honest ways. This is the frame I carry with me to
conferences such as the ICMEs, from which to learn. In addition to the
plenaries, I was able to select numerous interesting sessions [and
thereby had to eliminate numerous others] that nicely fit around/into
that frame: e.g., the Chinese national presentation<i> and printed
materials</i>, the session on Japanese national assessment [Shizumi
Shimizu], the teacher as producer of knowledge [Patricia Sadovsky],
the professional development of teacher educators [Jan van Maanen],
assessment must be formative [Peter Nystrom] and others. There were
other sessions, such as those in my DG, in which the knowledge of the
teacher was emphasized as crucial in understanding elementary
students' work -- e.g., (1) 9 x 8 = 9 x (11 -8) = 9 x 3 = 27 =
72; (2) 4.8 - 6.2 = (.8 - .2) + (4 - 6) = -2.6 = -2 + .6 = -1.4. The
sessions of my TSG were also valuable. I was happy to witness the work
of outstanding scholars being recognized in the Freudenthal and Klein
awards and to engage in light conversation or give-and-take during the
receptions (with excellent snacks and refreshments). Conferees were
delighted with the cultural program, their excursions, the transport
to and from the university, the large cadre of young, friendly and
helpful students (everywhere!) and it was wonderful to enjoy Mexican
foods, including along the magnificent downtown river walk. In the
Final Program book, Marcela Santillan, Carlos Signoret and Aljandro
Diaz Barriga thanked us for coming ... and we need to thank them and
their colleagues for organizing and implementing an outstanding
congress that was both highly enjoyable and productive, and for having
us in their homeland, as well. Now I look forward to the ICME-11
proceedings and to ICME-12 in Korea.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Jerry P. Becker, Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction, Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA, jbecker@siu.edu.</div>
<div> </div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>3. <font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font>
(2)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We asked two of the four educators that received ICMI Medals at
ICME-11 to give us their impressions of ICME-11, the Felix Klein
medalist for 2007, Jeremy Kilpatrick, University of Georgia, Athens,
GA, USA and the Felix Klein medalist for 2005, Ubiratan D'Ambrosio,
Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Impressions of ICME-11, by Jeremy
Kilpatrick</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">The 11th International Congress on
Mathematical Education (ICME-11) was very much like all the others
I've attended-teeming, sprawling, innovative, eclectic, diverse,
uneven, rewarding, intense, exhausting-but probably because it was the
first ICME in a Latin American country, it was also lively, vibrant,
and colorful. The people at the venue, the Universidad
Autónoma de Nuevo León, and in particular the many student guides,
could not have been more helpful. Moreover, although I had heard
that Monterrey was an ordinary industrialized city that could just as
easily be north of the Rio Grande, it was nothing like I expected.
Located in a valley surrounded by ruggedly beautiful mountains, the
city has a modern subway system, squares and parks filled with
sculpture, a lively downtown scene, and many first-rate museums.
It may not be Guadalajara or Guanajuato, but it's not Galveston or
Gary either.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">As to the sessions at the congress itself,
I very much enjoyed those I attended, particularly the plenary
activities and regular lectures. There were numerous lectures
that I heard good things about but could not attend because so many
were scheduled at the same time. I especially enjoyed the
sessions at which the survey teams reported. Survey teams as a
congress feature were begun at ICME 10, where there were five teams.
For ICME-11, there were seven-all on new topics. These teams
have performed a very useful service to the field, giving a more
comprehensive picture of developments in different countries than any
one speaker could offer.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I had the privilege of chairing the
nominations committee for the 2010-2012 Executive Committee (EC) of
the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), and
at the ICMI General Assembly in Monterrey, I presented the slate of
nominees and announced the results. It was a historic occasion.
Previous EC members had been chosen by the General Assembly of the
International Mathematical Union, and this was the first time that the
ICMI chose its own officers. Special appreciation for this
peaceful revolution is due the recent ICMI EC members, and especially
presidents Hyman Bass and Michèle Artigue and secretary-general
Bernard Hodgson, for their efforts to help make ICMI a more
self-governing organization.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Personnal Reflections on ICME-11, by
Ubiratan D'Ambrosio</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">It is difficult to say something about
ICME-11, other than the usual congratulations to the organizers,
without mentioning my personal feelings.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I have attended all the ICMEs, since 1976.
It has always been very rewarding to meet friends, to listen and to
learn about new progresses in mathematics education, and to have the
opportunity of telling about my ideas and to benefit from
critics.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">ICME-11, in Monterrey, was not different,
but with some additional emotional features. It was in Latin America.
I felt at home, and I am sure this was the feeling of all my
colleagues from other Latin America countries. And I received the
Felix Klein Medal.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">This activated my memories of Karlsruhe, 32
years ago, and of Adelaide, 24 years ago. In ICME 3 I was courageous
to propose that reflections about "why teach mathematics?" should
emphasize history and sociology. In ICME 5 I was even more
courageously when I presented Ethnomathematics. The reactions, in both
occasions, were mixed, from completely ignoring my talk to heavy
criticism to my proposals. The Felix Klein Award reassured me that
Mathematics and Society and Mathematics and Culture, specifically
Ethnomathematics, are important research areas in Mathematics
Education. The feeling of having contributed to the advancement of
these areas is indeed rewarding.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">As a personal feeling, I must confess how
good I felt when colleagues, both established professionals and
younger people in the beginning of their career, valued being in a
picture with me. I think it is not vain vanity to feel honored when
colleagues from Latin America, and also from the entire World, asked
me to pose for a picture with them.<br>
This made me reflect about the value of organizing such big congresses
as ICMEs. I am aware that many mathematics educators are critic of
ICMEs. The number of participants is very large, with many beginners
and without important contributions to the area. Established
mathematics educators claim that the opportunity to share ideas with
colleagues is minor. Indeed, I met only once, in a rush, some
colleagues with whom I had much to discuss. Indeed, compared with a
meeting like the recent 100 years of ICMI, in Rome, ICMEs are
academically less attractive. But the benefit for the younger
teachers, from all over the World, with so many doubts, questions and
much professional hopes and dreams, amply justify the investment, in
time and resources, in ICMEs. The stimulus resulting from shacking
hands and taking a picture with the real researchers, which are the
authors of many papers and books they read, is a lifetime experience.
I remember when, in the sixties I went to my first ICMs. To meet
personally some of the intellectual mentors of my research was an
unforgettable experience. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I disagree with colleagues, established
researchers, who claim that going to ICMEs is not a worthwhile
academic challenge. Academically, I gained much in ICME-11, as in
other ICMEs. I was surprised with the amazing presence of technology
in mathematics education. Technology is absolutely integrated in the
actions of the younger generation. Indeed, it is part of their
everyday-life. Also, I was happy to see that mathematics educators are
increasingly concerned with the role of mathematics education in
facing the challenges and issues of the 21st century. More than
improving the teaching of traditional contents, there was a feeling
that the mission of mathematics educators is to prepare students to be
able to face the challenges and solve the issues of the 21st century,
educating students in the various academic disciplines, language,
science, social science and mathematics through a cultural history
context and an interdisciplinary approach to instruction. I find
myself totally identified with this new trend, although sometimes it
is difficult to keep pace with the amazing technological
innovations.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Indeed, participating in ICME-11 was a very
rewarding experience.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>4. <font color="#000000"> Impressions of ICME-11</font>
(3)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We asked two first timers to ICMEs to give us their impressions
of coming to ICME-11:<font color="#000000"> Ajit Kumar, from the
Department of Applied Mathematics, Institute of Chemical Technology,
University of Mumbai, India</font> and David F Hervas<font
color="#000000">,</font> Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad
San Francisco de Quito<font color="#000000">,</font> Quito -
Ecuador<font color="#000000"> who was also the representative from
Ecuador in the ICMI General Assembly.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>First timer:<font color="#000000"> Ajit Kumar, UICT, Mumbai,
India, ajit72@gmail.com</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I attended the ICME for the first time and
it was really a wonderful experience for me. I was really astonished
to see the intensity and enormity of the event. Academically, it was
very well organized and structured properly. Most of the regular
lectures were quite good, though there is a room of improvements. This
congress gives a platform for people from different countries to meet,
discuss and exchange their ideas. In this regards, TDG's and DG's are
really wonderful and most important activities of the conference. At
least, I benefited a lot from two activities. There were so many
good and interesting talks/topics at the same time that it was
difficult to decide which one to skip. In my opinion there should have
been more stalls of different mathematical models and school/college
kids from the host country should be invited to have look at them. The
local organizing committee should encourage such activities. Bringing
out ICMI news bulletin is a wonderful idea and it should have been
done long back. ICME proceeding should also be brought out as soon as
possible so that many people who could not attend the conference will
have access to its contents. I also believe that there should be more
participation of working mathematicians in the congress so that one
can have healthy interaction between the math educators and
mathematicians. This will help in improving the standards of
mathematics education at large. I was also very impressed to see the
booklet on "Mathematics Education in United States", which was
distributed to the participants. I think, more countries can follow
this suit, so that others can learn from them. Monterrey with its rich
infrastructure and natural beauty was a good choice to hold the
ICME-11 and we must congratulate the IPC for their choice. The local
arrangements were quite good, but still there was some room of
improvements, especially communication was little poor. Thus as
a first timer in ICME, I can say that it was very fruitful and
enjoyable and hope this is just a beginning for me.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">First timer:</font> David F
Hervas<font color="#000000">,</font> Universidad San Francisco de
Quito<font color="#000000">,</font> Quito - Ecuador<font
color="#000000">,</font> dhervas@usfq.edu.ec</div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">A few words about my wonderful experience
attending ICMI GA and ICME-11</font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">My name is David Hervas. I am a
mathematician from Ecuador involved in teaching at Universidad San
Francisco de Quito, a small and wonderful Liberal Arts College.
I am deeply concerned about the current status of the teaching of
mathematics in public schools in my country which is in a very bad
shape in need of help. My compromise with teaching and learning
of mathematics lead me to know and learn about ICMI and ICME. I
was happy to get an invitation to come for the first time to a general
assembly of ICMI as a representative from my country. Ecuador
was admitted as an associate member of IMU in 2006 and we are trying
to give shape to our mathematical environment so that we can acquire
full membership in the next six to eight years. I didn't know
exactly what to expect in this general assembly and I had a slightly
better idea about ICME since I have been in a few math conferences
before but never in such a big one. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I showed up in the meeting room a few
minutes earlier just to see and get acquainted with the environment.
I could sense immediately that the air was full of friendship and
curiosity since all of us came from different countries. I felt
very welcome and I thank the ICMI EC and all the participants who
helped me to overcome my shyness for such event. Along the day
and the week I thought I was attending a festival about brotherhood of
the human race through mathematics. I was so inspired for so
many people I met but I prefer not to mention names because I don't
want to leave anybody out. I just want to share that I was
overwhelmed to be there present when Ubiratan D'Ambrosio received The
Felix Klein Medal. I may have forgotten his words but his ideas
are still in the air through his question "How Mathematics Education
can help in shaping a better World?"<br>
I was excited to learn about The ICMI Studies and the new projects
lunched by ICMI. I learnt so much and I feel fascinated that 100
years ago Felix Klein was the first president of ICMI and now his
famous book wants to take a different shape through a new project for
the 21st century.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Just to keep it short I want to thank
Bernard Hodgson and Carlos Signoret who made my participation possible
and Jaime Carvalho e Silva who asked me to write a few lines about my
experience in Monterrey, México. </font></div>
<div><br></div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>5. New Executive Committee of ICMI for 2010-2012</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A new Executive Committee of the ICMI-International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction, was elected at the ICMI General Assembly
held July 6 in Monterrey, México.</div>
<div>ICMI is an official commission of IMU and till now the election
was held at the General Assemblies of IMU. It was the first time that
the ICMI General Assembly elected the Executive Committee of ICMI;
this was decided by the IMU General Assembly held in Santiago de
Compostela, August 12-13, 2006.</div>
<div>The procedure for the elections began with the creation of a
Nominating Committee, chosen according to the regulations adopted by
the same IMU General Assembly of Santiago de Compostela:</div>
<div>http://www.mathunion.org/organization/ec/procedures-for-election/</div
>
<div>The ICMI Nominating Committee was chaired by Jeremy Kilpatrick
(USA) and included also Michèle Artigue (France), László
Lovász (Hungary), Attia Ashour (Egypt), Lee Peng Yee (Singapore), Elon
Lima (Brazil) and Evgenia Sendova (Bulgaria).</div>
<div>The slate proposed to the General Assembly included one candidate
for each of the officers and seven candidates for Members at large.
The ICMI General Assembly could propose other candidates under certain
conditions described in the regulations.</div>
<div>The members of the 2010-2012 ICMI EC, with the various positions
held, according to the results of the elections, are:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i><b>PRESIDENT:</b></i></div>
<div><i>William (Bill) Barton (New Zealand)<br>
<b>SECRETARY-GENERAL:</b></i></div>
<div><i>Jaime Carvalho e Silva (Portugal)</i></div>
<div><i><b>VICE-PRESIDENTS:</b></i></div>
<div><i>Mina Teicher (Israel)</i></div>
<div><i>Angel Ruiz (Costa Rica)</i></div>
<div><i><b>MEMBERS AT LARGE:</b></i></div>
<div><i>Mariolina Bartolini Bussi (Italy)<br>
Sung Je Cho (Korea)</i></div>
<div><i>Roger Howe (USA)</i></div>
<div><i>Renuka Vithal (South Africa)</i></div>
<div><i>Zhang Yingbo (China)</i></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The term of this next EC will start on January 1, 2010.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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<div><br></div>
<div>6. The Proceedings of ICME-10 have now been published</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>It was announced by the organizers, Elin Emborg, Morten
Blomhøj, Henrik Nielsen, and Mogens Niss, that the Proceedings of
ICME-10 have finally been completed. It consists of a book and a CD.
Every registered participant in ICME-10 is entitled to receive a
printed copy of the Proceedings, including the CD. Moreover, the
entire Proceedings are available on the web at <a
href="http://www.icme10.dk/">www.icme10.dk</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The 559 pages book contains texts of</div>
<div>* the Opening and Closing Ceremonies,</div>
<div>* the eight Plenary Activities, including the Plenary Lectures
delivered at the Congress,</div>
<div>* the lectures based on the work of the five so-called Survey
Teams,<br>
* lectures by the first two recipients of the ICMI Awards<br>
- the Felix Klein Medal (Guy Brousseau)<br>
- the Hans Freudenthal Medal (Celia Hoyles),</div>
<div>* reports of the five themes of the so-called Thematic
Afternoon,</div>
<div>* reports of the 29 Topic Study Groups and</div>
<div>* reports of the 24 Discussion Groups</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The CD contains the ICME-10 Proceedings as a single file and as
separate files.</div>
<div>Furthermore, the CD also contains 64 papers based on 64 of the
74</div>
<div>Regular Lectures given at ICME-10.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As quite some time has passed since the post address of the
participants was registered, and as no one would benefit from the
organizers sending the Proceedings to a wrong address, every ICME-10
participant is asked to notify the organizers of the post address to
which he or she prefers a copy of the Proceedings be sent (also if it
hasn't changed since ICME-10).</div>
<div><br>
This is a prerequisite for receiving the printed version cum CD.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The post address should be entered in the form that you find at
the web page <a
href="https://secure.ccconsult.com/icme2004/"
>https://secure.ccconsult.com/icme2004/</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Please expect three to four weeks for delivery. The service of
sending out printed copies of the proceedings would be running until
November 1, so please make your request before this date.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>ICME-10 Congress Secretariat</div>
<div>Congress Consultants<br>
Martensens Allé 8<br>
DK-1828 Frederiksberg C<br>
Denmark<br>
<br>
Tel: +45 70 20 03 05<br>
Fax: +45 70 20 03 15<br>
Mail: congress@congress-consult.com</div>
<div>Web: http://www.congress-consult.com</div>
<div><br></div>
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<div><br></div>
<div>7. WFMC welcomes you!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions</div>
<div>An Affiliated Study Group of the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction</div>
<div><font color="#000000"><b><br>
</b>The World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions (WFNMC)
appeared as a natural response to the need of international
collaboration in the field of Mathematics Competitions and other
related activities. It was initiated by Peter O'Halloran and
officially founded in 1984 during the fifth International Congress on
Mathematical Education (ICME 5) held in Adelaide, Australia. WFNMC
became an Affiliated Study Group of ICMI in 1994. The major
activities of the Federation are:</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">o<x-tab>
</x-tab>Regular conduction of a Conference (every
even-numbered year after ICME);<br>
o<x-tab> </x-tab>Recognition (trough the Federation
Award "Paul Erdös") of persons with outstanding achievements in
detection, motivation and development of mathematically talented young
people. The Paul Erdös Award is given every even numbered
year.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">o<x-tab>
</x-tab>Publication (twice yearly) of the Journal "Mathematics
Competitions" and continuous development and maintenance of the
web-site of the Federation;<br>
o<x-tab> </x-tab>Participation in activities
initiated and supported by other organizations;<br>
o<x-tab> </x-tab>Participation in Discussion Groups
and Topic Study Groups at ICME's.<br>
<br>
WFNMC operates on the basis of a Constitution which was first accepted
in 1996 and slightly amended in 2004 and 2008. The name of the
Federation leaves the impression that its major goals are related to
competitions only. To some extent, this might have been the case in
the earlier stages of development of the Federation. Today its
activities are in accordance with the "Policy Statement on
Competitions and Mathematics Education" approved in
2002:</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><i>"<b>The scope of activities of
interest to the WFNMC, although centered on competitions for students
of all levels (primary, secondary and tertiary), is much broader than
the competitions themselves. The WFNMC aims to provide a vehicle for
educators to exchange information on a number of activities related to
mathematics and mathematics learning.<br>
</b></i>More information about the history of the Federation, its
activities, its Executive Bodies and officers could be obtained from
the official site of the organization:<br>
</font><font
color="#0000EE"><u>http://www.amt.canberra.edu.au/wfnmc.html</u></font
><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">Petar S. Kenderov, Institute of Mathematics
and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences</font>,
vorednek@yahoo.com</div>
<div><br></div>
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>8. PUBLIMATH - Bibliographical database on mathematics
education</div>
<div><br>
http://publimath.irem.univ-mrs.fr/<br>
<br>
PUBLIMATH is a bibliographical database for mathematics teaching
written in French, which has been developed by the APMEP (French
association of mathematics teachers) and the ADIREM (committee of the
directors of IREMs that are Institutes of Research into
Mathematics Teaching. The development started in 1996, with the
support of the CFEM (French commission on Mathematics Education) and
of the ARDM (Association for research in mathematics didactics).</div>
<div>Access to PUBLIMATH on Internet is free and PUBLIMATH offers a
set of short reviews about publications related to mathematics
teaching, which can be useful for teachers from nursery school to
university, for students, teachers, teacher educators and researchers,
research workers…<br>
PUBLIMATH is half way between a classical documentary base (author,
title and library information conforming to international cataloguing
standards) and a base of contents with on-line information. The
specificities and major assets of PUBLIMATH are, on the one hand the
informative summary, and on the other hand the keywords or key
sentences. The summaries, keywords and key sentences are written and
chosen by field specialists.<br>
PUBLIMATH offers notes about various publications (books, software,
papers from scientific journals, videos, websites, etc.). The review
of each publication contains an analysis carried out by members of all
contributing associations.</div>
<div>PUBLIMATH also allows users to discover documents that cannot be
found in the usual editing networks, about various fields: teaching,
didactics, history, culture, arts and entertainment…</div>
<div>PUBLIMATH allows users to consult<br>
- the contents of scientific journals: Bulletin Vert de l’APMEP,
Repères-IREM, l’Ouvert, Petit Vert, Hypercube, Grand N, Petit x,
RDM, Mathématiques et Pédagogie, etc.;<br>
- references to books and papers linked to one or more keywords of the
base;<br>
- the list of publications of IREMs or inter-IREM committees, of the
APMEP, of the ARDM...<br>
PUBLIMATH includes more than 8,600 forms (since the end of July 2008).
Further information in English, German, Portuguese, Italian or Spanish
is added to some notes.</div>
<div>PUBLIMATH offers access to a glossary (721 definitions in May
2008). These definitions can be consulted from the general keywords or
key sentences list, from a specific alphabetical list or using fields
(17 fields have been listed).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Michèle Bechler, responsable CII-APMEP PUBLIMATH,
Michele.Bechler@ac-nancy-metz.fr</div>
<div><br></div>
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>9. The 1000th subscriber to ICMI News</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Charlotte Bouckaert was the 1000th person to subscribe to the
ICMI newsletter, ICMI News. So we asked her some questions to know a
little bit more about this 1000th subscriber.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Where are you from?</div>
<div>I am from Belgium. I work at the "Unité de Recherche sur
l'Enseignement des Mathématiques" of the Université Libre de
Bruxelles.</div>
<div>I am a secondary school math teacher and teacher trainer and I am
in charge of the website of our unit</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>How did you hear about ICMI?</div>
<div>I went to the ICME 10 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I
heard about ICMI for the first time</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Were you in ICME-11 in Monterrey? Do you intend to go to ICME-12
in South Korea?</div>
<div>I was not in Monterrey and I don't plan to go to South
Korea.</div>
<div>However, I want to publicize the ICME congress among my fellow
teachers.</div>
<div>Very few ever heard about it.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>What do you expect of ICMI and ICMI News?</div>
<div>I have never seen any ICMI newsletter</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Why did you subscribe to ICMI News?</div>
<div>Because I want to inform my fellow teachers of the ICMI
publications</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>How did you hear about ICMI News?</div>
<div>Just by surfing</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>10. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>4th European Workshop on Mathematical & Scientific
e-Contents</div>
<div>Trondheim, Norway, September 11-13, 2008,</div>
<div>http://www.ntnu.no/delta/workshop/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>TIME-2008: Technology and its Integration in Mathematics
Education</div>
<div>Tshwane Univ. of Tech., Buffelspoort, South Africa, September
22-26, 2008</div>
<div>http://time.tut.ac.za/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>41st Korean National Meeting of Mathematics Education</div>
<div>Donguei National University, Korea, October 31 - November 1,
2008</div>
<div><a
href="mailto:yhchoe1940@yahoo.co.kr">yhchoe1940@yahoo.co.kr</a></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ATCM-13: 13th Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics</div>
<div>Bangkok, Thailand, December 15-19, 2008</div>
<div>http://atcm.mathandtech.org</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3rd international conference to review research on Science,
TEchnology and Mathematics Education</div>
<div>Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR), Mumbai, India,
January 5-9, 2009</div>
<div>http://web.gnowledge.org/episteme3/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>CERME 6: Sixth Conference organised by the European Society for
Research in Mathematics Education</div>
<div>University Lyon 1, France, January 27 - February 1, 2009</div>
<div>http://ermeweb.free.fr/cerme6.php</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5th Asian Mathematical Conference</div>
<div>Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 22 - 26,
2009</div>
<div>http://math.usm.my/amc2009/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICTMT-9 - 9th Int Conf on Technology in Mathematics
Teaching</div>
<div>Metz, France, July 4-8, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.ictmt9.org</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"Models in Developing Mathematics Education"</div>
<div>The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project</div>
<div>Dresden, Saxony, Germany, September 11-17, 2009</div>
<div><a
href="mailto:arogerson@inetia.pl">alan@rogerson.pol.pl</a></div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>11. Historical vignettes:<font color="#000000"> The unexpected
fate of a mathematics curriculum</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br>
From 1976 until 1994, the Ministry of Education of Colombia carried
out a long, detailed and systematic process of curricular development
that straddled six presidential periods.<br>
It started with Peace Corps, OAS and Unesco advisors in 1976, 13 years
after the last change in the Country's primary school curriculum in
1963.<br>
The Colombian primary school comprises five grades, from 7 to 12 years
of age. In a strange terminological reversal, the four-year Secondary
School starts at the 6th grade and the two-year Middle School at the
10th. Compulsory basic education consists of the 9 grades of Primary
and Secondary School.<br>
The Ministry of Education asked the National University to appoint a
Mathematics professor to advise the team of teachers and educators in
charge of designing the new syllabus, of writing detailed teachers'
handbooks, and of designing and conducting teacher training,
experimental trials and evaluations of the new curriculum.<br>
The initial advisor was Dr. Carlo Federici, an Italian mathematician
and physicist who had been teaching in Colombia since 1948. He retired
in 1978, and I was appointed to succeed him in this difficult advisory
post. A first draft of the syllabus for the first five grades had been
agreed upon, and pilot experiments and evaluations were advancing
in</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">a few schools in each province. It followed
the then standard format of behavioral Educational Technology and
Instructional Design.<br>
My first task was to review the draft from a more cognitive
perspective, inspired mainly by Piagetian ideas and authors like
Dienes, Papy and Labinowicz. After heated discussions with critical
intellectuals and the National Federation of Teachers' Unions, another
full revision of the draft and a careful spelling out of the
pedagogical and psychological basis of the new curriculum was
undertaken.<br>
My second task was to convince the successive ministers of education
that the new Primary School syllabus should not be mandated by decree
to be implemented in the first five grades simultaneously, but to
precede the decree with widespread teacher training, publication of
official handbooks by the Ministry and corresponding textbooks
developed by private publishing houses, and then to mandate only
gradual implementation one grade at a time. Fortunately, Decree 1002
of 1984 came out as I had suggested, and gradual implementation of the
Primary School curriculum started.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">In 1985-86 I spent a year at the Harvard
Graduate School of Education, preparing materials for the Secondary
School curriculum and writing a detailed book on the theory of
Mathematics Education that had provided a foundation for the new
curriculum. When I came back to Bogota, my team developed pilot
materials for the four grades, from the 6th to the 9th. Test trials
for those materials were carried out, also grade by grade, as well as
many teachers' workshops to prepare them for the respective decree
implementing the new Secondary School curriculum.<br>
Test trials were supposed to finish in 1993, to officially adopt the
Secondary School curriculum by a new decree during that year 1994, in
order to start full implementation in the 6th grade in
1995.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Simultaneously, during those years, a
silent and well-executed campaign was going on. After a drastic change
in the Colombian Constitution in 1991, the more and more powerful
National Federation of Teachers' Unions and their academic advisors
started contacting congressmen of both Houses to persuade them that a
unique central curriculum was unconstitutional, antidemocratic and
discriminatory, and that it would be better for Colombian education to
grant curricular autonomy to every school, encourage it to develop its
own educational project, and then develop its own curriculum according
to the particular educational project.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">The campaign was successful. Colombia
became the first (and to my knowledge the only) country in Latin
America to deprive the Ministry of Education of its curricular power.
Law 115 of February 14, 1994, suddenly stopped the long and
massive-but slow-train of the curriculum reform process that had been
going on for 18 years, the equivalent of two years for each grade,
after an estimated total cost of 9 million euros. The book on the
theory of Mathematics Education used as the basis of the new
curriculum was never published, and the full syllabus with its
detailed teachers' handbooks was never implemented.</font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">Carlos E. Vasco (Universidad Distrital,
Bogotá, Colombia)</font>, Carlos_Vasco@pz.harvard.edu</div>
<div><br></div>
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>12. SUBSCRIBING TO ICMI News</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>There are two ways of subscribing to ICMI News:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>1. Click on http://www.mathunion.org/ICMI/Mailinglist with a Web
browser</div>
<div>and go to the "Subscribe" button to subscribe to ICMI
News online.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>2. Send an e-mail to icmi-news-request@mathunion.org with the
Subject-line:</div>
<div>Subject: subscribe<br>
<br>
In both cases you will get an e-mail to confirm your subscription
so</div>
<div>that misuse will be minimized. ICMI will not use the list of ICMI
News</div>
<div>addresses for any purpose other than sending ICMI News, and will
not</div>
<div>make it available to others.</div>
<div><br>
Previous issues can be seen at:</div>
<div>http://www.mathunion.org/pipermail/icmi-news</div>
<div><br></div>
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