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Celebrating the First Century of ICMI: a Symposium, a Website and a Book
Location and Schedule
Time slot: 
RL-1 on Tuesday 8, 10:30 – 11:30
Auditorium: 
S02-Polivalente Auditorium – Architecture
Metadata information
Author(s): 
F. ARZARELLO, L. GIACARDI , F. FURINGHETTI, M. MENGHINI
Language: 
English
Keywords: 
ICMI,
Abstract: 

"I repeat with conviction that mathematics promotes the mind, but in fact this is not unconditionally correct. There is a condition: Mathematics promotes the mind provided that it is taught and learned appropriately" (G. Polya, ICME-4, p. 1).

"In mathematics the problem solvers are mathematicians. In education problems are properly solved by the participants in the educational process, by those who educate and by those who are being educated" (H. Freudenthal, ICME.4, p. 1).

The IV International Congress of Mathematicians, which took place in Rome from 6 to 11 April 1908 was memorable. An exceptional chronicler, the French mathematician Henri Poincaré, wrote:

“The number of participants was the highest of any of the preceding Congresses, which is doubtless due to the attraction of the Eternal City, but this is not the only reason. … France was brilliantly represented … there were also very distinguished representatives of German science … No country was absent. … It goes without saying that Italy had the most and most brilliant representatives … The sessions were held at the Palazzo Corsini, home of the Accademia dei Lincei … a beautiful palace in Trastevere…” (Le Temps, 21.4.1908).

It was during this congress that the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics (Commission Internationale de l’Enseignement Mathématique, Internationale Mathematische Unterrichtskommission, Commissione Internazionale dell’insegnamento matematico) was created. Its first president was Felix Klein, an eminent mathematician and promoter of an important reform for the teaching of mathematics in Germany. A substantial role in establishing the Commission was played by David Eugene Smith, a professor at Teachers College of New York, who was deeply interested in education and in the history of mathematics.
Thus the commission was born of the closest collaboration between mathematicians and educators. The original aim was to “make an inquiry and publish a general report on the current trends in the secondary teaching of mathematics in various countries”. From then on, the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics – which in early fifties adopted the name International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (and its acronym, ICMI) – cycled through successive periods of greater or lesser activity (connected in part to the dramatic events of the first half of the twentieth century) until the late 1960s, when it had a genuine Renaissance. From that time the activities of the ICMI as well as the ample lines of research it promoted have broadened enormously and have contributed step by step to the creation of a new discipline, Mathematics Education. As Steiner wrote, “for the first time didactics of mathematics showed itself in great clarity as a scientific discipline which under increasing theoretical orientation and empirical foundation is dynamically growing within an international frame of complex cultural, political and interdisciplinary interrelations.” (Hans-Georg Steiner, From Lyon to Sevilla, Information, ZDM 97/1, p. 28).

To celebrate the centennial of the foundation of the ICMI, an International Symposium entitled “The First Century of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics Education” was held in Rome from 5 to 8 March 2008 (http://www.unige.ch/math/ EnsMath/Rome2008/). The International Programme Committee (IPC), composed of sixteen members, was coordinated by Ferdinando Arzarello, while Marta Menghini represented the Organising Committee within the ICP. As hundred years ago, Palazzo Corsini, home of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and Palazzo Mattei di Paganica, home of the Enciclopedia Italiana, provided the splendid venues for the congress.
Taking as a point of departure the themes connected to ICMI activities over the course of its hundred year history (reforms in teaching of the sciences, formation of teachers, relationships between mathematicians and researchers of teaching, etc.), the symposium sought to identify the future directions of research in didactics and possible initiatives for improving the level of mathematics culture in the various countries.
The Congress was attended by almost 200 participants representing 43 countries from every part of the world. The work was subdivided into ten plenary lectures, eight lectures in parallel, five working groups and a panel discussion. An afternoon was reserved for Italian teachers, with talks by scholars from Italy and abroad. The talks during that afternoon were broadcast via videoconferences to more than fifty schools throughout Italy: so the afternoon session reached more than 1000 teachers.
An excursion that echoed that of a century ago, and which took participants to visit the Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, both rich in historical evocations, concluded the Congress.
On the occasion of the Congress, a website was created on the history of the ICMI, under the direction of Fulvia Furinghetti and Livia Giacardi (http://www.icmihistory.unito.it/). Its aim is to delineate the most significant events and the key figures through documents, images and interviews. The site is divided into six sections: Timeline; Portrait Gallery; Documents; The Affiliated Study Groups; The International Congresses on Mathematical Education; Interviews and Film Clips. The Timeline marks the most important moments in the history of the ICMI, with each fact documented with refereences to the original sources. The Portrait Gallery provides a complete list of ICMI officers, and biographic cameos of those who have passed away, with the aim of making evident their roles within the ICMI, their contributions to the study of problems inherent in mathematics teaching, and those publications of theirs that are expressly dedicated to mathematics teaching.
The Symposium was focused on three themes: the past, the present and the future. Based on the basic idea that history is a powerful and appealing means not only of giving an account of the past but also of building the future, all the activities scheduled in the Symposium were pervaded by a sense of history.

In our presentation we will sketch the topics addressed at the Congress. First those of a strictly historical nature: the origins of the ICMI and the roles played by Klein and Smith; its rebirth at the end of the 1960s and the emergence of a new field of research. Then those of a strictly didactic nature: the dialectic between rigour and intuition in mathematics teaching; the relationships between pure and applied mathematics; the interactions between research and practice; the formation of teachers. Finally those of a socio-cultural nature: the relationships between centres and peripheries of the world; the relationships between mathematicians and mathematics educators; the relationship of mathematics education to technology, society and other disciplines. We shall also comment the objectives that determined the choice of the topics and the achieved results.
A brief presentation of the history website, of its structure, contents and the criteria followed in its construction will introduce the second part of our talk. It will offer a condensed view of the history of the ICMI, subdivided into five main periods: its founding and the first years up to WWI; the crisis and the ephemeral re-birth between the two wars; the reconstitution in 1952 as a permanent sub-commission of the IMU; the ICMI Renaissance of the late 1960s. The last decades mark an important change in the relationship between mathematicians and mathematics educators, as shown, for example, by the recent fundamental evolution (formally decided by ICM 2006 in Madrid) in the infrastructure and governance of ICMI, as a result of which responsibility for the election of the Executive Committee falls to the ICMI General Assembly.
Further, we will touch on, with reference to the history website, the changing interests within the ICMI itself. These began with the work of Freudenthal in the middle of the 1950s and, fostered by the relationship with the CIEAEM, led to the ICMI Renaissance. The evolution developed because mathematics education was becoming a discipline in its own right, and not just an appendage to the world of mathematics. Two facts marked the emerging of the new status: the inauguration in 1969 of the tradition of International Congresses on Mathematical Education (ICMEs), and the contemporary launch of journals related to research in Mathematics Education. It is significant that after 1969 the accent moved from ‘Instruction’ to ‘Education’. Moreover, the Eurocentric character of the ICMI was gradually substituted by one that was increasingly world-wide, both through the collaboration with UNESCO, as well as through the creation of regional international groups, and through the development of international satellite Study Groups (PME, HPM, IOWME, WFNMC, ICTMA). The early ICMEs acted as catalysts for new ideas which were emerging. As a consequence, new issues found their place in the international discussion on mathematics education and opened new lines of research and new forms of action inside ICMI.
We will conclude our presentation focusing on the emergence of these new issues, concerning both practice and theoretical work that have developed through ICMEs up to present day: the passage from concrete or hands-on materials to technology, the role of other disciplines, like psychology, sociology in mathematics education, the relationship to the world of mathematics, etc. .

Essential References

M. MENGHINI, F. FURINGHETTI, L. GIACARDI, F. ARZARELLO (Eds.), The First Century of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (1908-2008). Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics Education, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 2008.
F. FURINGHETTI, L. GIACARDI, The first century of the International Commission on mathematical instruction (1908-2008). History of ICMI. http://www.icmihistory.unito.it/, 2008.