Professional Noticing of Mathematics Teachers: a Comparative Study Between Germany and China

Abstract

Research on teacher noticing in the field of mathematics education research has increased in the last decade; however, only a few studies have investigated the social and cultural impact on teachers' noticing. This paper describes results of an international comparative study on (inservice) mathematics teachers' professional noticing in China and Germany, representing Eastern and Western cultures. In this study, 203 teachers in China and 118 teachers in Germany participated in a video-based assessment of their professional noticing, i.e. perception, interpretation, and decision-making competencies. Item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning (DIF) were employed for data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that German teachers performed significantly better than Chinese teachers on noticing aspects related to general pedagogy; in contrast, Chinese teachers outperformed their German counterparts on noticing aspects connected to mathematics instruction. Further DIF detection analysis found that German mathematics teachers demonstrated particular strengths in "perception" as a sub-facet of noticing; in contrast, Chinese teachers tended to demonstrate strength in "analyzing and decision making" as other sub-facets of noticing. These findings suggest that societal and cultural factors, such as different philosophical paradigms, traditions of teacher education, and teaching and mathematics curriculum traditions are main influencing factors on teachers' professional noticing.

Profiles of mathematics teachers’ competence and their relation to instructional quality

“…A comparative study across a Western and an East Asian context revealed Fig. 1 Modeling teacher competence as a continuum (Blömeke et al 2015a, p. 7) relative strengths of German teachers in noticing from a general pedagogical perspective (P_PID), whereas Chinese teachers were relatively strong in noticing from a mathematics pedagogical perspective (M_PID) (Yang et al 2018).…”

Do cultural norms influence how teacher noticing is studied in different cultural contexts? A focus on expert norms of responding to students’ mathematical thinking

“…translation-back-translation procedures, see also Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests, ITC 2017). The findings of this study showed different patterns of strengths and weaknesses of German and Chinese teachers and provide empirical evidence that teacher noticing is influenced by different cultural contexts (Yang et al 2019).…”

“…This dual sense makes obvious that norms regarding aspects of instructional quality play a double role in teacher noticing research: On the one hand, beyond personal dispositions of teachers (e.g., individual knowledge and beliefs) also cultural norms are assumed to influence teacher noticing (e.g., Yang, Kaiser, König, and Blömeke 2019). On the other hand, such norms form the frame of reference that is already implemented in the operationalization by the researchers.…”

Examination of Classroom Practices of Teachers in the Context of Video Club

“…As a matter of fact, Ball (2011) stated that noticing is not objective and it is a perception that develops with cultural values. Therefore, Yang, Kaiser, König and Blömeke (2019) argued that teacher knowledge should not be far from cultural contexts.…”