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Cultural transposition: Italian didactic experiences inspired by Chinese and Russian perspectives on whole number arithmetic

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Abstract

The paper presents some reflections and activities developed by researchers and teachers involved in teacher education programs on cultural transposition. The construct of cultural transposition is presented as a condition for decentralizing the didactic practice of a specific cultural context through contact with other didactic practices of different cultural contexts. We discuss the background theoretical issues of this approach and also give an analysis of two examples of cultural transposition experiences carried out in Italy. In particular, by means of qualitative analysis of some excerpts, discussions, and interviews, we show that the contact with different perspectives coming from China and Russia fostered educational practices and reflections on whole number arithmetic education.

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Notes

  1. In La Repubblica, 2002: http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/07/03/calma-scienzia-io-vi-rispetto.html.

  2. Il ne s’agit pas là de philosophie comparée, par mise en parallèle des conception; mais d’un dialogue philosophique, où chaque pensée, à la rencontre de l’autre, s’interroge sur son impensé.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Matematica e Applicazioni “R. Caccioppoli”, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia, Monte S. Angelo, 80126, Naples, Italy

    Maria Mellone

  2. Istituto Comprensivo J.F. Kennedy, Via Kennedy, 20, 42124, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Alessandro Ramploud

  3. Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Palermo, Via Archirafi, 34, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Benedetto Di Paola

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologia, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Viale Teresa Michel, 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy

    Francesca Martignone

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  1. Maria Mellone
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  2. Alessandro Ramploud
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  3. Benedetto Di Paola
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  4. Francesca Martignone
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Correspondence to Maria Mellone.

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Mellone, M., Ramploud, A., Di Paola, B. et al. Cultural transposition: Italian didactic experiences inspired by Chinese and Russian perspectives on whole number arithmetic. ZDM Mathematics Education 51, 199–212 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-018-0992-7

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