Mathematics Teaching in Italy: A Cross-Cultural Video Analysis

This study investigates the cultural nature of teaching. It compares a sample of 39 videotaped Italian mathematics lessons to German, Japanese, and U.S. lessons videotaped in TIMSS. This study expands on earlier work that was based on a smaller sample; analysis is also extended to the nature of the mathematical content presented. The results confirm the existence of an Italian cultural pattern for mathematics teaching, whose features we outline here. Italian teachers prefer whole-class instruction to individual seatwork; they engage in teacher talk/demonstration to transmit information; and they often call on students to solve problems at the board before the rest of the class. Italian lessons are characterized by the inclusion of a large number of mathematical principles and properties. These are explained 50% of the time, and simply stated the rest of the time. This study adds yet another perspective from which mathematics teaching can be studied, and, by acknowledging the difficulty to change cultural practices, it offers practical implications for teacher learning.