Studied Sweden as an advanced welfare state with a centralized education system through interviews with 12 administrator and policy makers and 42 teachers and headteachers as well as surveys completed by 413 ninth graders. Findings show large differences in the context of schools in terms of social and cultural backgrounds of students and…

Compared the educational opinions of 15- and 16-year olds in Australia, Finland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden in their last year of obligatory education. Findings from the final pool of 3,008 cases show the opinions of youth to differ clearing along the lines of welfare state regime, although not, in every case, as expected. (SLD)

Discusses how current changes in the system of reasoning about education in Finland, Iceland, and Sweden are characterized by culturally woven patterns in high marketization strategies are introduced as technically effective devices both for educating the best and to increase inclusion. The system of reason presupposes that the neo-liberalist…

Studied the competence of nine mathematics teachers in Hong Kong and nine in Korea and their pedagogy. Findings show that teachers possessed conceptual and procedural understanding of mathematics, but most of their teaching strategies were procedurally rather than conceptually directed. (SLD)

Describes the teacher education programs of Singapore for mathematics teachers. Focuses on their pedagogical training and their mathematical education. A coherent system of continuing education will need to be developed to meet teachers' needs in Singapore. (SLD)

Analyzed teacher education reform in Taiwan since 1994 through a case study of three elementary teacher education programs at two institutions. Discusses the potential impact of changes on the preparation of mathematics teachers in Taiwan. (SLD)

Studied the use of multimedia cases to support teacher education in learning to mathematize and didactize and to learn how to use multimedia cases with their student teachers. Findings from the study of one course result in a six-step framework for working with multimedia cases. (SLD)

Examined mathematical methods courses as part of pedagogical training provided to prospective Chinese elementary school teachers through the analysis of textbooks and courses given at two teacher education sites. Results show that knowing, understanding, and exploring the content and design of textbooks used in elementary classrooms were greatly…

Studied a model for integrating mathematical content and children's mathematical thinking earlier so that prospective mathematics teachers engage with children's thinking in their first mathematics course. Preliminary data from 47 preservice teachers indicate that the sophistication of students taught through this model increased more than the…

Studied the effectiveness of a teacher training approach in which preservice mathematics teachers conduct and analyze one-to-one mathematics assessment interviews with primary-aged children. Findings from interviews with five teachers and a focus group of six indicate teachers are more aware of the strategies children use including their variety…

Reflects on the chapters of this theme issue and summarizes information about children as learners and knowledge about school mathematics, both of which are essential components for effective mathematics instruction. (SLD)

Introduces and draws on other papers in this issue to discuss how task performance is achieved in workplace settings and the extent to which the knowledge needed for task performance is generic. Explores these questions from a variety of theoretical frameworks. (SLD)

Gathered data about work practices related to three motels and two eco-tourism sites. Findings suggest that actual workplace practices involve socially constructed literacies depending on the user's ability to make judgments on using the text or obtaining information from the text. (SLD)

Studied "doing" numeracy in the workplace, analyzing a transcript of a workplace incident involving numeracy as a sales consultant took an order in a motel setting. Discusses ways numerical knowledge is involved in the calculation of rooms and beds available. (SLD)

Examined the knowledge used by motel office personnel to manipulate computer software for everyday tasks. Results suggest that many of the competencies identified were context-specific, and that it may not be possible to apply generic knowledge if the user cannot relate it to the context. (SLD)