Dilemmas of teaching arithmetical notation to young learners

Abstract

This study takes the analysis of a Malawian Grade 1 teacher’s mediation of mathematics as a starting point for discussing dilemmas that might be entailed in the teaching of arithmetical notation to young learners. Two exemplar episodes are selected from six video-recorded lessons that were analysed using the Mediating Primary Mathematics Framework. The teacher introduced the writing of numbers and mathematical symbols with their corresponding hand movements and used these movements as the criteria for enabling learners to assess the correctness of their written inscriptions. Two inherent dilemmas of this complex work of teaching are identified and discussed.