Is Mathematics in Crisis?

In this episode of “Educar Tem Ciência”, a podcast by Iniciativa Educação, a partnership between JN and TSF, Lusófona University professor João Marôco analyses the decline in Portuguese students’ results in Mathematics and explains the structural causes of the problem and the factors for success.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that one in every three European students has difficulties with very simple arithmetic calculations,” says João Marôco, who considers the results of TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), referring to 2019 and 2022, to be “deeply worrying”, because “the differences between our students and those from Southeast Asia amount to as much as two academic years”. This lecturer at Lusófona University points out that “the causes are well identified” and stresses that the decline in Mathematics learning “is not solely the fault of COVID-19”. The problem already existed before the pandemic, due to “incoherent curricula, fragmented teaching, and policies based on pedagogical fashions rather than on scientific evidence”.

While Europe is failing, territories such as Singapore and Japan are successful in Mathematics because they “invest in demanding curricula, direct instruction and rigorous assessment, and manage to combine technical mastery with creative thinking”.

João Marôco warns of the medium- and long-term impacts. “The citizens of the future, of active citizenship, of the rational and efficient use of technology are being educated in Southeast Asia, and this has consequences, because Western societies are highly technological, for which mathematics, science and reading are absolutely fundamental areas of knowledge”.

Different approaches

In addition to factors inherent to the country, the social and family context also influences performance in Mathematics. In this regard, João Marôco observes that “in Taiwan, when students show difficulties, parents are called to the school and the headteacher asks them what they are going to do to solve the problem. And they often take their children to so-called ‘math gyms’, because they understand that it is a fundamental area of knowledge for their children’s professional success”. In Portugal, the opposite happens: “parents go to the school and ask what the teacher is going to do to solve the problem. And sometimes teachers are unable to solve it, because the problem comes from home”.

João Marôco argues that, while on the one hand it is necessary to tackle the tendency for students not to like Mathematics, on the other hand there is a need for “coherent curricula, regular assessments, solid teacher training and policies centred on equity”. “We need more quality, not just more investment,” he concludes.