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The interactional role of language use in the mathematics classroom is explored in the last few decades. This paper adds to the knowledge base by exploring different ways of talking that children and their teacher use in a New Zealand primary geometry English-medium classroom. Bakhtin's concept of speech genres is used for an analysing transcript of one audiovisually recorded whole-class interaction episode from a geometry lesson in a Year 5/6 classroom. The analysis suggests that the teacher and children use various genres to participate in classroom interactions. The use of several genres provides insights into what children and the teacher construct as mathematical in the real sense. The paper finished with a few implications for teaching and research.

International large-scale assessments, such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), are a crucial source of information for education researchers and policymakers. The assessment also includes a student questionnaire, however, the data can be biased by the differences in reporting behavior between students. In this paper, we analyse differences in response styles of students in the Czech Republic and New Zealand based on data gathered in PISA 2018. The results show that Czech students use, on average, the acquiescence response style (ARS) and extreme response style (ERS) less than their counterparts in New Zealand. Contrarily, Czech students use, on average, the disacquiescence response style (DARS) more than students from New Zealand. A closer analysis according to the school type in the Czech Republic, showed that students from 4-year secondary general schools score, on average, the highest on ARS and ERS, but the lowest on DARS among all school types. The analysis in New Zealand according to the Year of study showed that students in Years 12-13 score, on average, the highest on ARS and ERS among all Year-of-study groups, the DARS values being similar across the Year-of-study groups. The mean ARS and ERS of each of the Czech school types remains below that of any of the New Zealand Year-of-study groups. For DARS, the mean score of the highest-scoring Year-of-study group in New Zealand (Years 9-10) remains below that of the lowest-scoring Czech school type (4-year secondary general school). Analysis of response styles is a crucial tool for the identification of some of the potential biases in student-reported data. Future research should take the differences in student reporting behavior into account and perhaps also employ other methodological approaches for their identification, such as the overclaiming technique. [For the complete Volume 21 proceedings, see ED629259.]

In this paper, we explore how students' algebraic noticing's and explanations changed across a two-year period with the introduction of designed instructional material. The data in this report is drawn from n=53 Year 7-8 students' responses to a free-response assessment task across two different years. Analysis focused on how students noticed and explained algebraic relationships in pairs of equivalent equations. Findings indicate that with the introduction of designed instructional material, there was a shift in student noticing of number properties to identify equivalence between pairs of equations. However, identifying the distributive property of multiplication and developing generalisations about the algebraic relationships remained challenging for students.

This paper describes results from a case study about how a primary pre-service teacher (PST) used curriculum materials (CMs) when planning for a mathematics lesson during her final practicum. The data is drawn from a doctoral study (in progress) and results show how the PST initiated an active process of searching for and sifting through CMs on a familiar website to make selections for a lesson. Selections were based on several aspects, including the mathematics focus of her lesson, curriculum connections, her chosen teaching approach and mathematical representation for teaching multiplication. Implications for mathematics Initial Teacher Educators (ITEs) are discussed.

For learners to be individuals equipped with the 21st-century skills when they start business life after graduation, they must be able to gain these skills during their education. However, due to their nature, it's not possible for students to acquire these skills under a specific course. For these skills to be achieved, they must be integrated across all curricula. In this study, an evaluation was conducted to see whether various countries incorporate the 21st-century skills in their curricula, how these skills are applied, and how these skills should be handled in their curricula. Within the scope of this research, the curricula applied in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Ireland, and Turkey were examined. When the 12 skills defined by the P21 platform are considered, it can be seen that all skills are interconnected and that one cannot fully exist without the other. It can be said that starting to gain these skills, which are required by the 21st-century professions and which employers expect from graduates, from an early age it is important for individuals to be properly and fully prepared for the future. In accordance with the 21st-century expectations, evaluations, educational materials, teaching methods, professional growth opportunities, and learning environments should all be synchronized to create a supportive framework that generates the 21st-century results for contemporary students. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 97-126.]

In this paper, we report on data gathered through Talanoa on how Pasifika students can be supported to learn mathematics. The perspectives of five teachers were analysed, highlighting three themes. Firstly, the importance for Pasifika students to feel a sense of belonging at school. Secondly, how the core cultural values of Pasifika students can be drawn on to develop effective social and sociomathematical norms. Finally, the significance of presenting learning and mathematical activity in authentic contextual frames to support engagement and participation in learning. These findings offer potential for implementing pedagogical approaches that are meaningful, relevant, and can support the mathematics learning of many students currently marginalised in New Zealand schools.

In this paper, we explore student solutions to a free response mathematical assessment task which had opportunities for students to notice structural properties in the context of number systems. In total, 308 students aged between 10 years to 13 years participated in the study. Their responses were analysed to determine whether they noticed algebraic structures in a task using equivalent equations. Findings indicate that students were able to recognise equation pairs that drew on both the associative and distributive properties. A limited number of students were able to notice the general structure and draw on number properties to support their claims, moving beyond using algorithmic thinking.

Supporting students of all levels to move beyond empirical arguments, which employ example based reasoning to endorse universal truths and are thus mathematically invalid, remains a challenging goal in mathematics education. Arguments that make use of generic examples are both mathematically valid and accessible for even young learners. However, discerning whether students are viewing or using an example as a specific case, or a general case, is difficult. In this paper, we open the space between empirical and generic use of examples and establish categories of example-use regarding odd and even numbers. We reveal discursive markers pointing towards whether a learner is referring to particularity or generality in their example-based reasoning.

This paper describes how one third and final year pre-service (PST) used curriculum materials when planning for primary mathematics teaching on practicum. The findings were drawn from a semi-structured focus group interview, where four PSTs recalled how they planned for primary teaching during a previous practicum. This case study shows how one PST used curriculum planning documents from the practicum setting, and a teacher's guide when planning mathematics lessons. Planning processes are also identified, and implications for associate teachers (ATs), PSTs, and mathematics Initial Teacher Educators are discussed.

Current trends in mathematics education emphasise student-centred learning; and internet-based pedagogies, such as online mathematics instructional platforms, go even further in reducing the role of the classroom teacher. In this paper I consider how teachers may exercise agency and professionalism in the context of online mathematics instruction. Whilst there is some evidence for the reduction of the teacher role, there is also considerable space for teachers to enact professional identities as teachers of mathematics. However, I suggest that care needs to be taken to ensure that there is a balance to the overall mathematics programme, including opportunity for teachers to make their own decisions and assessments regarding students' learning.

Participation structures are important in relation to who gets equitable access to mathematics within classrooms premised on co-construction of mathematical reasoning. This paper takes a strength-based focus to explore how two teachers extended their Pasifika students' known repertoires of practice to encompass others, which supported them to better engage in mathematics. The data illustrates the importance of teachers drawing on task contexts and student ways of knowing and being to facilitate student engagement in reasoned discourse and argumentation. The teacher actions provide a model which other teachers could draw on when teaching mathematics to students from predominantly collectivist groupings.

In this paper, we report on the pedagogical actions of one teacher in eliciting and developing students' mathematical reasoning during one mathematics lesson. The findings illustrate that through the careful design and planning of a contextually relevant task (the construction of a manu tukutuku), and the implementation of specific teacher actions, a group of marginalised students were provided access to exploring the concept of equivalence.

In this study, we aim to investigate the role of language in small group peer collaboration. Based on the notion of symmetrical scaffolding, we draw on theories of dialogic space and functional linguistics to analyse a transcript of three six-year-old students as they explore a shared understanding of 'two more than'. Using Martin and White's (2005) engagement framework as an analytical tool, we identify how the three students used language resources in contractive and expansive ways to move each other's learning forward. These findings provide a perspective of symmetrical scaffolding closely focused on students' language choices that support engagement with each other's thinking. We suggest that a focus on use of language with young students is valuable in identifying the type of mathematical discourse that will support peer collaboration in problem solving and mathematical reasoning.

Singing, and specifically, the singing of waiata (a song or chant related to the Maori world), is a useful and important mathematics classroom practice in any culture. Focussing on teachers in Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu New Zealand, we suggest waiata is one step teachers can take towards honouring their obligations under Te Tiriti partnership. We discuss how the singing of waiata during mathematics can support Maori students to achieve success as Maori. We outline how the use of waiata can retain focus on the mathematics while supporting the building of the classroom community, and we describe ways waiata is good for students' learning processes and how it can support the teaching of mathematical content. Lastly, we explore how the use of waiata can support the teaching of mathematics when using contexts related to the Maori world.

Opportunities for five students to access higher mathematics and critical thinking is often restricted until they have developed sufficient knowledge. This case study focuses on two reception class teachers and their teacher actions used to develop mathematical reasoning with their students. The findings illustrate the impact these teachers have on their students in the mathematics classroom by developing mathematical practices with five-year-old students that show that these students can critically reason and engage in mathematical practices.