The TIMSS 1999 Video Study of Mathematics in Seven Countries was a large international
study where more than 600 classrooms from seven countries were
video-taped. The study had a focus on teaching practices, and the aim was to improve
teaching and learning. This report puts more focus on a few perspectives of
this study, from a Norwegian view.
The use of history in mathematics is new in the Norwegian curriculum, L97, and
Smestad's article has a focus on how history is used by teachers in other countries.
Bekken and Mosvold focus on how history can be used in the mathematics
classroom in another and more indirect way. They present these ideas in an example
from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study and discuss how teachers can become
more reflective practitioners. Another issue that has been emphasised in L97 is
the connection with everyday life, and Mosvold presents examples on how this has
been done in two countries where few real-life connections were made and one
connection where the teachers made many connections with real or everyday life.
The article of Cestari, Santagata and Hood discusses video studies on another
level, and they focus on how teachers can use videos to reflect on their own teaching.
There is now a development towards a new curriculum in Norway, and in this
process it should be of vital importance to reflect on the practices of teachers in
other countries. A study of teaching in other countries can reveal one's own practice
in a new and more powerful way, and one can also discover new approaches
and get new ideas.