INTEGRA

JBll
Government
5618 from
Chile

Network of Nursery Schools and

Kindergartens

□ Empowering the
mathematical thinking r
Teaching guidelines for the
implementation of experiences
of learning
mathematical content
 INTEGRA
Governme
nt of Chile
gob.cl

Network of Nursery Schools and

Kindergartens

Enhancing mathematical
thinking
Teaching guidelines for the
implementation of learning
experiences
of
mathematical content
Enhancing mathematical thinking

Teaching guidelines for the implementation of learning experiences in

mathematical content.

Content adapted from the original work developed by the author: José Miguel Meza
Ortiz for Fundación Integra.

Edition: Integra Foundation

Design, illustrations and layout:

Maria Soledad Cespedes

Integra Foundation 2020

Alonso de Ovalle, Santiago, Chile
Introduction

1. Mathematical approach at Integra Foundation

1.1.Core Concepts of the Empowering Approach
Mathematical Thinking

2. Models for learning mathematics

2.1. - Curricular section of the C-room
2.2. -Curricular section Media

2.3. -Transition curricular section

2.4. -Progression from the innate and interactionist model

 AA Introduction
Within the framework of education conceived as a right that boys and girls have from
early childhood, Early Childhood Education plays a transcendental role, providing
educational experiences where children feel fully welcomed, considered, and valued in
terms of their characteristics, needs, interests and ways of learning, generating feelings
of acceptance, security and protagonism in their learning and integral development,
based on the enjoyment and pleasure of learning through play.

The Early Childhood Education curriculum includes three important areas of learning
that are closely related. Among them, the Area of Interaction and Understanding of the
Environment, which includes Mathematical Thinking among its core, which corresponds
to the processes through which boys and girls interact with the environment and with
objects, forming basic notions about their characteristics and the relationships between
them. In this way, through this interaction and with the mediation of adults and their
peers, children acquire skills, attitudes and knowledge that allow them to function in
everyday life, expand their world, understand reality, face challenges, imagine
solutions, make use of ideas, words, symbols and signs, express logical relationships,
progressively developing critical thinking.

In this context, Fundación Integra, in its commitment to quality Early Childhood

Education, has developed an approach to teaching mathematics called "Enhancing the
mathematical thinking of boys and girls" on the basis of which the following didactic
guidelines are developed with the purpose of:

Guide the implementation of the institutional

approach to mathematics to enhance children's
skills, attitudes and knowledge, in a comprehensive manner and
within the framework of the institutional educational project.

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To achieve this objective, a series of booklets have been prepared that address the main contents
of the Integra Mathematics Approach. The first of these, which you are holding in your hands,
expresses in its pages the central ideas of the approach; as central concepts and didactic
implementation models. The following booklets present different mathematical contents from their
definition and didactic approach in the classroom.

The resources developed correspond to an adaptation of the original work prepared by the author
José Miguel Meza, advisor who developed the mathematical approach for Fundación Integra. We
remind teaching teams that this material is available in the educational community section of the
institutional intranet.

We invite you to use this material!

 1 mathematical APPROACH IN INTEGRA FOUNDATION

Children have a close relationship with mathematics from a very early age; before the age of two, in
particular, through the actions of exploring and manipulating, they discover and perceive the world
around them. In this sense, in the text Empowering Mathematical Thinking by Integra, the author
points out that these approaches and/or mathematical knowledge developed by children are intuitive,
characterized by being imprecise and universal; they are developed by children based on their own
hypotheses and arise from their interaction and personal experience with the surrounding
environment in everyday situations; therefore, generalizations should not be made in this regard.

In addition to intuitive knowledge, Baroody (cited in Empowering Mathematical Thinking 2019)

mentions that there are also informal types of learning that are distinguished from the previous ones
because they are developed in a social and cultural context, even when there is no didactic or
pedagogical intention; it is noted that these could be the intermediate step between intuitive
knowledge and formal knowledge. It is also explained that both contribute to the acquisition of the
formal process of learning mathematics, in the understanding that the intuitive type allows an
approach (to mathematical knowledge through the exploration and manipulation of the world of
objects) and the informal ones, become a prior knowledge that the child can resort to when he/she
needs to make a connection with the new mathematical learning.

It is important to highlight that mathematical knowledge during the first two years of life (nursery
school curriculum), although directly related to the participation and interactions that children have
with the world around them, exploring the concrete and tangible, does not occur only thanks to these
exploration experiences in the world of objects, but thanks to the reflection and processing of
information that children carry out; that is, to the meaning that emanates from that reflection in
contact with that material world.

As children advance in their age stage, there is a greater development of language, which not only
allows them to communicate, but to process and express their learning; in this sense, a more
intentional and discursive mediation of the adult is required, which favors their appropriation of the
different contents, procedures and formal knowledge of mathematics, it is here where the adult
provides the learning experiences with more information, not only at the level of formal mathematical
vocabulary (which is important, but not the most relevant in learning mathematics) but of a mediation
that invites and challenges the child to the acquisition of logical-mathematical knowledge.

Based on the above, Integra's approach to mathematical thinking in the different curricular sections
promotes two types of models for learning mathematics: the innate model and the interactionist
model. Before reviewing each of them, key concepts that underlie the approach and that are
transversal when developing or implementing a mathematics teaching and learning process in Integra
are highlighted below.

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1.1. Core Concepts of the Empowering Mathematical Thinking Approach

The approach of enhancing mathematical thinking involves central concepts when defining a
pedagogical practice for learning mathematics in the different educational stages, these are:

1. Play, as a fundamental principle of the educational level, is considered to be a driver of

learning in children in early childhood. During the first two years of life, play evolves rapidly,
beginning with physical games with different possibilities for action, and then, once the child has
greater control and mastery of his/her body, they expand to include participation and exploration
of the physical and social environment, which is favored by the gradual acquisition of language,
which allows the child to acquire some verbal labels to progressively communicate his/her
reflections and the logical relationships he/she establishes. This type of thinking can sometimes be
observed in the symbolic play in which children participate.

Later, the game becomes more complex, filled with symbols and fiction. This is where the adult
plays a fundamental role in taking advantage of the game as a strategy for learning mathematics,
challenging children to solve situations in a logical manner, overcoming the temptation to guide
the way of acting in the face of that problem situation and offering them opportunities to "fine-
tune" the resolution technique based on their responses. In this way we can certainly refer to boys
and girls as protagonists and builders of their learning.

2. Exploration and research are processes that motivate children to learn, discover and therefore
expand their field of action, to explain the phenomena they observe and thereby generate
hypotheses.

3. Problem solving, considered a suitable space to enhance mathematical learning, with a focus
on authentic problem situations that occur in everyday life.

4. The interactions between the child and his/her immediate social, natural and cultural
environment, as a fundamental challenge of early childhood education, are a means through
which learning can be mathematized.

5. The prior mathematical knowledge that children acquire as they are offered experiences allows
them to anchor new knowledge and from that put into practice what they know.

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 Core concepts mathematical approach

The game

Curricular
sections
The interactions of the toddler in the social, natural and cultural
world

Mathematical prior knowledge

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 2 MODELS FOR LEARNING MATHEMATICS

Characterization of the mathematical approach in the different educational stages1.

The table below explains the main characteristics of the mathematical thinking approach in each of
the sections of the early childhood education level.

2.1. Curriculum Section: Nursery

The adult in his mediating The boy and the girl in their Observations
role leading role in their learning

• Choose and participate freely So… it could be that: “…what

• Define learning.
in that environment. the educator intends might not
• Create an environment that - coincide with what the child is
invites exploration. • Participate by exploring and - interested in learning or is
interacting with materials based learning.”
• Encourages and provides on “what interests you.”
information orally.
• His/her comprehensive Little by little, the educator's
• It fosters a positive emotional language predominates and pedagogical practice begins to
environment. he/she progresses in acquiring be more consistent with what
• Provides opportunities to vocabulary. the child wants and can learn.
interact. • Gradually expresses more
• Observe carefully and interpret clearly his interest and/or what
what the child does during the he wants to learn
experience.
• Provides communicative
interactions.

What teaching and learning model promotes the mathematical approach?

In this educational stage, the Innatist Model is more consistent with the characteristics of this age
group. At this stage, children develop their learning in interaction with the environment and based
on their interests. It is this development that determines what and how much the children will
learn; learning is subject to what each child has managed to do.

Regardless of the above, it is possible to point out that it is not purely innate; the adult in learning
experiences offers communicative intention and mediates learning. What we do not know is
whether or not what the child learns is acquired through his or her own interest and development.
We must not forget that "Learning occurs in the child's mind, not in the physical world, nor in the
objects he or she explores."

1To learn more about the models and their relationship with the educational levels, we recommend consulting the document Promoting
Mathematical Thinking. Integra Foundation 2019.

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 2.2. Curriculum Section: Middle

The adult in his mediating The boy and the girl in their Observations
role leading role in their learning

• Provides opportunities to
• Acquire more and better oral - Social and cultural knowledge
enhance oral language. begins to have greater
language.
predominance.
• Provide opportunities for your
• Build more complex -
child to organize his/her world -
mathematical learning.
logically.
• Explores and develops
• Provides experiences with
hypotheses in independent play
greater cultural content/learning:
and with others.
1. Those in which the material
• Communicate and share your
allows for the construction of
answers and conclusions.
new hypotheses, which are
autonomous and exploratory.
2. Those guided orally by the
adult.
• Observe carefully and interpret
what the child does and -
communicates during the
experience.
• The challenge is to keep in
mind the interests of the children
and combine them with the
definition of learning established
for the level.

What teaching and learning model promotes the mathematical approach?

According to the ideas raised, it is observed that there is a presence of both models; innate and
interactionist, the learning experiences offered especially at the beginning of the educational stage
are more exploratory and autonomous (even when within the same experience autonomy and
adult guidance are combined), which gradually and at the end of the stage are mostly guided orally
by the adult; from this mediation that implies mathematically problematizing the activity and
inviting the child to solve the problem posed, they are participants and protagonists in the
construction of more complex learning.

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2.3. Curriculum Section: Transition

The adult in his The boy and the girl in Observations

role as mediator their role as protagonists
of
their learning
• He/she perceives that Regardless of the greater
children have greater learning knowledge of the cultural
•Participate in experiences world and the development of
achievements and/or tend to with a higher level of
have greater results in a given language, it is important not to
autonomy and knowledge forget that there are still -
time; they are more explicit. regarding social behavior. learning experiences that take
• Note that it achieves greater • Has greater language shape in free and autonomous
curricular coverage; this is development which, together exploration.
because the advances in times with previous knowledge and
and rhythms tend to become experiences, is essential for Likewise, it is important to
more homogenous (this does challenging cultural learning maintain careful and frequent
not imply not attending to and with a high level of reasoning. observation of the interactions
responding to diversity), and that the child carries out and
therefore the curricular • Explore and develop possible that reflect his/her thematic
progress is faster. hypotheses for the problems - interests and/or mathematical
presented. knowledge.
• It offers experiences based
mostly on dialogic interactions.
• Communicates and shares
conclusions, investigates the
• Provides experiences to
problem, practices and learns
solve/problem situations.
concepts and procedures.
• It deepens children's mathematical knowledge in light of the learning objectives of the
educational level.

What teaching and learning model promotes the mathematical approach?

The model that best responds to mathematical learning in this curricular section is the
interactionist type. Since children have greater cultural knowledge, the adult manages a more
explicit discursive presence, which reduces the child's spontaneous activity, offering more
information and collecting the reasoning that he or she communicates, to continue mediating and
providing new challenges.

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2.4. Progression from the innatist and interactionist model

The image below shows, as a graphic summary, the type of learning experiences that are implemented
in the different curricular sections under the auspices of the innate and interactionist models. In the
nursery, there is a strong presence of sensory and manipulative activities or experiences that decrease
as each curricular section progresses, but which continue to be implemented at any of the educational
levels. On the other hand, within the framework of experiences based on social interactions, the
interactionist model takes on greater presence from the middle levels, deepening in the levels of the
transitional educational section.

Experiences based on social interactions

Sensory and/or manipulative experiences

Sc minor Sc major b M minor b M major b T minor b T major

“Mathematical learning in Early Childhood Education not only considers the

construction of cultural knowledge (concepts and procedures), but also involves the
development of certain specific attitudes in and for the discipline, as well as the
development of some skills that allow one to think and act in a mathematically
appropriate2 manner.”

Within the framework of the above, the main ideas associated with mathematical
skills and attitudes considered essential when promoting mathematical thinking are
developed below, as well as those contents that are promoted at the level
according to the BCEP.

2Enhancing mathematical thinking. p.28. Integra 2019

 3 Mathematical skills and attitudes3

Mathematical ability

Also understood as mathematical processes that begin at the preschool education level and that are
related to behaviors and cognitive processes that are executed by a mathematician or someone who
does mathematics.

Organizations such as the OECD and NTCM 4 have established the following mathematical processes as
central to mathematics education.

1. Problem solving involves facing a situation that requires an “adjustment”, a “change”; in which
the person facing the situation must first reflect and investigate the situation in order to subsequently
carry out the resolution; for this reason it is understood as a process that allows for the construction
of new learning and/or the redefinition of those already constructed.

From the perspective of mathematical learning, it is up to the adult mediator to problematize the
situation mathematically, that is, not to reveal the resolution strategy, so that the child's
mathematical knowledge is stressed and required to solve, adjust, and understand the problem.

Associated with the learning of this skill in the BCEP, OA are found in the middle and transition
curricular sections.

Second level - OA 10 Third Level - OA 12

Identify some actions that were carried out to

solve problems. Communicate the process developed in
solving specific problems, identifying the
question, actions and possible responses.

2. Reasoning and demonstration, understood as those processes that allow validating and/or
evaluating the decisions and strategies defined for solving the problem. Process that promotes
divergent and creative thinking.
To encourage this skill, the adult poses some questions that invite children to understand, evaluate,
search for, and investigate the problem and the possible resolution strategies and/or procedures.

3. Communication refers to the organization and systematization of reasoning through some means
of communication to share it with other people. In early childhood education, and considering the
characteristics of children in early childhood, the development of verbal language is recognized; and
the different forms of communication that children have are validated and respected.

3To learn more about mathematical skills, attitudes and knowledge, review chapter 3 of the document Promoting mathematical thinking. Integra
Foundation 2019.
4National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Founded in 1920, it is the largest mathematics education organization in the world.
 Boys and girls initially use their first attempts at communication, as well as the development that
allows them to subsequently communicate the strategies used and/or the reasons that justify their
decisions or the use of a certain procedure.

4. Connections, referring to the links that can be established between different mathematical
knowledge, from other disciplines and/or with previous experiences; which allows building learning
and solving different situations, based on ideas that are at the base. The adult mediator offers children
different experiences for the same content, but diversifying the offer in materials, spaces and
interactions, with the aim of making these previous experiences where the child can anchor new
learning.

5. Representation, this mathematical process allows learning to be communicated in a different way

(not just verbally) that is equally valid; among some options we can mention graphic, plastic, or
metaphorical representations. In addition, it encourages the redefinition of learning by the child,
when he or she takes up these representations after a period of time, observes them, analyzes them,
compares them with the current understanding of reality, and takes them as a basis to develop new
learning.

The
adult mediator

Offers challenging situations

Troubleshooti
ng
It provides opportunities for the child to seek
and value different resolution strategies.

Reasoning and
.)
demonstration
It offers spaces for children to communicate
and justify the procedures used, the decisions
made and their reasons.

Mathematical Communicati
Skills or on It offers different experiences for the same
theme, varying the interaction, spaces,
Processes resources, etc.

Connection
s It provides opportunities for children to use
different ways of representing their learning
and through it, to give new meaning to their
learning.

Representation
Mathematical Attitude

From the preschool education level, it is possible to initiate children in the development of some
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 mathematical attitudes, especially from the challenges posed in some cores of the Personal and Social
Development and Comprehensive Communication Area, which are linked to some of the mathematical
attitudes defined in Basic Education, such as:

1. Demonstrate an orderly and methodical work style.

2. Approach the search for solutions to problems in a flexible and creative way.
3. Show curiosity and interest in learning mathematics.
4. Demonstrate a positive attitude towards yourself and your abilities.
5. Demonstrate an attitude of effort and perseverance.

6. Listen and hear ideas respectfully.

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4. Mathematical content

Finally, based on the mathematical processes and attitudes that children must learn and that are equally
important for their comprehensive development, the following topics are mentioned that are part of the
learning challenges of the BCEP; and as we pointed out in the introduction, they are developed with
greater explicitness in different booklets.

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 STRONG IDEAS
1. The Integra Foundation's Approach to Enhancing Mathematical Thinking subscribes to two major
models that determine the type of learning experiences to be offered to children to challenge them in
their learning; these are the Innate Model and the Interactionist Model.

2. The innate model is implemented with greater force at the Nursery level and is combined in a
balanced way with the interactionist model at the Middle level; at the Transition levels, the interactionist
model becomes relevant.

3. There are principles and/or concepts that are key when learning mathematics within the
framework of this approach; these ideas are: play, research, exploration, problem solving, interactions
between the child and the social and cultural environment, and recognition of previous experiences.

4. In order to learn mathematics, it is not enough for children to know cultural knowledge
(knowledge and procedures), but it is also important for them to develop mathematical processes and a
mathematical attitude.

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www.integra.cl
 INTEGRA
Governme
nt of Chile

Network of Nursery Schools and

gob.cl

Kindergartens