Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Russia and America: Comparing Teacher Perceptions

The international community recognizes the need to improve mathematics education. Citizens of the United States and the Russian Federation are concerned with the mathematics literacy of youth. A traditional teaching approach, one-strategy-fits-all, is no longer working. Constructivist and active learning environments have completely changed the view of teaching and learning mathematics. In order to get quality mathematics education, students need to be actively engaged, interested, and motivated in learning. How can we do it? What works in mathematics classrooms and what does not? How can we improve mathematics education? How can we help students succeed in mathematics? Questions like these constantly arise in many schools around the world. But elementary teachers do not have enough time to find answers or share their concerns and success because they are teaching our children. This book presents shared subjective perceptions of teachers in the Russian Federation and the United States regarding factors that might influence teaching and learning mathematics. This study may encourage positive social changes in mathematics education and should be especially useful to professionals in Elementary Mathematics and the general teaching field or anyone else who is interested in improving elementary mathematics education.