In this article, I am going to compare the mathematics content that is taught in England and in Catalonia. As there are different topics related to mathematics, I am going to focus on the “Measurement”. I have used England’s national curriculum and Catalan’s curriculum. As I have never observe a mathematics lesson from England, I am only going to use the information from their curriculum. However, for the Catalan part, I am going to use the curriculum and my experiences, as a student and as a teacher. To be more precisely, I am going to compare key stages 1-2, from England, and first of primary, from Catalonia.
ENGLAND VS. CATALONIA
To make sure that children are familiar with different kinds of measurements, teachers should use a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities, for example length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.
In the Catalan curriculum, the main aim is to develop the understanding of the measurable quantities, the whole numbers, specifically the unit and the measurement process. In addition, pupils should be able to use different techniques and tools to measure the different magnitudes. There are two main goals for this stage, first of primary.
In the English curriculum, it is said that the main goal in the key stage 1 is to make sure pupils develop confidence and mental fluency with whole number, counting and place value. To do so, pupils are going to work with numerals, words and the four operations. In addition, they are going to work with practical resources such as concrete objects or measuring tools, to make sure that pupils understand the concepts. Furthermore, pupils should develop their ability to recognize, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary.
- Goal 1: Understand measurable attributes of objects, the units, systems and processes of measurement.
- Goal 2: Apply techniques, tools and formulas that are suitable to get the measures.