The Same and the Different: On Semantization and Instrumentalization Practices in the (Maths) Classroom

Abstract

There is no education without content. Teaching and learning in schools is devoted to “something,” not to “nothing” or “anything.” The more heterogeneous, multicultural, and multilingual the classroom, the more semantization of educational content within teaching and learning is needed. Therefore, the role of various languages in the classroom is revisited. In this article, we elaborate on the theory of language-sensitive content transformation and introduce the concept of operational isomorphism and its potential in the field of didactics, research on teaching, and learning and teacher education. Using a case study of mathematics teaching, we illustrate, how students can benefit from semantization and instrumentalization practices in the classroom and how these processes take the form of extensional deconstruction and intensional expansion or intensional condensation.