Mathematics in age-mixed classes in Swiss and in German primary schools: a comparative study

Abstract

In a survey teachers from age-mixed classes in a Swiss canton and a region of Bavaria were asked about specific design features of their mathematics lessons as well as their beliefs about age-mixed learning. For the two countries there are more differences than similarities in the design of mathematics teaching in age-mixed classes of primary school and in the teachers’ beliefs about learning in age-mixed classes. The age-mixed classes of the two countries differ in their structural preconditions, but not fundamentally in their orientation on subject-specific standards.