Chapter 6: From Academic Performances and Learning in Mathematics to Transcultural Knowledge: An Example in the Cultural Environment of Martinique

As a field study, educational sciences offer researchers an appropriate lens to investigate teaching/learning situations like students’ underachievement in mathematics. According to the anthropological theory of didactics (Chevallard, 1985), social representations of the subject-matter and relationships to academic knowledge contribute to contextualizing the interactions achieved in mathematics. A comparative approach to educational systems, based on the data collected with TIMSS, highlights the need to become aware of cultural diversity (Klieme & Baumert, 2001). However, factors that explain the gap in educational achievements between students in French Overseas Departments and those in metropolitan France on national tests for diagnostic evaluations are still needed. Even though overseas academies (school districts) account for a cumulative percentage of nearly 5% of the French student population, each overseas situation is considered either individually when it comes to education policies, or as being equal to that of Mainland France students. Yet elementary and secondary students in the French overseas departments do poorly in standardized national mathematics and French tests (Arneton, Bocéréan, & Flieller, 2013; Si Moussa, 2005). How can these results be explained?