Comparing Curricular Approaches for Statistics in Primary School in England and Brazil: a Focus on Graphing

Analysis of the curricula for primary schools in England and Brazil indicates that in both countries while there is emphasis given in policy documents to the importance of problem solving, the materials that are designed to support teachers’ implementation of the curriculum in their classrooms reflects a more passive approach to the teaching of graphing. We draw on research evidence from studies with primary school children and with student teachers to argue for the importance of active use of graphing for the emergence of transparency (Meira, 1998). We discuss the implications for initial teacher education in order to support teachers whose own confidence and experience in statistics is very limited.