The ICMI Representative for Argentina is nominated by the Argentinian Mathematical Union (UMA), which is the IMU Adhering Organization. The UMA mathematics education commission, made up of five mathematics educators, plays a special role in this nomination. As a federal state, Argentina has 23 provinces and 1 autonomous city (the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires), giving a total of 24 first-level jurisdictions. This characteristic of the state's organisation, combined with its significant territorial extension, implies an interesting diversity in the development of education and research in mathematics education within Argentina.
In Argentina there is currently no association of mathematics teachers or researchers in mathematics education. However, there have been some initiatives to form mathematical education societies, which have generally been short-lived. Due to its characteristics, influence in Argentina and duration, the Argentine Society for Mathematical Education (SOAREM), which was officially created in 1998 and remained active until 2018, deserves to be mentioned. This association made up of mathematics teachers from different educational levels and some researchers in mathematics education, organised the annual CAREM (Argentine Congress of Mathematics Education) and supported the development of the PREMISA journal. This lack of an association of Argentine mathematics educators did not prevent the growth of local groups of researchers in mathematics education or didactics, nor did it prevent the existence of conferences, seminars, or local meetings between teachers and researchers. Perhaps it could be said that the Education Commission created within the framework of the UMA plays nowadays a somewhat unifying role for mathematics education activities in Argentina.
Most researchers in mathematics education work at universities, although some of them also work for the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). Most of them are trainers of mathematics teachers. Some universities offer doctorates in mathematics education, which are usually taken by recent graduates or teachers with extensive experience in educational centres. Research in Mathematics Education is mainly carried out at universities, with a high prevalence of national public universities (NU), although there are also some private universities that carry out research projects in this field. These groups pursue different lines and topics of research focused on both mathematics education and statistics education. Although there is some diversity, some groups conduct research using theoretical and methodological support from the French school of mathematics education; others use advances in the field from Europe -especially Spain - or the United States, while several others take and recreate ideas produced by researchers in Brazil closely related to a critical perspective. Such diversity enriches the development of research in Argentina. For more information on topics addressed at national conferences and the state of research in mathematics education in Argentina up to 2001, see the work of Esteley and Villarreal (2002). The UMA Education Committee is currently preparing an updated report on these issues.
In Argentina, there are indexed journals that publish both unpublished research and teaching experiences produced by teachers or by teachers working with researchers. For example, the EM Journal RevEM is a publication of the UMA and the Faculty of Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics and Computing of the NU of Córdoba; the Yupana Journal published by the NU of the Litoral, seeks to disseminate EM productions relating to all levels of education, from early schooling to adult education; the Electronic Journal of Research in Science Education, a publication of the NU of the Centre is committed to the publication of research in topics of science and mathematics Education. Finally, both the Argentine Journal of Educational Research and the Journal of Practice Analysis published by the National Pedagogical University, and the journal Contexts of Education published by the NU of Río Cuarto, publishes special issues on ME.
All national universities offer open access to specialisation, Master's and Doctorate theses from their postgraduate programmes. This also allows for the dissemination of research carried out in mathematics education.
The undergraduate education of teachers who teach mathematics.
In Argentina, there is a distinction between the education of teachers who teach mathematics in primary schools (students aged 6 to 12 or 13) and those who teach in secondary schools (students aged approximately 12 or 13 to 17). Teachers who teach mathematics in primary schools have a general preparation that includes pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of the Spanish language, mathematics, social sciences, experimental sciences, among other subjects. The programme involves four years of study at the so-called Higher Institutes of Teacher Training (ISFD, for its acronym in Spanish), which are not affiliated with universities, and the degree awarded is that of Primary School Teacher. There are some universities that offer similar programs. Teachers who teach in secondary schools have a trajectory that is more focused on mathematics or mathematics education and can be prepared either at an ISFD or at a university. Teacher training courses at ISFDs are theoretically four years long, while those at universities can last four or five years. ISFDs throughout the country have a similar curriculum, with certain differences in how these foundations are implemented between different provinces. The qualification awarded to ISFD graduates is Secondary School Mathematics Teacher. In university teacher training programmes, although there are standards suggested by the council of university rectors, each university is free to design its own preparation pathways, which can then result in significant differences between educational programmes. As several of the courses offered by these university teacher training programmes are created within mathematics faculties or departments, the preparation of teachers tends to include a high percentage of mathematics courses. This does not detract from the presence of interesting courses in pedagogy, mathematics education or research. Graduates from universities receive the title of ‘University Teacher of Mathematics’.
Some postgraduate programmes focused on mathematics education
In Argentine universities where there are established groups of researchers in mathematics education, it is possible to find postgraduate preparation programmes designed specifically to offer an initial pathway for those interested in research in mathematics education. These programmes are open to all teachers who have graduated from universities. Some of these programmes, particularly those offering specialisations, also accept teachers who have graduated from ISFDs. Postgraduate programmes managed by some national universities are free and others have a moderate tuition. Some Examples: Specialisation in Mathematics Didactics, jointly managed by the NU of Litoral, NU of Río Cuarto and the NU of San Luis ; Specialisation in Mathematics Teaching at Secondary Level in the National Pedagogical University; Master of education-specialisation in Mathematic Education in NU of La Plata; Doctorate in Education in the University of Buenos Aires and Doctorate in Education in Basic Sciences and Technologies in the NU of Córdoba.
Since each of Argentina's 24 jurisdictions has its own constitution and is a federated state with self-governing powers, they share common aspects in terms of education but also have some differences. One common aspect related to each jurisdiction has to do with its organisation by levels of education in accordance with the Article 17 of Law 26,206, the same structure of the National Education System is established for the entire country, comprising four (4) levels and eight (8) modalities. In any case, each jurisdiction has the authority, under certain general guidelines, to design its own curriculum. Here is the example of curricula development in Córdoba for compulsory education in Argentina (from ages 4 or 5 until the end of secondary school).
Further information on the structure of the Argentine education system, see: here . For a report on national education indicators related to the 2020 Argentine National Population Census see: here. Information on educational resources and curricular developments for all Argentine teachers at different educational levels see: here.