Luxembourg

A Brief History of Mathematics Education in Luxembourg

Chista Nadimi

Luxembourg in terms of location, culture and languages used is situated between France and Germany: two great powers in Europe. Therefore, the country over time has made great efforts to create and keep its independent national identity. The impact of these efforts can be felt in various education policies and school reforms. Mathematics education in Luxembourg has an interesting story to tell when considering the values and priorities of policymakers.

In March 2018, the Luxembourg Ministry of Education decided to partially move away from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), meaning Luxembourg now only participates in the organisations reading tests as opposed to the reading, mathematics and sciences tests usually used to assess fifteen-year-olds academic performance (Meisch, 2018). Meisch, the Minister of Education, argued that the decision was made because the PISA tests do not consider the unique properties of teaching and learning in Luxembourg. In the same letter, Minister Meisch mentions that more than 50% of students in Luxembourg have a migration background and therefore do not take the test in their first language. Luxembourg had participated in PISA since 2000, with results usually lower than the average of other OECD countries, especially in mathematics and the sciences. Considering this, the Ministry decided that Luxembourg should not participate in PISA mathematics and science testing until 2024. So, what is unique about Luxembourg that PISA, supposedly, does not consider?  The answer is:  language and the linguistic challenges in Luxembourg schools which are not limited to children with a migration background.

Until the end of 19th century, the only schooling option available to children after primary school, was the Athenée, which was first a Jesuit college, founded in 1603. Following the French Revolution, this college was rejected and reformed to become the secondary school (‘école secondaire’) and re-founded in 1817 as royal grand-ducal athenaeum (Athénée royal grand-ducal) (Reuter and Fuge, 2003). At that time, Luxembourg was still a Duchy of the Netherlands. In another such Duchy (Weilbourg), Friedrich-Traugott Friedemann was the director of a German style secondary school called ‘Gymnasium’. Elz in his book ‘The beginning of schooling in Luxembourg’ (2009) notes that Friedmann came to Luxembourg to turn the French style athenaeums into German style secondary schools (Elz, 2003), with mathematics introduced into the Luxembourg school system in 1837 by the so-called ‘Friedmann Reform’ (Klopp, 1989). This reform introduced a generous weekly hour of mathematics into the school programme of secondary education, and this was the beginning of maths education in Luxembourg. However, many changes and reforms occurred later, which watered-down the content of mathematics learnt at school to serve national goals and values more clearly.

Sometimes mathematics education looked French, sometimes German. For example, during the occupation of Luxembourg by Germany between 1940 and 1944, German teaching styles were adopted nationwide across schools. Priority and more attention were thereby given to the teaching of practical mathematics, but this was seen as incompatible with Luxembourg’s system (UNESCO, 1961). Gloden, an influential Luxembourgian mathematician in his talk at the 350th anniversary of Athéné in 1953, argued that the German system in overall lowered the quality of the school in Luxembourg (Gloden, 1955). Therefore, Luxembourg’s education system had to return to its former pre-war state.

Since 1945 the Luxembourg school system has been changed and restructured several times to align its teaching of students with neighbouring and allied countries as it is mentioned in the UNESCO’s World survey of education published in 1961. The main reason for this was that students trying to study at a university in a neighbouring country found that, as there were no universities in Luxembourg, their mathematics education was out of date and of lower quality compared to elsewhere, resulting in widely publicised national reports. Finally, in 1968, an extensive reform of secondary schools helped to modernise mathematics education, based on new French textbooks and more mathematics lessons each week. Furthermore, this reform stopped the differentiation between boys and girls regarding mathematics education.

The original plan was to reform the whole Luxembourg school system, but initially only secondary education was modernised, with primary education having to wait until the 1980s. This was because there was less of an incentive to change teaching at primary school level as students would all eventually move on to the reformed secondary school. Besides this lack of motivation, reforming mathematics education at primary school has faced other challenges. For example, language has remained an issue as the principal teaching language for primary schools is German, whilst secondary schools above all use French. So, much time in primary school is spent on students learning French to help them prepare for secondary school, meaning less hours in the curriculum are devoted to the teaching of mathematics, especially compared to other European countries.

Complex language policy still reigns in Luxembourg. Horner in a book called Language and Luxembourgish National Identity (2007) finds multilingualism as a symbol of national identity and therefore a crucial aspect of the Luxembourg school system. PISA tests assess pupils at the age of fifteen and pupils in Luxembourg will have completed their secondary maths and science education in French, which is their second language at school. But these same students are then expected to complete the PISA tests in either French or German: their second school language or the language in which they have not completed their secondary level learning of these subjects. It is important to note that individual family language situations are not considered, which complicates things even more.

In sum, learning maths and science in Luxembourg is challenging, but does this make it any less fun or effective than in other countries allowing PISA tests?

Word: Mathematics

Number: 1968