International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 3 No. 11 November 2015 189 A CONTRIBUTION FROM MACAO, CHINA, ON TEACHING MATHEMATICS Maria de Fátima Oliveira Math Department Portuguese School of Macao Macao, China moli.maria.oliveira@gmail.com João Garrott Negreiros Faculty of Creative Industries University of Saint Joseph Macao, China joao.garrot@usj.edu.mo (corresponding author) Ana Cristina Neves Faculty of Humanities University of Saint Joseph Macao, China ana.neves@usj.edu.mo Abstract: This present research is directly related to an international comparative analysis about success in Mathematics as a teaching subject. The main research questions are as follows: What type of network of interactions is established during the teaching-learning process of this matter? How much of what has been said and written about such process is nothing else but some form of myth? The main goals of this writing are (1) to analyze and compare the teaching-learning process at three of Macao’s schools different traits (Hou Kong School, International School and Portuguese School of Macau) and (2) to explore hypothetical connections between the school’s inherent traits and the academic achievement in math. A mixed methodology took place during the academic year 2012/2013 to reach the global conclusion that the teaching-learning process of Mathematics does not exhibit a unique successful model; on the contrary, it is singular according to the different subject values and cultural contexts, for example. It is also possible to understand, by means of this study, that the cultural perspective lacking of such different practicum may be responsible for the establishment of myths. For instance, the PISA 2009 Shanghai results have demystified what once was the Chinese student stereotype while, simultaneous, the Macao’s results have proved that it is necessary to find the singularity of each surrounding environment to allow a greater success in learning Math. Keywords: Teaching-learning; Mathematics; Socio-cultural; School success; International studies. 1. The problematic of teaching mathematics Numbers rule the Universe Plato Much has been written on teaching-learning mathematics and studied on the causes for the academic success/failure in this area of studies. Is it a prejudice or a myth? According to Popper (2003), it is erroneous to conclude that uncertainty theory, given its conjectural and hypothetical character, minimizes its pretension of describing the reality. The Popperian conception of science relies precisely on the possibility that this can be contested. After all, what makes science move forward are not as much the experiments that confirm the theories but hypotheses as those that put them in question. Mathematics has always been, and still is, a major area of studies in all educational systems. It is a very ancient science that has been making part of the set of school subjects for centuries, has a compulsory character for many school years and has been chosen as a criterion for education selection. It is claimed to be an absolute language, an infallible standard, the key to progress. Besides language, among other abilities that human beings were born with, the sense of number is also innate to mankind. We are capable of determining the number of objects that make part of a collection, counting and processing simple additions and subtractions without the need for direct instruction. At age of 10, a child understands about 10000 words and speaks his/her mother tongue with 95% of accuracy. However, some 11- year old children already claim not being able to understand mathematics. How can one explain this difference? One of the reasons is that spoken language and the sense of number are survival skills, which is not the case of abstract mathematics. Thus, some people say that learning mathematics is difficult, as it is abstract and it requires a more logic and orderly reasoning. Some others allege that the various symbols used in mathematics turn it into a challenge similar to the one of learning a foreign language (Sousa, 2008). The fact is mathematics is considered by a high number of students to be a difficult subject that deals with extremely abstract, more or less unintelligible objects and theories. However, how much of the students’ opinions are intrinsic to their real experience and not only a result of reduplicated utterances heard from other voices, as echoes from their parents, friends, social media and teachers? The critics consider that solely a