In search of a pedagogy of conflict and dialogue for mathematics education / by Renuka Vithal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vithal, Renuka.

Series:

Mathematics education library ; v. 32.

Mathematics education library ; v. 32

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics--Study and teaching--South Africa.

Mathematics.

Mathematics--Study and teaching.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

xvi, 398 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Dordrecht ; Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers, [2003]

Summary:

In Search of a Pedagogy for Conflict and Dialogue for Mathematics Education is of interest to mathematics educators, researchers in mathematics education, gender, social justice, equity and democracy in education; and practitioners/teachers interested in the use of project work in mathematics teaching and learning.

This book brings together diverse recent developments exploring social, cultural political dimensions in mathematics education. It builds theoretical ideas from a careful substantial description of practice, in the attempt to improve both theory and practice in mathematics education. In doing so it interrogates and develops theoretical research tools for mathematics education and simultaneously provides ideas for practice in mathematics classrooms.

Contents:

Chapter 1 An Emergent Social, Cultural, Political Approach: Sketching a theoretical landscape 1

1. Mathematics Education After Apartheid? 1

2. Four Strands of a Social, Cultural, Political Approach 3

2.1. A critical mathematics education for all 6

2.2. A "critical ethnomathematics" education 16

2.3. Dimensions of diversity: a critical perspective in mathematics education through a focus on gender 22

2.4. A critical perspective in the South African context: People's Mathematics 27

3. Pulling the Theoretical Strands Together Through Educational Practice: The Case of Project Work 35

4. Contextualising This Landscape 39

Chapter 2 Methodological "Theoretical Tools" for Researching a Social, Cultural, Political Approach 45

1. A Research Journey 45

2. The Actual Current Situation 47

2.1. Teacher education, student teachers and teaching practice 48

2.2. School mathematics curricula and reforms 50

3. The Imagined Hypothetical Situation 55

3.1. Initiating student teachers' hypothetical imagination

during coursework 56

3.2. Developing student teachers' hypothetical imagination

getting ready for practice 59

4. The Arranged Situation 62

4.1. In the arranged situation 63

4.2. After the arranged situation 65

5. Reflections on the Situations 67

5.1. Potentiality 68

5.2. Intervention, implementation or imposition 69

5.3. Connecting the situations 70

5.4. Transformacy 71

Chapter 3 Methodological Challenges and Criteria for Researching a Social, Cultural, Political Approach 75

1. Introduction: Research Paradigms 75

2. A Critical Approach to Research Versus A Critical Approach to Education 76

3. Sources for Developing a Research Methodology for a Critical Perspective in Mathematics Education 78

3.1. The search inside mathematics education 78

3.2. The search outside mathematics education 79

4. The Researcher; Research Participants; and the Research Process 80

4.1. Researcher and the research participants 81

4.2. Research participants and the research process 82

4.3. The researcher and the research process 84

5. Is My Research Critical Research? 85

6. Criteria in a Research Methodology for a Critical Perspective in Mathematics Education 88

6.1. Validity in transformation and in action 89

6.2. Validity concerns in my research 92

6.3. Democratic participatory validity 95

6.4. Generalisability and generativity 99

7. Context in a Research Methodology for a Critical Perspective in Mathematics Education 103

8. Conclusion: Critique Inward and Outward 104

Chapter 4 Crucial Descriptions: Toward Critique of Theory, Practice and Research 107

2. Crucial Descriptions and Theory-Practice Relations 108

3. Crucial Descriptions and Research 112

3.1. Transparency 113

3.2. Transformacy 114

3.3. Generativity 116

3.4. Exemplarity 117

Chapter 5 Crucial Description of a Social, Cultural, Political Approach: Part I

Sumaiya and the Imagined Hypothetical Situation 121

2. About Sumaiya 122

3. Sumaiya in Her Third Year: Introduction to a New Curriculum Approach 124

4. Sumaiya in Her Fourth Year: Preparing for Teaching Practice 130

4.1 An imagined hypothetical teacher 130

4.2. Imagined hypothetical pupils 132

4.3. Imagined hypothetical project ideas 132

4.4. Imagined hypothetical project work issues 134

5. Sumaiya in the Actual Current Situation: the School, the Teacher, and the Class 138

Chapter 6 Crucial Description of a Social, Cultural, Political Approach: Part 2

Sumaiya and the Arranged Situation 149

2. Project Work Begins 150

2.1. Reflections of Day 3: Project work issues 156

2.2. Reflections of Day 3: Group work issues 163

2.3. Reflections of Day 3: Teaching and learning mathematics issues 164

3. Group 1: Time Spent After School 166

3.1. Reflections on Group 1: Group work issues 180

3.2. Reflections on Group 1: Project work issues 183

3.3. Reflections on Group 1: Teaching and learning mathematics issues 185

4. Group 2: Developing a Mathematics Newsletter 187

4.1. Reflections on Group 2: Group work issues 195

4.2. Reflection on Group 2: Project work and mathematics teaching and learning issues 198

5. Group 4: The Sports Survey 201

5.1. Reflection on Group 4: Group work issues 211

5.2. Reflection on Group 4: Project work and mathematics teaching and learning issues 213

6. Groups 3 and 5: Money Spent on My Education 217

6.1. Group 3: Money spent on my education 218

6.2. Group 5: Money spent on my education 227

6.3. Reflections on Group 3 and 5: Group work issues 235

6.4. Reflections on Group 3 and Group 5: Project work issues 243

6.5. Reflections on Group 3 and Group 5: Mathematics teaching and learning issues 246

Chapter 7 From Description to Themes 253

2. Structure and Freedom 254

3. Authority and Democracy 260

4. Mathematics and Context 270

5. Differentiation and Equity 281

6. Actuality and Potentiality 290

Chapter 8 From Themes to Theoretical Landscape 301

2. Complementarity 302

3. Freedom and Structure 306

4. Democracy and Authority 310

5. Context and Mathematics 316

6. Equity and Differentiation 324

7. Potentiality and Actuality 332

Chapter 9 A Pedagogy of Conflict and Dialogue 337

2. Pedagogy, Theory and Practice 338

3. Conflict in a Mathematics Pedagogy 342

4. Dialogue in a Mathematics Pedagogy 347

5. Complementarity in a Pedagogy of Conflict and Dialogue 353

6. Strengths and Weaknesses; Limitations and Dreams 358

Appendix A Group 1: Time Spent After School 376

Appendix B Group 2: Developing a Newsletter 381

Appendix C Group 3: Money Spent on My Education 388

Appendix D Group 4: The Sports Survey 393

Appendix E Group 5: Money Spent on My Education 396.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-370) and index.

ISBN:

1402015046

OCLC:

52631457