Critical Challenges in Researching Cultural Issues in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Over the last 20 years there has been a growing interest in cultural issues in mathematics education, with the realisation that mathematical knowledge is a cultural product and that mathematics education is culturally shaped. The focus of this paper will be on cultural aspects of research in mathematics education, and the discussion will be situated within the research context of mathematics education generally. The paper looks firstly at the challenge to teachers and curriculum developers of the idea of culturally based mathematical knowledge. The next section deals with research on teachers concerning the 'hidden' values in mathematics education, which have a cultural base. Thirdly is a consideration of researching mathematics learning and, in particular, of meeting the challenge of culturally situated learning. Finally the paper addresses some aspects of research methods themselves.