Abstract
In this paper, I examine the notion of ‘real life’ mathematical applications as possible sites for ethical reflection in school mathematics. I discuss problems with the ‘real’ in mathematics education, and show how these problems are often based on faulty cognitive theories of knowledge transfer. I then consider alternative visions of mathematical application and suggest that attention to classroom discourse and the craft of mathematics offer ways of introducing the ethical into school mathematics.
Highlights
Freire (1970/1998) advocated for a critical pedagogy that was grounded in the “present, existential, concrete situation” ( 76) whereby teaching might begin with the lived experiences of students, accessing their emotional and ethical ties to the situations in which they struggled for voice and equity
Critical mathematics education refers to a set of concerns or principles that function as catalysts for re-conceiving and redesigning the lived experience of school mathematics
Various proponents of critical mathematics education have pursued this agenda in different ways: designing new mathematics curricula that address social justice issues (Mukhopadhyay & Greer, 2001;Gutstein, 2006; Tate 2005), studying the role of mathematics teacher disposition towards social justice pedagogy, deconstructing the instructional strategies unique to school mathematics that inhibit increased participation (Adler, 2001; de Freitas, 2008b; Morgan, 2006; Walshaw, 2005), generating a socio-political ethics of mathematics education (Skovsmose, 2005; Skovsmose & Valero, 2001; Valero, 2004), and offering visions of alternative teaching practices (Brown, 2001; Valero & Zevenbergen, 2004)
Summary
Freire (1970/1998) advocated for a critical pedagogy that was grounded in the “present, existential, concrete situation” ( 76) whereby teaching might begin with the lived experiences of students, accessing their emotional and ethical ties to the situations in which they struggled for voice and equity. Various proponents of critical mathematics education have pursued this agenda in different ways: designing new mathematics curricula that address social justice issues (Mukhopadhyay & Greer, 2001;Gutstein, 2006; Tate 2005), studying the role of mathematics teacher disposition towards social justice pedagogy (de Freitas, 2008a; & Rodriguez & Kitchen, 2005; Zevenbergen, 2003), deconstructing the instructional strategies unique to school mathematics that inhibit increased participation (Adler, 2001; de Freitas, 2008b; Morgan, 2006; Walshaw, 2005), generating a socio-political ethics of mathematics education (Skovsmose, 2005; Skovsmose & Valero, 2001; Valero, 2004), and offering visions of alternative teaching practices (Brown, 2001; Valero & Zevenbergen, 2004) Many of these authors define their unique approach in different terms, one can trace a collective movement in the research community that takes form in relation to the concept of de Freitas critical pedagogy. “It confronts what is the case with what is not the case but what could become the case.” (Skovsmose & Borba, 2004, p. 214)
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