Independence and interdependence: Analytical vectors for defining the mathematics curriculum of schools in a democratic society

Abstract

Evidence is produced for the failure of the school mathematics curriculum, around the world, to facilitate the solution of simple arithmetic problems in a variety of work, leisure and other daily activities. A survey of research performed from the perspective of ethnomathematics into this problem reveals the absence of a generalisable theory to account for the disjuncture between school mathematics and out-of-school problem solving situations. It is argued that the forging of a link between pedagogical prescription and political analysis is a prerequisite for reconstructing the mathematics curriculum so as to address this disjuncture. Four domains in which mathematical knowledge is constructed and deployed are described. The paper concludes by identifying the need to search for mechanisms in the curriculum process which will provide space for the necessary contributions of specialist sets of actors within these domains, while at the same time tying such activities to a common accountability.