Abstract
Why is teaching in context an important option to consider in the teaching of mathematics? What does it mean to teach mathematics from and in contexts? And what are the possible challenges associated with this practice? The aim of this paper is not to provide a comprehensive answer or solution to these questions. We attempt rather to address these questions specifically with regard to South Africa and the theory of Realistic Mathematics Education. In this article we consider a vignette of a more formal and traditional mathematics lesson and then suggest possible reasons why we need to be teaching more in context. Furthermore we discuss the application of the theory of Realistic Mathematics Education as a potential approach to facilitate teaching in context. Finally we present some challenges associated with this practice.
Highlights
Hayley Barnes and Elsie VenterWhy is teaching in context an important option to consider in the teaching of mathematics? What does it mean to teach mathematics from and in contexts? And what are the possible challenges associated with this practice? The aim of this paper is not to provide a comprehensive answer or solution to these questions
The philosophical shift that has occurred within the domain of mathematics has brought with it a wave of reform in mathematics education
The shift has challenged the infallibility of mathematics and acknowledged it as a product of human inventiveness (Davis & Hersh, 1980) and a human activity (Freudenthal, 1973), making it a social construct
Summary
Why is teaching in context an important option to consider in the teaching of mathematics? What does it mean to teach mathematics from and in contexts? And what are the possible challenges associated with this practice? The aim of this paper is not to provide a comprehensive answer or solution to these questions. In solving the problem above, it is the context that must take preference over the mathematical convention of rounding off “down” to the nearest whole number when our indicator is below 5. Objectivity itself will be understood to be social It draws on conventionalism, in accepting that human language, rules and agreement play a central role, including the view that mathematical concepts develop and change. The first stems directly out of the shift in mathematics education already discussed from an absolutist paradigm to a more social constructivist view This shift to emphasizing mathematics as a social construct is certainly supported by and demonstrated in the following definition of mathematics provided in the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) by the Department of Education Teaching in and from context - The theory of Realistic Mathematics Education In order to examine the second question, we draw on the work currently being done by the Freudenthal Institute in The Netherlands. If they both started from the same place and walked in the same direction, at what time did they meet?
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