In this article, I argue that the common practice across many school mathematics curricula of using a variety of different representations of number may diminish the coherence of mathematics for students. Instead, I advocate prioritising a single representation of number (the number line) and applying this repeatedly across diverse content areas.…

Many universities throughout the world apply student-centered approaches. Common to these is that projects, problems, challenges etc. stem from "real life". Mathematics is an effective tool to solve problems, but in this paper, we discuss how we reconcile the fact that mathematics is both a pure and an applied discipline with…

As members of a research group taking initial steps for creating mathematics curriculum in an Indigenous language (Yakama Ichishkíin), we engaged with an unanticipated outcome: the ways Indigenous identities and homelands are fractionated, as part of ongoing colonizing harm. Our work centers on how mathematics instruction can help heal, by…

It has become a truism to state that mathematical knowledge or "meaning" and the norms and practices of (school) mathematical communities are negotiated and socially constructed before individuals construct (internalize) them for themselves. In this study I suggest that the social in existing conceptualizations is based on a trivial…

The crucial reason for the common dislike, fear, and even hatred of mathematics by students and others is probably not the nature of mathematics itself, but the way the subject is portrayed and taught. We propose that instead of a mathematics curriculum that focuses on concepts and techniques (which is often seen), it might be more productive if…

In this article I discuss an investigation of handwritten mathematics manuscripts known as navigation cyphering books. These manuscripts, which were prepared during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are evidence of an educational tradition that was the primary means by which students in North America learned mathematics between 1607 and…

The Math Wars have been raging since the 1990's in the United States, where the world of mathematics education has become polarised into two camps: the reformers and the traditionalists. In this article I explore the background to the Math Wars, with specific reference to conflicting ideologies of mathematics education. I draw parallels with…

In the last two decades some researchers have been using elements of Critical Theory to rethink the aims and the possibilities of school mathematics. The field known as critical mathematics education has become an important research area, and has been informing teachers who felt the need to change their practices. In this article, we explore the…

This article explores the factors that may cause teachers to defer to the textbook as the ultimate authority on curriculum and pedagogy, drawing on Bakhtin's notion of authoritative and personally persuasive discourse. We found that although teachers deferred to the textbook as the "authority" of what should be taught, they did not fully implement…

Describes an experimental mathematics course involving an interpretive discussion approach in which students and instructors work together to develop questions about the meaning of mathematical, philosophical, and musical texts. Appendix contains a cluster of questions for Euclid's proof of the infinity of prime numbers. (MKR)

Discusses public indifference and student ignorance toward mathematics in the U.S. Presents a basic core of mathematics knowledge that everyone should know. (KHR)

Proposes that the main function of proof in the mathematics classroom is to promote understanding. Argues that the most important challenge to mathematics educators is to find more effective ways to use proof in teaching. (52 references) (MKR)

Considers traditional ways in which attempts have been made to help students become fluent in mathematics and offers a model for ways in which fluency can be achieved with a more economic use of students' time and effort than through traditional models of exercises based on repetition. (MKR)

Views the mathematics curriculum in terms of things that can be worked out by someone (necessary) and things about which everyone needs to be informed (arbitrary). This view clarifies the roles that teachers and students have within the complexities of teaching and learning. (Contains 11 references.) (ASK)

Develops in detail implications for teaching of the arbitrary and necessary curriculum divide. Discusses practical ways forward for teachers who plan lessons and work in the classroom with sensitivity to this divide. Concentrates on teaching and learning arbitrary aspects of the curriculum. Arbitrary is in realm of memory and students have the job…