Math fictions: Elementary mathematics education and the modern pedagogical paradigm.
Item
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Title
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Math fictions: Elementary mathematics education and the modern pedagogical paradigm.
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Identifier
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AAI9720161
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identifier
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9720161
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Creator
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Zolkower, Betina A.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Sharon Zukin
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Education, Mathematics | Education, Elementary | Education, Sociology of
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Abstract
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Drawing upon the critical sociology of education of Pierre Bourdieu and Basil Bernstein; Guy Brousseau's 'didactic contract' theory; Yves Chevallard's concept of 'didactical transposition;' and the didactics of mathematics developed by Hans Freudenthal and his disciples, I propose a reformulation of the old-time problem of widespread failure in elementary mathematics and what-may-be-done-about-it.;My theme is the uneasy relationship between an effective teaching of mathematics in US elementary schools and the modern pedagogical paradigm. Within the boundaries of this paradigm, the child has been placed at the center of the classroom, turning the teacher into a provider of rich environments (child-centeredness); a relationship of continuity has been postulated between school and society, so that the classroom becomes a micro version of the surrounding social world (progressivism); and it has been proposed that for meaningful and lasting learning to occur, students must participate in the process as active constructors of knowledge (constructivism).;I maintain that, pushed to the extreme, or, in their most distorted versions, the prescriptions emanating from these three tenets--e.g. the prescription not to 'tell'--conflict with effective mathematics teaching. Moreover, I propose that if this is the case in general, it is even more so in schools attended by poor and minority students.;My argument unfolds as a three-part study. First, I trace the didactical transposition of mathematics in the prefaces of a sample of arithmetic textbooks from the turn of the century to the 1957 Sputnik crisis. Next, I compare the documents which framed the 1960s 'new math revolution' with those guiding the 'new new math reform' underway since the late 1980s. Finally, I explore the effects of the new new math (e.g. the implementation of the NCTM Standards) in the daily 4th and 5th grade math lessons at a public, bilingual (mostly Hispanic) school in East Harlem, New York City.;Math Fictions examines the often unintended and unanticipated ways in which the intergenerational transmission of a subjectless discourse, a decontextualized knowledge field, an elaborated linguistic code, and an overvalued form of academic capital, contributes both to the production of reasoning subjects and the reproduction of inequality.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
