Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Social functions of mathematics education: a framework for socio-political studies

  • Published:
Educational Studies in Mathematics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In mathematics education, researchers have proposed a wide range of improvements of teaching practice in school, but only a few of these proposals have sustainably changed mathematics education in the desired form. This article takes off with the assumption that this gap between ideals and practice can be understood and challenged through a better understanding of the social functions of mathematics education. Functionalism is a sociological paradigm, which is based on the assumption that sub-systems of society support each other. The application of this theory to mathematics education seeks to illuminate the social connectedness of classroom practice and incorporates various studies from the field of mathematics education and beyond. Its originality lies in its ability to integrate and order results from many different socio-political studies in mathematics education and to identify research desiderata in the field. On this basis, I show that in spite of official discourses on the use-value of mathematics, we lack evidence that mathematics education is functional in providing socially necessary qualifications in mathematics. Instead, possible other functions of mathematics education such as the training of economically beneficial character traits, the legitimisation of mathematics as a social tool of power, the transfer of social advantages from parents to children, the training of a bureaucratic mentality and the projection of societal wishes and fears are discussed. The results do not only provoke further debate on educational goals of mathematics education but may form a basis on which to plan educational innovation with particular attention towards social constraints underlying mathematics education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson, A., Valero, P., & Meaney, T. (2015). “I am [not always] a maths hater”: Shifting students’ identity narratives in context. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90(2), 143–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Educational Psychology, 162(1), 67–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appelbaum, P. M. (1995). Popular culture, educational discourse, and mathematics. Albany: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ausubel, D. P. (1968). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biesta, G. (2009). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boaler, J. (1993). Encouraging the transfer of ‘school’ mathematics to the ‘real world’ through the integration of process and content, context and culture. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 25(4), 341–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borovik, A. V. (2016). Calling a spade a spade: Mathematics in the new pattern of division of labour. In B. Larvor (Ed.), Mathematical cultures (pp. 347–374). Basel: Birkhäuser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. (2011). Mathematics education and subjectivity: Cultures and cultural renewal. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brüsemeister, T. (2008). Bildungssoziologie [Sociology of education]. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

  • Cooper, B., & Dunne, M. (2000). Assessing children’s mathematical knowledge: Social class, sex, and problem-solving. Buckingham: Open University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, J. (2014). The problem-solving citizen. Malmö högskola.

  • D’Ambrosio, U. (2007). Peace, social justice and ethnomathematics. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, 1, 25–34.

  • Davis, P. J., & Hersh, R. (1983). The mathematical experience. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. (2012). The 2011 skills for life survey: A survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT levels in England. London.

  • Desrosières, A. (1993). La politique des grands nombres [The politics of large numbers]. Paris: La Découverte.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, P. (1998). The sociology of mathematics education: Mathematical myths/pedagogic texts. London: Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. (1999). Building bridges: Reflections on the problem of transfer of learning in mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 39(1), 23–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Even, R., & Loewenberg Ball, D. (Eds.). (2009). The professional education and development of teachers of mathematics. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, W., & Soltis, J. F. (2009). School and society. New York: Teachers college. (Original work published 1985)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fend, H. (1974). Gesellschaftliche Bedingungen schulischer Sozialisation [Societal conditions of socialisation in school]. Beltz: Weinheim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes, E. (2008). Rethinking success and failure in mathematics learning: The role of participation. In J. F. Matos, P. Valero, & K. Yasukawa (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Mathematics and Society Conference (pp. 237–247). Lisbon: Universidade de Lisboa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish. New York: Pantheon. (Original work published 1975)

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1980). The confession of the flesh. In C. Gordon (Ed.), Power/knowledge. Selected interviews and other writings (pp. 194–228). Brighton: Harvester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1987). Mental illness and psychology. Berkeley: University of California. (Original work published 1954)

    Google Scholar 

  • François, K., & Sutter, L. de. (2005). Where mathematics becomes political. Philosophica, 74(2), 123–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goslin, D. A. (1965). The school in contemporary society. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez, R. (2008). A ‘gap-gazing’ fetish in mathematics education? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 39(4), 357–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harouni, H. (2015). Toward a political economy of mathematics education. Harvard Educational Review, 85(1), 50–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann, H. W. (2010). Why teach mathematics? A focus on general education. Dordrecht: Kluwer. (Original work published 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  • Imdorf, C. (2005). Schulqualifikation und Berufsfindung [School qualification and career choices]. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jablonka, E. (2015). The evolvement of numeracy and mathematical literacy curricula and the construction of hierarchies of numerate or mathematically literate subjects. ZDM Mathematics Education, 47(4), 599–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joas, H. (1996). The creativity of action. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keitel, C., Kotzmann, E., & Skovsmose, O. (1993). Beyond the tunnel vision: Analysing the relationship between mathematics, society and technology. In C. Keitel & K. Ruthven (Eds.), Learning from computers: mathematics education and technology (pp. 243–279). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, F. (2014). Strukturelle Faktoren des Bildungserfolgs [Structural factors of educational success]. Wiesbaden: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Knipping, C., Reid, D. A., Gellert, U., & Jablonka, E. (2008). The emergence of disparity in performance in mathematics classrooms. In J. F. Matos, P. Valero, & K. Yasukawa (Eds.), Proceedings of the fifth international mathematics education and society conference (pp. 320–329). Lisbon: Universidade de Lisboa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2013). Logic, society and school mathematics. In B. Ubuz, Ç. Haser, & M. A. Mariotti (Eds.), Proceedings of the eighth congress of the European Society for Research in mathematics education (pp. 1754–1763). Ankara: Middle East Technical University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2014). Mathematics and power: an alliance in the foundations of mathematics and its teaching. ZDM Mathematics Education, 46(7), 1061–1072.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2015a). Mathematik und Bildung aus kritischer Sicht [Mathematics and education from a critical perspective]. Mathematica didactica, 38, 111–131.

  • Kollosche, D. (2015b). School mathematics and bureaucracy. In K. Krainer & N. Vondrová (Eds.), Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 1597–1602). Prague: Charles University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2016). Criticising with Foucault: towards a guiding framework for socio-political studies in mathematics education. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 91(1), 73–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2017a). The ideology of relevance in school mathematics. In A. Chronaki (Ed.), Mathematics education and life at times of crisis. Proceedings of the ninth international mathematics education and society conference (pp. 633–644). Volos: University of Thessaly Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kollosche, D. (2017b). A socio-critical analysis of students’ perceptions of mathematics. In H. Straehler-Pohl, N. Bohlmann, & A. Pais (Eds.), The disorder of mathematics education. Challenging the socio-political dimensions of research (pp. 173–189). Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge University Press.

  • Lerman, S. (2000). The social turn in mathematics education research. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 19–44). Westport, CT: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundin, S. (2012). Mechanism, understanding and silent practice in the teaching of arithmetic. University of Gothenburg.

  • Lundin, S., & Storck Christensen, D. (2017). Mathematics education as praying wheel: How adults avoid mathematics by pushing it onto children. In H. Straehler-Pohl, N. Bohlmann, & A. Pais (Eds.), The disorder of mathematics education (pp. 19–34). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Maaß, J., & Schlöglmann, W. (2000). Erwachsene und Mathematik [Adults and mathematics]. Mathematica Didactica, 23(2), 95–106.

  • Martin, D. B. (2009). Researching race in mathematics education. Teacher College Record, 111, 295–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. K. (1967). Manifest and latent functions. In N. J. Demerath (Ed.), System, change and conflict (pp. 9–75). New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser, U. (2004). Jugendliche zwischen Schule und Berufsbildung [Adolescents between school and vocational training]. Bern: Hep.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neander, J. (1974). Mathematik und Ideologie: Zur politischen Ökonomie des Mathematikunterrichts [Mathematics and ideology: On the political ecomony of mathematics education]. Sternberg: Raith.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pais, A. (2012). A critical approach to equity in mathematics education. In O. Skovsmose & B. Greer (Eds.), Opening the cage. Critique and politics of mathematics education (pp. 49–91). Rotterdam: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pais, A. (2013). An ideology critique of the use-value of mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 84(1), 15–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pais, A. (2014). Economy: The absent centre of mathematics education. ZDM, 46(7), 1085–1093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1959). The school class as a social system. Harvard Educational Review, 29(4), 298–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1971). The system of modern societies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pestalozzi, J. H. (1889). Leonard and Gertrude. Boston: Heath & Co. (Original work published 1781).

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, T. (2004). The alchemy of the mathematics curriculum: inscriptions and the fabrication of the child. American Educational Research Journal, 41(1), 3–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, T. M. (1996). Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Radford, L. (2012). Education and the illusions of emancipation. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 80(1–2), 101–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rist, R. C. (1970). Student social class and teacher expectations: the self-fulfilling prophecy in ghetto education. Harvard Educational Review, 40(3), 411–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skovsmose, O. (1994). Towards a philosophy of critical mathematics education. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. (1958). Richtlinien und Rahmenpläne für den Mathematikunterricht [Guidelines and framework curricula for mathematics education].

  • Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. (2003). Bildungsstandards im Fach Mathematik für den Mittleren Schulabschluss [Educational standards in the subject mathematics for secondary school graduation].

  • Stinson, D. W. (2013). Negotiating the ‘white male math myth’: African American male students and success in school mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 44(1), 69–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straehler-Pohl, H., Fernández, S., Gellert, U., & Figueiras, L. (2014). School mathematics registers in a context of low academic expectations. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 85(2), 175–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P., Zevenbergen, R., & Mousley, J. (2003). The contexts of mathematics tasks and the context of the classroom: are we including all students? Mathematics Education Research Journal, 15(2), 107–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terhart, E. (2009). Theorie der Schule: Auf der Suche nach einem Phantom? [Theory of school: On the search for a phantom?]. In B. Wischer (Ed.), Erziehungswissenschaft auf dem Prüfstand (pp. 35–50). Weinheim: Juventa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullmann, P. (2008). Mathematik, Moderne, Ideologie [Mathematics, modernity, ideology]. Konstanz: UVK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valero, P. (2004). Socio-political perspectives on mathematics education. In P. Valero & R. Zevenbergen (Eds.), Researching the socio-political dimensions of mathematics education. Issues of power in theory and methodology (pp. 5–23). Boston: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veith, H. (2004). Sozialisation- und jugendtheoretisches Denken im Wandel: Zur Rolle der funktionalistischen Systemtheorie [Changes in thought in the theories of socialisation and adolescence: On the role of functionalist system theory]. In H. Merkens & J. Zinnecker (Eds.), Jahrbuch Jugendforschung. 4. Ausgabe 2004 (pp. 129–151). Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkerdine, V. (1988). The mastery of reason: Cognitive development and the production of rationality. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organization. New York: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1921)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter, H. (2016). Entdeckendes Lernen im Mathematikunterricht [Discovery learning in mathematics education]. Wiesbaden: Springer. (Original work published 1989)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg, Liechtensteiner Str. 33, 6800, Feldkirch, Austria

    David Kollosche

Authors
  1. David Kollosche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Kollosche.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kollosche, D. Social functions of mathematics education: a framework for socio-political studies. Educ Stud Math 98, 287–303 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9818-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9818-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation