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Mathematical Practices In And Across School Contexts

  • Jill Adler
Chapter
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Part of the Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science book series (LEUS, volume 5)

Abstract

This paper describes some mathematical practices in and across school contexts in South Africa. Through this description, I challenge a decontextualised notion of schooling and so too a decontextualised notion of mathematical practices in school. Through examples of mathematical practices within and across school contexts in South Africa, I illustrate what is well known in the field of sociology of education – that school mathematics and its associated practices are social at their core. They are a function of how knowledge in society is selected, transmitted and evaluated through schooling. These are socio-political processes and so vary considerably within and across social contexts, and inevitable function of the distribution of power and social control in society (Bernstein, 1996).

Keywords

School mathematics mathematical practices South Africa 
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Copyright information

© Springer 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jill Adler
    • 1
  1. 1.University of the WitwatersrandJohannesburgSouth Africa

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