Skip to main content

Abstract

This chapter reflects on trends and developments in, as well as attacks on, mathematics and science education, from the mid-1930s to present day, and critically assesses their overall impact in light of contemporary understandings. We offer an answer to the question of why the agenda for education reform is articulated with remarkable consistency across nations. We provide explanations as to why New Zealand has been attracted to reforms of other nations to solve its struggles around education. The chapter will also reflect on how a culture of blame serves to manufacture a crisis into the collective consciousness. We reflect on the rise and fall of both equity and excellence, and suggest a way forward for the contemporary educational environment.

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

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

Published Sources

  • Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). New York: Continuum (Original work published in 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodson, I. (Ed.). (1985). Social histories of the secondary curriculum. London and Philadelphia: Falmer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haran, W. J. (1982). Admiral Hyman Rickover, USN: A decade of educational criticism, 1955–64 (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Loyola University of Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, G., & Richardson, W. (2000). Historical research in educational settings. Buckingham and Philadelphia: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Permuth, S., & Dalzell, N. (2013). Driven by history: Mathematics education reform. International Journal of Educational Reform, 22(3), 235–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2016). New directions in policy borrowing research. Asia Pacific Educational Review, 17, 381–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takayama, K. (2007). “A Nation at Risk” Crosses the Pacific: Transnational Borrowing of the U.S. Crisis Discourse in the Debate on Education Reform in Japan. Comparative Education Review, 51(4), 423–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tampio, N. (2017). Democracy and national education standards. The Journal of Politics, 79(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/687206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Travers, K. J., & Westbury, I. (1989). The IEA study of mathematics 11: Analysis of mathematics curricula. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newspaper

    Google Scholar 

  • “Profits in US education. Dubious motives danger.” (1968). Herald [6 June].

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margaret Walshaw .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Openshaw, R., Walshaw, M. (2019). Looking Back and Looking Forward. In: Transnational Synergies in School Mathematics and Science Debates . Palgrave Studies in Excellence and Equity in Global Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28269-1_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28269-1_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28268-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28269-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics