Abstract
This chapter attempts to analyse the justification and the goals of mathematics education from both theoretical and historical perspectives. Methodological issues related to the identification and reconstruction of the justification and the goals of mathematics education are discussed as well.
The chapter begins by setting the stage, also as far as terminology is concerned, and by asking ‘what are the issues?’, in order to discuss the relevance of studying the justification and goals of mathematics education. Particular emphasis is being placed on the essential distinction between descriptive/analytic and normative issues.
The main part of the chapter consists in a descriptive/analytic, internationally orientated, survey of the development of the goals of mathematics education during the past century or so, as manifested in major contributions to and documents of curriculum change as well as in contributions to the didactics of mathematics. Attempts are being made to relate the development of the goals and justification of mathematics education to the changing roles of mathematics and mathematics education in society.
The chapter concludes by placing the discourse at issue within the broader context of contemporary preoccupations and concerns in the didactics of mathematics.
‘A discussion of mathematical education, and of ways and means of enhancing its value, must be approached first of all on the basis of a precise and comprehensive formulation of the valid aims and purposes of such education. Only on such basis can we approach intelligently the problems relating to the selection and organization of material, the methods of teaching and the point of view which should govern instruction, and the qualifications and training of the teachers who impart it. Such aims and purposes of the teaching of mathematics, moreover, must be sought in the nature of the subject, the role it plays in practical, intellectual, and spiritual life of the world, and in the interests and capacities of the students.’
The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education, 1923 (1970), p. 390
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Niss, M. (1996). Goals of Mathematics Teaching. In: Bishop, A.J., Clements, K., Keitel, C., Kilpatrick, J., Laborde, C. (eds) International Handbook of Mathematics Education. Kluwer International Handbooks of Education, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1465-0_2
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