Abstract
Viewed from a European knowledge perspective, much of the writing about mathematics and mathematics education might be regarded as instances of several different genres: including, for example, mathematical, philosophical, historical, sociological, educational, psychological, and a diverse corpus of writings concerned with mathematics and culture. This present chapter is specifically concerned with summarising and critiquing the literature pertaining to anthropological perspectives on mathematics and mathematics education,
Numerous articles and books were written during the 1980’s and 1990’s on what has come to be known as the field of ‘ethnomathematics’. The first part of this chapter presents a framework for discussion of ethnomathematical concepts and issues from anthropological perspectives. The question of which activities, and investigations might profitably be classified as ‘anthropological’ is raised. In the second part of the chapter emphasis is placed on recurring themes, on problems, on recent developments, and on likely future directions for the study of mathematics education from anthropological perspectives.
The final part of the chapter offers an overview of anthropological writings on mathematics education which link with the growing body of literature calling for a radical rethinking of the educational task with respect to mathematics.
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Barton, B. (1996). Anthropological Perspectives on Mathematics and Mathematics Education. 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_28
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