Abstract
The argument in this chapter is that mathematics, even before its professionalisation, has always been the domain of the select few. Attempts have been made, in recent times, to challenge the Eurocentric bias in mathematics and this has led to a greater appreciation of the mathematical contributions of different cultures. While there is an ackowledgement that mathematics is a pan-human activity, there is no evidence either in the history of mathematics or in mathematical practice today, to support the belief that, within a particular cultural context, mathematics was widely practised by the majority. The social arrangements of early civilisations were such that only the rich, the powerful, the influential, had access to mathematical knowledge. At times there was almost a conspiracy to keep the codified mathematical knowledge as secret as possible. Since there was no mass schooling until about a century ago, this kind of knowledge was only passed down within a certain ‘brotherhood’. The fact that state schools have now become a given in most societies offers us the unique opportunity to make mathematics accessible to all. Yet, in spite of a century of mathematics instruction, most people still feel alienated from the subject. In this chapter I argue that we need specific strategies to address this in order to encourage those who have been traditionally under-represented to participate in the production and use of mathematical knowledge. In particular, there should be a shift from seeing mathematics as involving the “interpretation of symbolic information” to an emphasis on situating it in the realm of everyday experiences of people.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bell, E.T.: 1945, The Development of Mathematics New York, McGraw-Hill.
Bishop, A. J.: 1988, Mathematical Enculturation: A Cultural Perspective on Mathematics Education Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Boyer, C.B.: 1968, A History of Mathematics New York, John Wiley Sons.
Confrey, J.: 1987, The Constructivist Cycle Unpublished paper.
Confrey, J.: 1988, Personal communication.
Eves, H.: 1963, A Survey of Geometry Volume 1. Boston: Allyn Bacon, Inc.
Eves, H.: 1969, The History of Geometry. In Historical Topics for the Mathematics Classroom Thirty-first Yearbook of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Washington, D.C.
Gattegno, C.: 1965, Mathematics and Imagery Mathematics Teaching, 33, 22.
Hogben, L.: 1968, Mathematics for the Million London, Merlin Press.
Kline, M.: 1972, Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times New York:Oxford University Press.
Lakatos, I.: 1978, Mathematics, Science and Epistemology: Philosophical Papers Vol. 2. J. Worrall and G. Currie (Eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Long, R.L.: 1986, Remarks on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics American Mathematics Monthly 93, 609–619.
Meserve, B.E.: 1973, Geometry as a Gateway to Mathematics In A.G. Howson (Ed.). Developments in Mathematical Education Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Seely-Brown, J., Collins, A. and Duguid, P.: 1989, Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning Educational Researcher„18(1), 32–42.
Seidenberg, A.: 1960, The Ritual Origin of Geometry Archive for the History of Exact Science, 1, 488–527.
Steen, L. A.: 1988, Celebrating Mathematics American Mathematics Monthly 95, 414–427.
Steen, L. A. (Ed.): 1990, On the Shoulders of Giants: New Approaches to Numeracy Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Wilder, R.L.: 1968, Evolution of Mathematical Concepts New York: Wiley.
Zaslaysky, C.: 1973, Africa Counts Westport, Connecticut: Lawrence Hill Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Volmink, J. (1994). Mathematics by All. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Cultural Perspectives on the Mathematics Classroom. Mathematics Education Library, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1199-9_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1199-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4424-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1199-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive