Until the 1960s, maths was studied as an academic subject in a desire to have more mathematicians. The current trend, however, has moved away from viewing maths as a purely intellectual endeavour and towards developing a more mathematically competent workforce and citizenry. This trend has seen a large increase in the number of maths schemes being produced by the major educational publishers, which attempt to make maths "easier" and more "approachable" by using language instead of symbols. So why do so many children still "fail" at maths? The author contends that to understand this, teachers need to analyze and evaluate the maths textbooks they are currently using. The author shows the reader how to systematically analyze and evaluate these textbooks. This interrogation of classroom resources, should have important implications for teaching strategies and for textbook design and use.
Author(s): Paul Dowling
Series: Studies in Mathematics Education 7
Publisher: Springer
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 352
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of Figures and Tables......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 12
Preface by Series Editor......Page 14
Mathematical Myths......Page 18
Juggling Pots and Texts......Page 41
Sociology, Education and the Production of 'Ability'......Page 66
The Analysis of School Texts: Some Empirical Antecedents......Page 87
Towards a Language of Description: Some Theoretical Antecedents......Page 104
Constructive Description and Social Activity Theory......Page 141
An Introduction to the Empirical Text......Page 187
The Textualizing of Algebra......Page 207
Genres of Production......Page 233
Setting and the Public Domain......Page 259
Interpellating the Teacher......Page 289
Disturbing and Re-establishing Equilibrium......Page 305
References and Bibliography......Page 323
Index......Page 343
