Researching mathematics education in South Africa: perspectives, practices and possibilities

Abstract

The last decade has seen significant reform in the South African mathematics curriculum and the mathematics education research community has also grown markedly.

Drawing on the proceedings from nearly a decade of the South African Association for Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education (SAARMSTE) conferences, this book reflects on the theoretical and ideological work that has contributed to the growth of mathematics education research in South Africa.

Originating from the need to stimulate, record and extend such research, the volume also provides an historical analysis of forces that changed and shaped mathematics curricula over the years. Research themes explored include: assessment; issues of language; aspects of radical pedagogy and progressive classroom practices; ethnomathematics; teacher education; and South Africa mathematics education research within both its local and international contexts.

The contributors to this volume are located across a wide range of institutional settings and they address a diversity of interests and concerns, exploring and extendfing new directions in mathematics education research, particularly within the changing landscape of post-apartheid South Africa.

The editors of this collection argue that a new agenda in mathematics education research needs to be debated in order to better understand the connections between curriculum research, reform, policy and practice. This publication may be considered an initial movement in this direction as it attempts to capture the broad range of research being done in mathematics education in South Africa.