What Counts As Mathematics?

by Fitzsimons, Gail E.

• ISBN13: 9781402006685
• ISBN10: 1402006683
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

This book presents an institutional study located at the intersection mathematics education and vocational education. Using the concept of technology as a unifying theme, the book presents a critique of neoliberalist policies and their impact upon curriculum, teachers' work, and the apparent de-institutionalisation of vocational education - with particular reference to mathematics education and the consequences for adult students as (potential) workers and citizens.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement and Dedication	v
Introduction	xi
Theory and Practice of Mathematics Education for Adults	xi
Prelude	1	(1)
A Personal View From the Margins of Mathematics and Vocational Education	1	(3)
Multiple Perspectives	4	(2)
Some Working Definitions	6	(3)
Vocational Education and Training in Australia	6	(1)
Mathematics and Statistics	7	(2)
Aims and Goals for this Monograph	9	(2)
Outline of Monograph	11	(2)
What Counts as Mathematics? Institutions and Images	13	(46)
Introduction	13	(1)
The Institution of Mathematics	13	(15)
Historical Aspects of Mathematics	15	(1)
Sociological Aspects of Mathematics	16	(4)
Practices of Mathematics	20	(2)
Mathematics and Technology	22	(3)
The Structuring Roles of Technology	25	(3)
The Institution of Mathematics Education	28	(14)
Perspectives on the History of Mathematics Education	28	(3)
Perspectives on Ideological, Cultural, and Social Dimensions of Mathematics Education	31	(5)
Values and Goals of Mathematics Education	36	(1)
Numeracy: A Contested Concept	37	(5)
Images	42	(8)
Images Public and Personal	43	(1)
Images of Mathematics	43	(2)
Images of Mathematics Education	45	(5)
Research in Mathematics Education	50	(3)
Conclusion	53	(6)
Technology, Mathematics, And Industry	59	(40)
Mathematics In and For the Workplace	59	(1)
Introduction	59	(1)
Globalisation	59	(1)
Theorisations of the Workplace	60	(6)
Problematic Representations of Workplaces	61	(1)
Workplace Competence	62	(4)
Technologies of Work in Practice	66	(4)
Mathematics in the Workplace	70	(7)
Early Studies	70	(1)
More Recent, Epistemologically-Grounded Studies	71	(6)
Education for the Workplace	77	(5)
The Development of Mathematical Occupational Competence	82	(9)
Transfer	86	(3)
Essentialism, Socially Situated Cognition, and Mediating Artefacts	89	(2)
Implications for Curriculum and Teaching	91	(4)
Developments in Vocational Mathematics Education in the Netherlands and Denmark	93	(2)
Conclusion	95	(4)
Interlude	99	(28)
Theoretical Frameworks	99	(1)
Technologies of Power	99	(9)
The Concept of Technology	99	(1)
Bureaucracy and Rationalisation: The Contribution of Max Weber	100	(3)
Technical Rationality: The Contribution of Jurgen Habermas	103	(2)
Technologies of Power: The Contribution of Michel Foucault	105	(3)
Bernstein's Models of Symbolic Control, Pedagogy, and Identity	108	(1)
Classification and Framing	109	(2)
Models of Competence	111	(5)
Competence and Performance Pedagogic Models	112	(3)
Implications for Vocational Mathematics Education	115	(1)
The Recontextualising Field	116	(3)
Competence Modes of the Recontextualising Field	116	(1)
Performance Modes of the Recontextualising Field	117	(2)
Recontextualising Texts	119	(5)
The Concept of Code	119	(3)
The Arbitrary Basis of Content	122	(2)
Conclusion	124	(3)
Technologies of Power: Recontextualising Texts	127	(24)
An Australian Case Study	127	(1)
Introduction	127	(1)
The Institution of Vocational Education and Training	127	(9)
A Brief History of Adult and Vocational Education	128	(4)
Images of Vocational Education and Training	132	(2)
Reflections on Two Decades of Practice	134	(2)
Recontextualising Texts for vocational Mathematics	136	(11)
Workers Perspectives	139	(3)
Teachers Perspectives	142	(2)
Examples of the Arbitrary Basis of Content	144	(3)
Conclusion	147	(4)
Technologies of Power: The Recontextualising Field	151	(32)
Curriculum and the Conditions of Teachers' Work	151	(1)
Introduction	151	(1)
Vocational Mathematics Curriculum	151	(10)
Mathematics Curriculum in the Australian VET Sector	152	(1)
Goals for Vocational Mathematics Curricula	153	(4)
Transfer, Process, and Content	157	(4)
Bernstein's Models of Competence Revisited	161	(2)
Competency-Based Training	163	(7)
Perspectives on CBT	163	(4)
Key Competencies and CBT	167	(3)
Flexible Learning: An Instructional Perspective	170	(2)
The Conditions of Teachers' Work	172	(8)
Teachers' Work in the Australian VET Sector	172	(2)
Professionalism and VET Teachers	174	(1)
The Work of Mathematics Teachers in the Australian VET Sector	175	(2)
Professional Development	177	(2)
Vocational Mathematics Education and Professional Development	179	(1)
Conclusion	180	(3)
Technologies of Power: Knowledge Production and Distribution	183	(32)
The De-Institutionalisation of Education	183	(1)
Introduction	183	(1)
Technologies of Power: Political Influences	183	(2)
Technologies of Power	183	(1)
Policy Formation	184	(1)
Technologies of Corporate Management	185	(8)
Industrial Award Restructuring	190	(1)
Organisational Change: An Open Training Market	191	(1)
The National Training Framework	192	(1)
A Weakening Classification of Knowledge	193	(3)
Goals of Vocational Education and Training	196	(3)
Lifelong Learning	199	(4)
New Forms of Knowledge Production	203	(2)
Flexible Learning and The De-Institutionalisation of Education	205	(4)
Research in Vocational Education and Training	209	(4)
International Perspectives	209	(2)
Research as a Technology of Power?	211	(2)
Conclusion	213	(2)
Conclusion	215	(18)
What Counts as Mathematics in Adult and Vocational Education?	215	(1)
Introduction	215	(1)
Public Image and Technologies of Management	216	(2)
The Image of Vocational Mathematics as Located Within the Public Image of Mathematics Education	218	(4)
Vocational Mathematics, Numeracy, and Workplace Competence	222	(4)
Final Words	226	(7)
Appendix 1: Glossary of Acronyms	233	(4)
References	237	(24)
Name Index	261	(6)
Subject Index	267