What Counts As Mathematics

by Fitzsimons, Gail E.

• ISBN13: 9781402006692
• ISBN10: 1402006691
• Format: Paperback
• 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	p. v
Introduction	p. XI
Theory and Practice of Mathematics Education for Adults	p. xi
Prelude	p. 1
A Personal View From the Margins of Mathematics and Vocational Education	p. 1
Multiple Perspectives	p. 4
Some Working Definitions	p. 6
Vocational Education and Training in Australia	p. 6
Mathematics and Statistics	p. 7
Aims and Goals for this Monograph	p. 9
Outline of Monograph	p. 11
What Counts as Mathematics? Institutions and Images	p. 13
Introduction	p. 13
The Institution of Mathematics	p. 13
Historical Aspects of Mathematics	p. 15
Sociological Aspects of Mathematics	p. 16
Practices of Mathematics	p. 20
Mathematics and Technology	p. 22
The Structuring Roles of Technology	p. 25
The Institution of Mathematics Education	p. 28
Perspectives on the History of Mathematics Education	p. 28
Perspectives on Ideological, Cultural, and Social Dimensions of Mathematics Education	p. 31
Values and Goals of Mathematics Education	p. 36
Numeracy: A Contested Concept	p. 37
Images	p. 42
Images Public and Personal	p. 43
Images of Mathematics	p. 43
Images of Mathematics Education	p. 45
Research in Mathematics Education	p. 50
Conclusion	p. 53
Technology, Mathematics, and Industry	p. 59
Mathematics In and For the Workplace	p. 59
Introduction	p. 59
Globalisation	p. 59
Theorisations of the Workplace	p. 60
Problematic Representations of Workplaces	p. 61
Workplace Competence	p. 62
Technologies of Work in Practice	p. 66
Mathematics in the Workplace	p. 70
Early Studies	p. 70
More Recent, Epistemologically-Grounded Studies	p. 71
Education for the Workplace	p. 77
The Development of Mathematical Occupational Competence	p. 82
Transfer	p. 86
Essentialism, Socially Situated Cognition, and Mediating Artefacts	p. 89
Implications for Curriculum and Teaching	p. 91
Developments in Vocational Mathematics Education in the Netherlands and Denmark	p. 93
Conclusion	p. 95
Interlude	p. 99
Theoretical Frameworks	p. 99
Technologies of Power	p. 99
The Concept of Technology	p. 99
Bureaucracy and Rationalisation: The Contribution of Max Weber	p. 100
Technical Rationality: The Contribution of Jurgen Habermas	p. 103
Technologies of Power: The Contribution of Michel Foucault	p. 105
Bernstein's Models of Symbolic Control, Pedagogy, and Identity	p. 108
Classification and Framing	p. 109
Models of Competence	p. 111
Competence and Performance Pedagogic Models	p. 112
Implications for Vocational Mathematics Education	p. 115
The Recontextualising Field	p. 116
Competence Modes of the Recontextualising Field	p. 116
Performance Modes of the Recontextualising Field	p. 117
Recontextualising Texts	p. 119
The Concept of Code	p. 119
The Arbitrary Basis of Content	p. 122
Conclusion	p. 124
Technologies of Power: Recontextualising Texts	p. 127
An Australian Case Study	p. 127
Introduction	p. 127
The Institution of Vocational Education and Training	p. 127
A Brief History of Adult and Vocational Education	p. 128
Images of Vocational Education and Training	p. 132
Reflections on Two Decades of Practice	p. 134
Recontextualising Texts for vocational Mathematics	p. 136
Workers' Perspectives	p. 139
Teachers' Perspectives	p. 142
Examples of the Arbitrary Basis of Content	p. 144
Conclusion	p. 147
Technologies of Power: The Recontextualising Field	p. 151
Curriculum and the Conditions of Teachers' Work	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
Vocational Mathematics Curriculum	p. 151
Mathematics Curriculum in the Australian VET Sector	p. 152
Goals for Vocational Mathematics Curricula	p. 153
Transfer, Process, and Content	p. 157
Bernstein's Models of Competence Revisited	p. 161
Competency-Based Training	p. 163
Perspectives on CBT	p. 163
Key Competencies and CBT	p. 167
Flexible Learning: An Instructional Perspective	p. 170
The Conditions of Teachers' Work	p. 172
Teachers' Work in the Australian VET Sector	p. 172
Professionalism and VET Teachers	p. 174
The Work of Mathematics Teachers in the Australian VET Sector	p. 175
Professional Development	p. 177
Vocational Mathematics Education and Professional Development	p. 179
Conclusion	p. 180
Technologies of Power: Knowledge Production and Distribution	p. 183
The De-Institutionalisation of Education	p. 183
Introduction	p. 183
Technologies of Power: Political Influences	p. 183
Technologies of Power	p. 183
Policy Formation	p. 184
Technologies of Corporate Management	p. 185
Industrial Award Restructuring	p. 190
Organisational Change: An Open Training Market	p. 191
The National Training Framework	p. 192
A Weakening Classification of Knowledge	p. 193
Goals of Vocational Education and Training	p. 196
Lifelong Learning	p. 199
New Forms of Knowledge Production	p. 203
Flexible Learning and The De-Institutionalisation of Education	p. 205
Research in Vocational Education and Training	p. 209
International Perspectives	p. 209
Research as a Technology of Power?	p. 211
Conclusion	p. 213
Conclusion	p. 215
What Counts as Mathematics in Adult and Vocational Education?	p. 215
Introduction	p. 215
Public Image and Technologies of Management	p. 216
The Image of Vocational Mathematics as Located Within the Public Image of Mathematics Education	p. 218
Vocational Mathematics, Numeracy, and Workplace Competence	p. 222
Final Words	p. 226
Glossary of Acronyms	p. 233
References	p. 237
Name Index	p. 261
Subject Index	p. 267
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