The pedagogy of mathematics

Webb, Paul, Nicky Roberts

"This book on the pedagogy of mathematics offers an overview of that research, re-asserting some of the findings of previous studies. These include evidence that the state of mathematics teaching and performance in South Africa today reflects the impact of its colonial and apartheid past, and a racist system that presupposed that keeping mathematical knowledge from the oppressed would prove their supposed inferiority. However, this book goes beyond historical issues to pose crucial questions: why at all do we teach mathematics? What is the subject's actual utility to life? And there is a unifying logic informing our South African way of teaching mathematics? In seeking to answer these questions, the authors explore some of the best practices in mathematics education, both locally and internationally. They argue for possible methods of nurturing mathematical thinking amongst young...