Math (and science) has had a privileged status in schools and in society because it is thought of in our culture as existing outside of human experience, absolute and immutable. Critical theorists challenge the idea of math and science as removed from human circumstance. In Northern and Western curricula, which more and more are infiltrating and becoming the curricula of the South (for example, here at the Pan-American School of Bahia), math has been taught in a way that "supports a capitalist, urbanized, and industrialized consciousness" (p. 216). For example, math problems often involve money, buying, and selling. I would like to move towards a more investigative, constructivist approach to math. I believe that math is grounded in human experience, and local environment and behaviors should be taken into account when teaching math. I also believe that math is beautiful (fractals), chaotic (chaos theory), and mysterious (pi).
Namukasa, I. (2004). School Mathematics in the Era of Globalization. Interchange, 35/2, 209-227.
"In the post-colonial era and now with globalization, school mathematics and school at large in countries in the South is indeed a cultural homogenizing force, a critical filter for status, a perpetuator of mistaken illusion of certainty and an instrument of power" (p. 211).
"To challenge the ideology of certainty, reform researchers have suggested the incorporation of, among others, investigations, project work, and dialogue in mathematics classrooms; however, these alternatives have not been received without resistance themselves. Politicians, voters, parents, teachers and, even, students themselves have, with nostalgia, voiced their preference for a more familiar form of mathematics that is factual, procedural, and technical" (p. 221).
D'Ambrosio and Gerdes "...analyze the relationship between culture and mathematics, questioning the predominant view that mainstream mathematics is neutral" (p.211).
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