School Mathematics in the Face of Globalization

This essay reviews the principles motivating contemporary critical mathematics discourses. Drawing from varied critical discourses including ethnomathematics, critical theory, post-structural theory, and situated and ecological cognition, the essay examines the pragmatics of critiques to the privileged role of school mathematics in the era of globalization. Critiques of modern school curricula argue that globalization practices linking education to technological and economic development are increasing, and the curriculum is being redefined through discourses of privatization, national standards, and global competitiveness. Globalization has reinforced the utilitarian approach to school mathematics and the Western bias in the prevailing mathematics curricula, as well as helped to globalize pervasive mathematical ideologies. In most instances, a newfound status that mathematics is enjoying in this era of globalization is not well deserved, as school mathematics can no longer be considered culturally, socially, politically, nor economically neutral. In particular, school mathematics is increasingly critiqued as a cultural homogenizing force, a critical filter for status, a perpetuator of mistaken illusions of certainty, and an instrument of power. With such concerns it is becoming more evident that mathematics learning and education have implications for building just and democratic societies. As an African female scholar who is now living in Canada, I reflect on what the critical stance might mean for contexts with which I am familiar. I discuss the challenges of school mathematics with a view to improving curriculum and pedagogy so as to raise the awareness of teachers and learners to the questionable assumptions from which mathematics derives its prestige. The mathematics curriculum is central to cultivating values as well as fostering the conscientization of learners. KEYWORDS; Globalization, school mathematics, mathematical validity, Western mathematics, critical discourses, utilitarian view, mathematics development, democracy, pedagogy, curriculum. School mathematics is traditionally perceived as an elitist subject for more academically oriented learners. In most countries, especially Southern countries, mathematics is a criterion for admission to universities and colleges. At colleges and universities mathematics has become interwoven with other disciplines such as psychology and sociology and it is associated with most of the developments of the technological, information age. Some scholars are concerned that heightened description, prescription, and prediction of the physical and social sciences boosts the utilitarian thrust towards mathematics. According to critiques of school mathematics this newfound status needs to be examined, for there are instances where it is not well deserved. As Polya (1957/1973) has argued, part of the honor accorded to school mathematics is dubious, since school mathematics is amongst the least popular subjects for students. School mathematics has also been critiqued for, with the help of colonialism, reinforcing a Western/Eurocentric approach in the prevailing curriculum and for helping to globalize particular kinds of mathematical technologies and ideologies (Bishop, 1997; D’Ambrosio, 1990). This paper examines the privileged role of school mathematics in the era of globalization. This privilege is not without justification. Mathematics is a way of knowing and of existing in the world; it is difficult to imagine our daily lives without basic mathematical technologies such as measurement, counting, comparing, and locating. Historical and contemporary evidence show that every human culture (however small) not only motivated by utility but also by aesthetics, religion, or enchantment, is capable of developing some form of mathematics (Davis, P. & Hersh, 1981; Ghever Ghese, 1991). Mainstream mathematics, such as the mathematics curriculum in most parts of the world, is applicable to wide areas of experience and is integrated into other disciplines. Basic mathematics is a globally understood language; it is an approach to being in, engaging with, and relating to the world, and to perceiving and understanding the structure of our worlds. Both the social and physical worlds are being understood from a mathematical view at an increasing rate. P. Davis and Hersh (1986) maintain that the application of mathematics to almost every aspect of the human world is often established on questionable assumptions and has problematic implications. Skovsmose (1990) argues that school mathematics has political implications as it favors certain groups of students, stratifies society, and serves as an introduction to an ideology characterized by certainty, idealism, and rationalism. It appears the modern world is filled with the spirit of Descartes, a dream about a universal method whereby all human problems could be worked out rationally, systematically, and by logical computation (P. Davis & Hersh, 1986; Jardine, 1998). Due to the wide range of application and internationalization of modern mathematics, school mathematics is implicated in theories about building democratic societies. In addition the long held view that mathematics has nothing to do with culture and politics is flawed. As an African scholar, I have lived particular challenges of school mathematics, first as a school mathematics student then as a school mathematics teacher, a post-graduate mathematics and mathematics education student, and now as a mathematics educator, and always as a member of an increasingly mathematized society. 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. Moreover even in countries in the North some recent reforms, particularly those driven by challenges of globalization, undermine efforts towards more democratic and socially responsive curricula. It is often an overlooked challenge for teachers, educators and curriculum designers to understand how the broader aspects of society are constituted by (as well as constitute) the specific and local contexts of classrooms. In this paper referring to critical mathematics discourses including ethnomathematics, critical theory, post-structural theory, and situated and ecological cognition theories I examine the pragmatics of criticisms that have arisen around school mathematics for the contexts with which I am familiar. Studies in the emerging field of ethnomathematics examine the history of mathematics, the cultural anthropology of ancient empires, and the mathematics of traditional societies to understand non-western mathematical ways of knowing (D’Ambrosio, 1985). Ethnomathematics scholars, such as D’Ambrosio and Gerdes, analyze the differences as well as invariance of mathematical traditions across and within identifiable cultural groups. Studying the mathematical notions and skills of varied cultures, cultural scholars maintain that mathematical thinking is developed and used in specific cultural contexts with specific needs and ways of life. They analyze the relationship between culture and mathematics, questioning the predominant view that mainstream mathematics is culture-neutral. Critical theorists, such as Apple, Bishop, and Skovsmose, are concerned with ideologies and institutions that support and maintain ruling power structures. They maintain that a non-critical understanding, teaching, and use of mathematics may simply perpetuate oppressive values, pervasive ideologies, and power structures. Critical theorists examine how school mathematics is either enhancing or debilitating a democratic society. To promote a democratic society, critical theorists advocate for a curriculum that teaches societal values. Post-structuralists, such as Walkerdine, maintain that mathematical meaning is determined by a play of signs and a play of difference, and by a silenced, suffocated other. Drawing from analyses such as Foucauldian analysis and Bourdieu’s socio-cultural analysis, post-structuralists are interested in how differences, such as differences in mathematical ability, are lived. Post-structuralists focus on how school mathematics is socially organized and maintained with the hope that understanding of differences will influence analyses of learning. Situated cognition scientists such as Saxe and Posner, and ecological cognition scholars such as Jardine and B. Davis emphasize that mathematics is situated within the social, material, and cultural contexts in which it arose (or arises) as a tool for human use and play. Situated and ecological cognition scholars maintain that learning mathematics should happen in context and as a social and human activity rather than a non-corporeal discipline. This is an over simplified description of the fields of study that I have grouped under the umbrella term critical (or reconceptionalist) discourses. For purposes of this essay and due to the limited space I have underplayed the differences that exist within varied fields of study. Also other reconceptionalist schools for instance the socio-cultural accounts of learning and historical theories are beyond the focus of my preliminary exploration of principles motivating contemporary criticisms of school mathematics. In general, critiques of school mathematics examine the implications of modern mathematics as a product of centuries of Cartesian thinking that sought to elevate mathematics beyond the humane. Drawing from fields as diverse as anthropology, neuroscience, and ecological studies scholars critique the consideration of mathematics as a non-corporeal, entirely rational discipline that is, therefore, value-free. They highlight the importance of context, of situated and of embodied experience plus the place of human agency in mathematics development and edu