Commentary on the Chapter by Dowling and Burke, “Shall We Do Politics or Learn Some Maths Today? Representing and Interrogating Social Inequality”

Becker, Joanne Rossi

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-27702-3_10

Joanne Rossi Becker³

Part of the book series: Advances in Mathematics Education ((AME))

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Abstract

This chapter posits the following conundrum: Is it possible to structure a mathematics lesson that integrates questioning of social inequality with worthwhile mathematical material? Dowling and Burke answer this question negatively. They conclude that a lesson must either privilege mathematics, providing all students with appropriate and rigorous mathematical content, or a lesson must privilege political motivations, providing for a full and extensive discussion of critical issues; according to the authors, it is not possible to accomplish both goals at the same time.

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Authors and Affiliations

San Jose State University, San Jose, USA
Joanne Rossi Becker

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Joanne Rossi Becker
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Correspondence to Joanne Rossi Becker .

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Editors and Affiliations

Fac. Education, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, 3800, Victoria, Australia
Helen Forgasz
Dept. Mathematics, San Jose State University, Washington Square 1, San Jose, 95192, California, USA
Ferdinand Rivera

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Becker, J.R. (2012). Commentary on the Chapter by Dowling and Burke, “Shall We Do Politics or Learn Some Maths Today? Representing and Interrogating Social Inequality”. In: Forgasz, H., Rivera, F. (eds) Towards Equity in Mathematics Education. Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27702-3_10

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27702-3_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27701-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27702-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)

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