Interlude

Conclusion

Over the years I have struggled to find an explanation for what appears as the paradoxical situation of mathematics in the Australian VET sector. That is, to understand the situation of mathematics being considered as publicly important, particularly in a sector which is premised on supporting technological developments in the workplaces of the 21^st century, while it is simultaneously devalued as a teaching subject in the sector, in terms of both curricular content and professional teaching capabilities. To seek greater understanding I sought to gain a more theoretical insight into the complementary role played by technologies of power in this sector. The work of Bernstein ultimately provided, for me, a unifying set of principles for the interrogation of institutions, pedagogics, and the formation of identities (teachers’ and students’) taken up in the chapters which follow. To encompass such a range, his theorisations are necessarily very complex. Rather than attempt to summarise them here, I present instead my own diagrammatic interpretation.