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Search for National Identity: Willy Servais and the Belgian Society of Mathematics Teachers

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Rods, Sets and Arrows

Part of the book series: History of Mathematics Education ((HME))

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Abstract

In 1953, the Belgian Society of Mathematics Teachers was founded, ensuring a structural relation between the work of the CIEAEM and the community of Belgian mathematics teachers. The Society brought together a few hundred mathematics teachers from both linguistic communities (French and Dutch). It immediately started its own professional journal Mathematica & Paedagogia that rapidly became a main forum for national and international exchange in mathematics education. From the mid-1950s on, the trend toward modern mathematics became clearer. The prominence of the Society and its journal in mathematics education debates during the 1950s was largely due to the leadership and versatile contacts of Willy Servais, the most influential Belgian mathematics educator of that time, both in his home country and on the international scene. Also in the next two decades, Servais’ reputation could stand, thanks to his open-mindedness, broad experience, and international outlook.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A personal letter dated December 22, 1953, by R. Van Twembeke to G. Bosteels mentions 320 members, among them 40 Flemings (collection D. De Bock).

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  1. KU Leuven, Brussels, Belgium

    Dirk De Bock & Geert Vanpaemel

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  1. Dirk De Bock
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  2. Geert Vanpaemel
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De Bock, D., Vanpaemel, G. (2019). Search for National Identity: Willy Servais and the Belgian Society of Mathematics Teachers. In: Rods, Sets and Arrows. History of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20599-7_3

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