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Epistemological Issues in the Internationalization and Globalization of Mathematics Education

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Internationalisation and Globalisation in Mathematics and Science Education

Abstract

This chapter discusses some of the universalizing forces at work in the globalization and internationalization of mathematics education. Wikipedia is used a both a definitional source for the concepts of globalization and internationalization, as well as exemplifying the Anglophone and eurocentric domination of the knowledge economy worldwide. This web based encyclopedia also exemplifies mode 2 knowledge production outside of the academy, which is related to the place of ethnomathematics in society. The distinction between mode 1 and 2 knowledge production is used to critique the ideological discourse of mathematics which asserts that it is universal and sustains economic and social activity, and is an Anglophone academic production. It is argued that the role of mathematics is inseparable from the dominant background ideology of capitalism-consumerism, through which it helps to sustain the economic supremacy of the developed countries of the North. However, some possibilities for countering these effects via the development of critical mathematical literacy in learners and citizens are also indicated

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Ernest, P. (2008). Epistemological Issues in the Internationalization and Globalization of Mathematics Education. In: Atweh, B., et al. Internationalisation and Globalisation in Mathematics and Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5908-7_2

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