Definition
Policy in mathematics education concerns the nature and shape of the mathematics curriculum, that is, the course of study in mathematics of a school or college. This is the teaching sequence for the subject as planned and experienced by the learner. Four aspects can be distinguished, and these are the focuses of policy debates:
- 1.
The aims, goals, and overall philosophy of the curriculum
- 2.
The planned mathematical content and its sequencing, as in a syllabus
- 3.
The pedagogy employed by teachers
- 4.
The assessment system
History
The New Math debate of the late 1950s to the mid-1960s was primarily about the content of the mathematics curriculum. At that time traditional school mathematics did not incorporate any modern topics. The content consisted primarily of arithmetic at elementary school, plus traditional algebra, Euclidean geometry, and trigonometry at high school. The New Math curriculum broadened the elementary curriculum to include other aspects of mathematics, and...
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Ernest, P. (2014). Policy Debates in Mathematics Education. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4978-8_125
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