The Philosophy of Mathematics Education
Old humanists
The old humanists do not acknowledge that there is any knowledge-related
educational problem concerned with race or ethnic groups. They can be said to make a
fetish of the purity of middle-class culture, and mathematics is viewed as pure and
unrelated to social uses and issues (the above interpretation of purity applies here). This
group is certain of the superiority of its own culture, and sees mathematics in other
cultures as lacking the power, abstraction and purity of Western academic
mathematics. Consequently issues of race, gender or social diversity are deemed
irrelevant to mathematics, and any attempt to accommodate such social issues by
making knowledge and learning more accessible stands to dilute standards and
threaten the purity of the subject. In short, this view actively promotes the cultural
domination of absolutism. which is the epistemological basis of institutional racism.
Technological pragmatists
This perspective perceives a problem in the educational underachievement of ethnic
minority students, as they affect the utilitarian needs of employment and vocational
training. Beyond this, the diversity of culture, race and gender in society are seen as
immaterial. Thus although this perspective's perception of the problem is limited,
there is a concern to improve education to bring ethnic and other minority students
onto the labour market. Thus, multicultural initiativesand awareness are encouraged
strictly with this end in mind, as is illustrated by Shukla (1989), sponsored and
published by the Further Education Unit (see also Further Education Unit, 1984;
1985).
However, this perspective sees mathematics as neutral, unless it is applied to
industry and technology. Thus multicultural mathematics is seen as an irrelevance,
since applications do not concern cultures but occupational uses. Although
purportedly meritocratic, technological pragmatism is essentially reproductive of the
social hierarchy, and most ethnic minority students are expected to find occupations at
the lower end of the job market. Consequently, if not overtly racist, this perspective
contributes to institutional racism in education and society.
Progressive educators
The progressive educator perspective is person-centred concerned to meet the needs of
all learners, including those of ethnic minority students. This perspective perceives a
problem in the underachievement and alienation of black students, including in
mathematics. The solution from this perspective is multiple, and involves (1) reacting
to individual instances of prejudice in the classroom, (2) working with ethnic minority
studentsto enhance self-esteem and confidence, (3) adding a multicultural dimension
to education, to accommodate the ethnicdiversity of the school population, and in
particular (4) adding multicultural elements to mathematics, such ;is introducing