However, while we allude to such frameworks in this paper, we do not draw extensively on
them. We do, however, end by asking whether they are capable of acknowledging the
culturally situated nature of mathematics teaching and learning. Indeed, we suggest that
students’ learning of mathematics is not independent of the cultures, and therefore the
curricula, in which they are raised; the nature and ambitions of the schools they attend; the
experience, competence and expectations of their teachers; the aspirations espoused at home;
and their own and their friends’ goals and inclinations. Matters such as these are particularly
important when interpreting the results of large scale international tests of achievement. For
example, to what extent is a country’s success on a particular test due to teacher competence,
societal factors whose influence may exceed teacher effects or a combination of such matters?