Mathematical Subjects

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Understanding Children as Mathematical Subjects: Theories and Methods

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Of Subjects, Subjectivity, and Subjectification: Subjects Made Visible

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 3-12

   3. Of Archaeology, and Genealogy: Choosing Sites and Tools

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 13-25

3. The Art of Being Mathematical: The Primary Years

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 28-28

      PDF

   2. Children at Work

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 29-66

   3. Tests and Contests

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 67-91

   4. Error and Correction

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 93-131

   5. The Emergence of Ability

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 133-171

4. Subjects of Choice: The Secondary Years

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 174-174

      PDF

   2. Form and Formula

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 175-185

   3. Measures of Success

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 187-205

   4. Keeping Up

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 207-216

   5. The Shape of Life

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 217-228

5. Mathematical Futures: Life After School

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 230-230

      PDF

   2. Girl Time and Boys’ Clubs: Mathematical Genderfication

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 231-245

   3. Background or Foreground? Home, Social Class and Ethnicity

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 247-255

   4. Contemplating a Child-Friendly Mathematical Education

      • Fiona Walls

      Pages 257-267

6. Back Matter

   Pages 269-286

   PDF

Teaching and learning mathematics is a political act in which children, teachers, parents, and policy makers are made visible as subjects. As they learn about mathematics, children are also learning about themselves – who they are, who they might become. We can choose to listen or not to what children have to say about learning mathematics. Such choices constitute us in relations of power. Mathematical know-how is widely regarded as essential not only to the life chances of individuals, but also to the health of communities and the economic well-being of nations. With the globalisation of education in an increasingly market-oriented world, mathematics has received intensified attention in the first decade of the twenty-first century with a shifting emphasis on utilitarian aspects of mathematics. This is reflected in the reconceptualisation of mathematical competence as mathematical literacy, loosely conceived as those ways of thinking, reasoning and working “mathematically” that allow us to engage effectively in everyday situations, in many occupations, and the cut and thrust of world economies as active, empowered and participatory citizens. It is no surprise then that mathematics has become one of the most politically charged subjects in primary school curricula worldwide. We are experiencing an unprecedented proliferation of regional and national strategies to establish benchmarks, raise standards, enhance achievement, close gaps, and leave no child behind in mathematics education. Industries have sprung up around the design, administration and monitoring of standardised assessment to measure and compare children’s mathematical achievement against identified benchmarks and each other.

• Longitudinal study
• childhood education
• early childhood education
• education
• educational system
• mathematics education

• School of Education, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

  Fiona Walls

Policies and ethics