The purpose of this book is to bring together readings which explore the culture of
learning in a mathematics classroom. These readings show how knowledge of this
culture assists teachers and learners to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics
and to address concerns of social justice and the need for equity.
Most educators and researchers assume that there are relationships between teachers’
experience of and beliefs about mathematics, the classroom atmosphere they
develop, the experience of learners in those classrooms and the resulting attainment in
and attitude to mathematics. These are relationships that researchers try to demonstrate,
and it is not easy. In recent years many researchers have become interested in
the culture in mathematics classrooms. This is not purely a sociological stance as can
be seen in the work of researchers such as Lave. In Lave’s view the type of learning that
occurs is significantly affected by the learning environment. The notion of community
of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) has been very influential over recent years alongside
the recognition of learning as being socially constructed and mediated through
language (Vygotsky, 1978). In order for learners to take control over their own
learning they need to be part of a community of practice in which the discourses and
practices of that community are negotiated by all the participants. Within a community
of practice, the main focus is on the negotiation of meaning rather than the acquisition
and transmission of information (Wenger, 1998). The features of such a
community include collaborative and cooperative working and the development of a
shared discourse. This view of the classroom as a community of practice is very
different from that of the panoptic space (Paechter, 2001) displayed in many English
mathematics classrooms where pupils are under constant surveillance in terms of
behaviour and learning.