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The development of knowledge is never easy. One doesn't want to go
over old ground again, but yet one needs to establish the new in
the context of the old. One is also anxious about the novelty of
the ideas are they new enough, or are they too 'way out' to be
acceptable? In some fields perhaps these criteria are less
important than in others. In education, I sense that 'novelty' is a
tricky criterion, varying in value from society to society. In some
societies the new ideas have to justify their adoption in the face
to the old, tried and tested ideas. (Better the devil you know than
the devil you don't!) In other societies the old ways have to
justify their continuation in the face of the new, promising and
exciting ideas. (I can't find a good proverb for this! Perhaps
proverbs are all about preserving the past?) In any case, some
people will argue, there is nothing new to be said about education
anyway the problems are the same and it is only the context which
changes. Mellin Olsen develops the reader's knowledge through this
book in ways that are both novel and challenging. Their novelty is
not in question, judging by reactions to them which vary from "they
have nothing to do with mathematics education" to "they concern
everything that is done in mathematics education".
The development of knowledge is never easy. One doesn't want to go
over old ground again, but yet one needs to establish the new in
the context of the old. One is also anxious about the novelty of
the ideas are they new enough, or are they too 'way out' to be
acceptable? In some fields perhaps these criteria are less
important than in others. In education, I sense that 'novelty' is a
tricky criterion, varying in value from society to society. In some
societies the new ideas have to justify their adoption in the face
to the old, tried and tested ideas. (Better the devil you know than
the devil you don't!) In other societies the old ways have to
justify their continuation in the face of the new, promising and
exciting ideas. (I can't find a good proverb for this! Perhaps
proverbs are all about preserving the past?) In any case, some
people will argue, there is nothing new to be said about education
anyway the problems are the same and it is only the context which
changes. Mellin Olsen develops the reader's knowledge through this
book in ways that are both novel and challenging. Their novelty is
not in question, judging by reactions to them which vary from "they
have nothing to do with mathematics education" to "they concern
everything that is done in mathematics education".
In the first BACOMET volume different perspectives on issues
concerning teacher education in mathematics were presented (B.
Christiansen, A. G. Howson and M. Otte, Perspectives on Mathematics
Education, Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986). Underlying all of them was the
fundamental problem area of the relationships between mathematical
knowledge and the teaching and learning processes. The subsequent
project BACOMET 2, whose outcomes are presented in this book,
continued this work, especially by focusing on the genesis of
mathematical knowledge in the classroom. The book developed over
the period 1985-9 through several meetings, much discussion and
considerable writing and redrafting. Our major concern was to try
to analyse what we considered to be the most significant aspects of
the relationships in order to enable mathematics educators to be
better able to handle the kinds of complex issues facing all
mathematics educators as we approach the end of the twentieth
century. With access to mathematics education widening all the
time, with a multi tude of new materials and resources being
available each year, with complex cultural and social interactions
creating a fluctuating context of education, with all manner of
technology becoming more and more significant, and with both
informal education (through media of different kinds) and non
formal education (courses of training etc. ) growing apace, the
nature of formal mathematical education is increasingly needing
analysis."
In the first BACOMET volume different perspectives on issues
concerning teacher education in mathematics were presented (B.
Christiansen, A. G. Howson and M. Otte, Perspectives on Mathematics
Education, Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986). Underlying all of them was the
fundamental problem area of the relationships between mathematical
knowledge and the teaching and learning processes. The subsequent
project BACOMET 2, whose outcomes are presented in this book,
continued this work, especially by focusing on the genesis of
mathematical knowledge in the classroom. The book developed over
the period 1985-9 through several meetings, much discussion and
considerable writing and redrafting. Our major concern was to try
to analyse what we considered to be the most significant aspects of
the relationships in order to enable mathematics educators to be
better able to handle the kinds of complex issues facing all
mathematics educators as we approach the end of the twentieth
century. With access to mathematics education widening all the
time, with a multi tude of new materials and resources being
available each year, with complex cultural and social interactions
creating a fluctuating context of education, with all manner of
technology becoming more and more significant, and with both
informal education (through media of different kinds) and non
formal education (courses of training etc. ) growing apace, the
nature of formal mathematical education is increasingly needing
analysis."
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