The culture of the mathematics classroom is becoming an increasingly salient topic of discussion in mathematics education. Studying and changing what happens in the classroom allows researchers and educators to recognize the social character of mathematical pedagogy and the relationship between the classroom and culture at large. This volume is divided into three sections, reporting findings gained in both research and practice. The first part presents several attempts to change classroom culture by focusing on the education of mathematics teachers and on teacher-researcher collaboration. The second section shifts to the interactive processes of the mathematics classroom and to the communal nature of learning. The third section discusses the means of constructing, filtering, and establishing mathematical knowledge that are characteristic of classroom culture. This internationally relevant volume will be of particular interest to educators and educational researchers.

Mathematics teaching and learning have been dominated by a concern for the intellectual readiness of the child, debates over rote learning versus understanding and, recently, mathematical processes and thinking. The gaze into today's mathematics classroom is firmly focused on the individual learner. Recently, however, studies of mathematics in social practices, including the market place and the home, have initiated a shift of focus. Culture has become identified as a key to understanding the basis on which the learner appropriates meaning. The chapters in this timely book attempt to engage with this shift of focus and offer original contributions to the debate about mathematics teaching and learning. They adopt theoretical perspectives while drawing on the classroom as both the source of investigation and the site of potential change and development. The book will be of fundamental interest to lecturers and researchers and to teachers concerned with the classroom as a cultural phenomenon.

Mathematics is in the unenviable position of being simultaneously one of the most important school subjects for today's children to study and one of the least well understood. Its reputation is awe-inspiring. Everybody knows how important it is and everybody knows that they have to study it. But few people feel comfortable with it; so much so that it is socially quite acceptable in many countries to confess ignorance about it, to brag about one's incompe tence at doing it, and even to claim that one is mathophobic! So are teachers around the world being apparently legal sadists by inflicting mental pain on their charges? Or is it that their pupils are all masochists, enjoying the thrill of self-inflicted mental torture? More seriously, do we really know what the reasons are for the mathematical activity which goes on in schools? Do we really have confidence in our criteria for judging what's important and what isn't? Do we really know what we should be doing? These basic questions become even more important when considered in the context of two growing problem areas. The first is a concern felt in many countries about the direction which mathematics education should take in the face of the increasing presence of computers and calculator-related technol ogy in society.

The book has been written by an international group of very activeresearchers and scholars who have a passion for the study of Chinesemathematics education. It aims to provide readers with a comprehensiveand updated picture of the teaching and learning of mathematicsinvolving Chinese students from various perspectives, including theways in which Chinese students learn mathematics in classrooms, schools and homes, the influence of the cultural and socialenvironment on Chinese students'' mathematics learning, and thestrengths and weaknesses of the ways in which Chinese learnmathematics

The idea of the ICMI Study 13 is outlined as follows: Education in any social environment is influenced in many ways by the traditions of these environments. This study brings together leading experts to research and report on mathematics education in a global context. Mathematics education faces a split phenomenon of difference and correspondence. A study attempting a comparison between mathematics education in different traditions will be helpful to understanding this phenomenon.

This volume--the first to bring together research on sociocultural aspects of mathematics education--presents contemporary and international perspectives on social justice and equity issues that impact mathematics education. In particular, it highlights the importance of three interacting and powerful factors--gender, social, and cultural dimensions. Sociocultural Research on Mathematics Education: An International Perspective is distinguished in several ways: * It is research based. Chapters report on significant research projects; present a comprehensive and critical summary of the research findings; and offer a critical discussion of research methods and theoretical perspectives undertaken in the area. * It is future oriented, presenting recommendations for practice and policy and identifying areas for further research. * It deals with all aspects of formal and informal mathematics education and applications and all levels of formal schooling. As the context of mathematics education rapidly changes-- with an increased demand for mathematically literate citizenship; an increased awareness of issues of equity, inclusivity, and accountability; and increased efforts for globalization of curriculum development and research-- questions are being raised more than ever before about the problems of teaching and learning mathematics from a non-cognitive science perspective. This book contributes significantly to addressing such issues and answering such questions. It is especially relevant for researchers, graduate students, and policymakers in the field of mathematics education.

The achievement of students of color continues to be disproportionately low at all levels of education. More than ever, Geneva Gay's foundational book on culturally responsive teaching is essential reading in addressing the needs of today's diverse student population. Combining insights from multicultural education theory and research with real-life classroom stories, Gay demonstrates that all students will perform better on multiple measures of achievement when teaching is filtered through their own cultural experiences. This bestselling text has been extensively revised to include expanded coverage of student ethnic groups: African and Latino Americans as well as Asian and Native Americans as well as new material on culturally diverse communication, addressing common myths about language diversity and the effects of "English Plus" instruction.