Mathematical Practices

Posted on August 17, 2018 by alcuoco

My work and that of my colleagues at Education Development Center has always put mathematical thinking—the habits of mind that are indigenous to our discipline—at the core of our work with teachers. What we’ve learned from expert teachers has led me to think more carefully about what it means to “work like a mathematician.” The attached essay details some of the things I’ve learned.

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1 Response to Mathematical Practices

  1. Peter Grootenboer says:
    April 1, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    Thank you for this essay – it was very interesting and timely. I have been working with colleagues over the last 10 years to understand and theorize educational practice (we developed the Theory of Practice Architectures), and some of us are now turning our thoughts to mathematics education (among other disciplines). In essence, we see this as an ontological approach that centers on practices as the fabric of social life, and currently we are beginning to consider the mathematics curriculum as ‘a curriculum of practices’. This does not deny the existence or need for mathematical knowledge per se, but rather, works from the premise that we can only have access to what people know from what they practice. Also, in general the purpose of ‘having knowledge’ is not just to ‘know stuff’, but rather to practice.
    Thank you for this thoughtful and helpful essay

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