Methodological Challenges for Mathematics Education Research from a Critical Perspective

Finding Direction When the Ground Is Moving: Science Education Research in South Africa

“…Further, timetabling changes and exams mean that he cannot easily modify his plan. In this story, we see starkly the interactions and disjunctions between Vithal's (2000) actual, hypothetical and arranged situations, and between the curriculum and research domains of the research. Adler and Lerman (2003) propose different endings to the story, drawing out possible consequences for the researcher, the participants (at the school), the academy, and the public, and exploring the ethical dilemmas created.…”

“…Further, as has been noted earlier, communities and individuals in South Africa expect them to be addressed, as part of the liberation from apartheid. Vithal (2000) and Vithal and Valero (2003) present case examples that show how difficult the research process becomes, and how much it yet needs to be theorised. Adler and Lerman (2003)-also from Mathematics education-address similar issues from a perspective of ethics.…”

“…used participative methodologies to investigate meanings of relevant science in a poor rural village in KwaZulu Natal. The process provided rich data (Keane, Malcolm & Rollnick, 2003, but was difficult, bringing to the fore issues canvassed by Vithal (2000) and Adler and Lerman (2003). As a result of community choices, the research and education became embedded in community development, with the community's priority more for economic and social development than education and research.…”

“…Vithal (2000), for example, offers a framework for rethinking research and curriculum. She does so with particular concerns for the ways in which researchers have and deploy power in their research and curriculum interventions.…”

La responsabilidad del currículo de matemáticas en la formación de ciudadanos que cuestionen la estructura social de clases. Una mirada desde perspectivas sociopolíticas

“…Ante tal situación y la no prescripción curricular, Vithal (2000) propone la idea del "laboratorio para desarrollo de currículo", en el que tanto los protagonistas como sus acciones se ponen de manifiesto y la práctica y la teoría se confrontan permanentemente en el lugar donde se vive su sentido y significado. Aunque la incertidumbre es inherente a las perspectivas sociopolíticas y en el laboratorio del currículo este elemento tiene presencia permanente, la puesta en escena de las situaciones, experiencias y creencias de la comunidad que conforma el laboratorio permite consolidar una propuesta de currículo democrática que aportará elementos para que los estudiantes entiendan y posteriormente participen de las decisiones que configuran su realidad.…”