Commentary on Theories of Mathematics Education

436 J.E. Jacobs
of the school curriculum and modes of instruction as having been determined by
male values and experiences and sees male definition of the disciplines themselves
(Damarin 1990a). The above mentioned studies support the assumptions upon which
women studies programs were developed. This philosophical basis begins with the
assumption that gender is a salient variable; that females and males have different
value systems and operate in their cultures differently, including how they are in the
classroom. These programs assumed that different modes of instruction and changes
in the disciplines themselves were needed in order for females to feel included and
welcomed in the classroom and in intellectual pursuits. For the purpose of this article,
this philosophical basis of women studies programs will be called feminist
pedagogy. 1
There is much for mathematics education to learn from women studies programs
and their use of feminist pedagogy. Feminist pedagogy includes not only how mathematics
is taught but the very nature of the discipline of mathematics. The methodology
of the mathematics classroom includes the relationships among the teacher
and the students, using students’ experiences to enhance their learning, cooperative
vs. competitive and individualistic experiences, and writing as a means of learning
mathematics. The analysis of the nature of mathematics includes what the content is,
the language used in talking about mathematics, the nature of proof (what it means
to know something in mathematics), and what mathematicians actually do.
Theoretical Framework: Different Voices
Before discussing the idea that women have different voices than men and that they
bring different voices and cultures to the mathematics classroom, the reservations
that many readers have about describing a particular way of thinking as the women’s
ways must be addressed. When particular behaviors are ascribed to women or girls
the readers need to remember that such a statement does not automatically mean all
females act this way nor that no males act this way. The generalization represents
social science terminology, not mathematical. The words women or females is used
to refer to all those individuals who think, come to know, or react as is the more
common way for the majority of women. These individuals may be females or other
people. Also, the use of the word women to describe the way of thinking of some
people does not preclude the possibility that some women do not think in this way
nor that some men do.
Probably the most important effort to reexamine a widely accepted theory and to
determine if it is truly representative of women’s experience is Carol Giligan’s work
(Gilligan 1982). Gilligan looked at stages of moral development, derived from an
all male sample, and asked whether the hierarchical stages proposed were reflective
1 One’s culture, be it race, ethnic, socioeconomic circumstances, etc., is another variable that effects
the mathematics education of individuals. Though this article focuses on gender and uses it in a
global way, the author is aware that modifications of this paradigm may be required for females of
different cultures.