Commentary on Theories of Mathematics Education

<strong>Commentary</strong> 3 on Feminist Pedagogy and Mathematics 469
study then it can be expected that only a few teenage boys will achieve high scores
(assuming that most teenage boys are influenced by the dominant discourse in their
peer group). A recent theory posited by Jóhannesson (2004) is the disappearance of
male (teacher) role models in primary schools. He states:
...we still need licensed teachers in Iceland. There can be various ways to tackle that
problem—but we need both men and women, young and of non-traditional age. We also
need teachers with a stronger background in science and the various types of art, something
that is more of a value-judgement of my behalf.
Related to the gendered discourse explanation is to examine if the classroom is a
feminine environment and therefore less suited for boys. Two Icelandic researchers
(Magnusdottir and Einarsdottir 2005) make a compelling argument that rejects this
notion in Iceland, one being the structure of the academic system from a historical
point of view. Even though schools today have more female teachers and include
more of what would be categorized as “feminine” traits, such as caring, cooperation
and shared management, the “masculine” traits still have strong hold in the foundation
of the educational system, such as teacher-center pedagogy, lectures, and
individual work. Given this preamble of the gender debates in Iceland in relation
to mathematics and in the shadow of PISA results, we now argue somewhat Bulut,
Bekir and Sriraman (previous commentary to chapter ‘Feminist Pedagogy and
Mathematics’, this volume), that it is time to move beyond the cyclical and regurgitative
gendered positions and move towards an androgynous conceptualization of
things, one that benefits both male and female learners achieve their potential in
mathematics. Taking Iceland as a context, it seems that the system from a historical
point of view has both feminine and masculine traits that are integral and valued in
the system. So the question is whether an androgynyous approach is achievable in
the teaching and learning of mathematics?
A Different Perspective on the Gender Issue
Ernest (2007) recently analyzed the gender issue using the United Kingdom as a
case study. He argued that there was no unique gender and mathematics problem
per se, instead there were many problems which could be viewed from different
perspectives. He categorized these views as follows: (see Table 1). With this categorization
we examine Jacob’s article and put forth our positions. We find ourselves
in the gray area between the progressive and public educators.
There are a number of fundamental things for mathematics and mathematical
learning as Jacobs pointed out. Her article addressed the approach that was used
both in the learning and doing of mathematics. It even questioned “absolute truth”
one that has been a solid and most important element of mathematics. Jacobs’ points
out that the way the discipline has developed as we see in published sources accords
rigor and high respect for deduction, abstraction and certainty. Her argument was
that there were other ways people do mathematics that don’t get as much attention
and respect even though these ways are crucial—this includes the heuristic and empirical
work that most mathematicians engage in. The elements in the categories