Mathematics, mathematicians, and mathematics education
0002-9904
Abstract
I am one of a growing number of research mathematicians who are substantially engaged with school mathematics education. Such outreach has a long and honor-able tradition. In this lecture, I illustrate some of the ways that I think this can be helpful, and even essential. Upon his retirement in 1990 as president of the ICMI,1 Jean Pierre Kahane spoke perceptively of the intimate connection between mathematics and mathematics education in the following terms: • In no other living science is the part of presentation, of the transformation of disciplinary knowledge to knowledge as it is to be taught (transformation didactique) so important at a research level. • In no other discipline, however, is the distance between the taught and the new so large. • In no other science has teaching and learning such social importance. • In no other science is there such an old tradition of scientists ’ commitment to educational questions.