Mathematics learning as the socialization of the mind

Abstract

This article offers an integrated theoretical perspective of work where mathematics is defined as a cultural practice. The implication of this definition is that to learn mathematics is to become socialized into the ways of knowing used in the community of mathematicians and mathematics teachers. Four aspects of the process of socialization are discussed: the redescription of meanings to fit with the systems of signs learned in mathematics, the influence of the connections created by teachers in the classroom between the new concepts and the old meanings, the consequences of using particular systems of signs as mediators in reasoning, and the development of social representations of what mathematics is (and the associated process of valorization of particular methods) that takes place in the classroom. Implications for multicultural classrooms are briefly discussed.