CURRICULUM METAPHORS IN U.S. MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

• In Event: CURRICULUM: METAPHORS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

Description

We describe two metaphors that we hope can be used to better understand the contemporary mathematics curriculum context in U.S. middle schools. The first metaphor, curriculum as delivery mechanism, builds from technical rational or scientific discourses and encompasses perspectives that are so pervasive they are often unstated and unquestioned. The second metaphor, curriculum as epistemic device, posits that role of curriculum is to provoke interactions that generate understanding. In this metaphor, the role of tasks in curriculum materials is to provoke and progressively refine student thinking, individually and collectively, as opposed to serving as a delivery mechanism for content.

Authors

• Jeffrey Choppin, University of Rochester

• Amy Roth McDuffie, Washington State University Tri-Cities

• Corey Drake, Michigan State University

• Jon Davis, Western Michigan University