Popular Culture, Educational Discourse, and Mathematics

Peter M. Appelbaum is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the William Paterson College of New Jersey.

"The book deals with important and far-reaching issues in a way that is original, stimulating, and very accessible; it succeeds in linking widely divergent fields of study—math education and cultural studies—in a way that provokes fresh questions and rethinking of received ideas. A considerable strength of this book is that it's a lively, engaging work, at once playful and serious. While it is theoretically sophisticated, it is not freighted with jargon and pretentious rhetoric." — Paul Farber, Western Michigan University"There is a wonderful combination of critical theory and sources drawn from popular culture. The approach is lively, while at the same time insightful. The book is an academic page-turner. Provocative and groundbreaking, this book opens up a significant line of inquiry for mathematics education—an important contribution to the field." — Eugene F. Provenzo Jr., University of Miami

• Acknowledgments 0. Introduction OpeningWhy is this Chapter 0?The ProspectusMass Culture and Critical PedagogyIntroductionPower!Reading Popular Culture1. The Best Teacher in America Everything Depends on the TeacherThe Teacher as MythTeacher as SignifierTeacher as HeroEscalante: The Best Teacher in AmericaUnraveling the MythMathematics TeacherWhy Does Everything Depend on the Teacher?2. Ezekiel Saw the Wheel: Problem Solving on and Off TV The Opposition of Method and ContentPrecedent: Professional Knowledge Overrides Teacher PersonalityTeachers as Epistemological MetaphorsPhilosophies of Mathematics Hide the SocialPedagogy and Popular CultureGame Shows Hit the JackpotGames and SchoolsProbability and ProfitProblems and Problem SolvingImitators and EchoesNumbers and MoneyThe Transformation of Problem Solving3. Gender and the Construction of Social Problems Gender as a Social ProblemGender and SexA Political ContextLiberal Feminist Research: A Professional ContextGender as NewsCoda-1. Consumer Culture: Power and the Identity Politics of Mathematics Education From Critical Literacy to Popular CultureMathematics as a Cultural ResourceDangerHomage to Whitty and YoungFor(e)wardEpilogue/Prologue Notes Bibliography Index