David Pimm – författare

Symbols and Meanings in School Mathematics explores the various uses and aspects of symbols in school mathematics and also examines the notion of mathematical meaning. It is concerned with the power of language which enables us to do mathematics, giving us the ability to name and rename, to transform names and to use names and descriptions to conjure, communicate and control our images. It is in the interplay between language, image and object that mathematics is created and can be communicated to others. The book also addresses a set of questions of particular relevance to the last decade of the twentieth century, which arise due to the proliferation of machines offering mathematical functioning.

Symbols and Meanings in School Mathematics explores the various uses and aspects of symbols in school mathematics and also examines the notion of mathematical meaning. It is concerned with the power of language which enables us to do mathematics, giving us the ability to name and rename, to transform names and to use names and descriptions to conjure, communicate and control our images. It is in the interplay between language, image and object that mathematics is created and can be communicated to others. The book also addresses a set of questions of particular relevance to the last decade of the twentieth century, which arise due to the proliferation of machines offering mathematical functioning.

First published in 1987, this book examines mathematics school teaching from the perspective that it is a language — arguing that this can illuminate many events that occur in classes and highlight issues that may not have previously seemed important. The central concern is with the processes of communication as they are shaped by school conventions and the fact that it is mathematics being discussed. Speaking, listening, writing and reading are examined and analysed with the first half focusing on verbal interactions and the second half examining aspects of pupil written mathematics. Also explored is the nature of the mathematical writing system itself and how pupils gain access to it.

First published in 1987, this book examines mathematics school teaching from the perspective that it is a language — arguing that this can illuminate many events that occur in classes and highlight issues that may not have previously seemed important. The central concern is with the processes of communication as they are shaped by school conventions and the fact that it is mathematics being discussed. Speaking, listening, writing and reading are examined and analysed with the first half focusing on verbal interactions and the second half examining aspects of pupil written mathematics. Also explored is the nature of the mathematical writing system itself and how pupils gain access to it.

This book explores the connection between the ways people speak in mathematics classrooms and their opportunities to learn mathematics. The words spoken, heard, written and read in mathematics classrooms shape students’ sense of what mathematics is and of what people can do with mathematics. The authors employ multiple perspectives to consider the means for transformative action with respect to increasing opportunities for traditionally marginalized students to form mathematical identities that resonate with their cultural, social, linguistic, and political beings.