Using rights-based frameworks for rethinking teacher-directed pedagogies of mathematics

Abstract

This paper uses postmodern perspectives to demonstrate how, within the growing global discourse of human rights, accepted pedagogies of mathematics conflict with principles embodied in international conventions and declarations concerning children’s rights, particularly their right to participation in all matters affecting their lives. It examines the ways in which discourses of mathematics education produce and sustain teacher-directed approaches to mathematical learning, and considers how such pedagogies compromise participation for young learners. It contemplates reframed educational discourse in which a participant-determined pedagogy of mathematics might more appropriately reflect the discourse of enhanced empowerment for children in the mathematics classroom.