Abstract
Students enter Australian high schools with a wide variety of knowledge, background
experiences, attitudes to school and discourses, their “funds of knowledge”. Much of this
comes from their “first space” — what they bring from the home and community. Some of
it comes from their “second space” — what they bring from prior school experiences and
what they experience in the current school environment. This second space is profoundly
shaped by the experience of formal, textbook-oriented approaches to high school
mathematics. This theoretical paper looks at the experience of students entering their first
year of high school mathematics in terms of first and second space, and casts forward to the
creation of a “third space” — one which values and builds on students’ funds of
knowledge.
experiences, attitudes to school and discourses, their “funds of knowledge”. Much of this
comes from their “first space” — what they bring from the home and community. Some of
it comes from their “second space” — what they bring from prior school experiences and
what they experience in the current school environment. This second space is profoundly
shaped by the experience of formal, textbook-oriented approaches to high school
mathematics. This theoretical paper looks at the experience of students entering their first
year of high school mathematics in terms of first and second space, and casts forward to the
creation of a “third space” — one which values and builds on students’ funds of
knowledge.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | MERGA 29 - Identities, Cultures and Learning Spaces |
| Subtitle of host publication | proceedings of the 29th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia |
| Editors | Peter Grootenboer, Robyn Zevenbergen, Mohan Chinnappan |
| Place of Publication | Adelaide |
| Publisher | Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia |
| Pages | 504-511 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 1920846123 |
| Publication status | Published - 2006 |
| Event | MERGA 29 - Canberra, Australia Duration: 1 Jul 2006 → 5 Jul 2006 |
Conference
| Conference | MERGA 29 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Canberra |
| Period | 1/07/06 → 5/07/06 |