Case Studies in Agents and Processes of Mathematics Curriculum Development and Reform

Abstract

This chapter is based on concrete experiences of curriculum design, development, and reforms in school mathematics across a range of social and cultural settings in different countries: Lebanon, Chile, Australia, South Africa. These were presented as a panel at the conference. Each focuses on concrete experiences of curriculum reforms to illustrate how the reform processes – from design to effective implementation – developed, and how the different agents – teachers, teacher educators, education researchers, mathematicians – influenced them. They all also explained how both specific and general features of different cultural and political situations in each country deeply affected such processes featuring both the on-going evolution and the final product of the curriculum reform. The four panelists raise issues, whose general meaning is discussed in the subsequent chapters of theme E based on further examples and theoretical documents. Below, the main issues raised by the four panellists are first highlighted, then their contributions are presented.