The Dutch maths curriculum: 25 years of modelling

Abstract

In the Netherlands, mathematics education is intertwined with applications as a result of the inspirational work by Hans Freudenthal and his colleagues, who developed a treatise known as Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). In this paper I will present a retrospective on 25 years of curriculum revisions in the Netherlands, exemplified by two nation-wide projects that established new routines into modern Dutch mathematics education. The first project established a new mathematics curriculum for the lesser gifted students in grades 7-10. In this curriculum modelling serves as a vehicle for students' construction of mathematical knowledge. The second project established an annual modelling competition for teams of students at senior secondary level in the social sciences streams. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.