A Socio-Constructivist Elaboration of Realistic Mathematics Education

Abstract

This chapter describes a socio-constructivist elaboration of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) that emerged from my collaboration with Paul Cobb and Erna Yackel. It is argued that RME and socio-constructivism are compatible and complement each other. Socio- constructivism points to the critical role of the classroom culture, while RME offers a theory on supporting students in (re-) constructing mathematics. Furthermore, the role of symbols and models is discussed, which was considered problematic in constructivist circles, while …