Section 1

RATIONALE

The nature and purpose of mathematics

Mathematics plays an important role in our lives. it is used in everyday activities such as buying food and clothes, keeping time and playing games. Through applications developed in various historical and cultural contexts, mathematics has been one of the decisive factors in shaping the modern world. Mathematics continues to grow and to find new uses in science, technology, business and social life.

a powerful, concise and unambiguous way of organising, manipulating and communicating information;

a means by which aspects of the physical and social world can be explained and predicted;

an activity involving processes such as discovering, discussing, ordering, classifying, generalising, drawing and measuring; a source of challenge, satisfaction and pleasure.

All these views of mathematics are important. In these guidelines, therefore, mathematics is presented as a problem-solving activity supported by a body of knowledge, which will help our children understand the world about them and prepare them to act effectively in work, in recreation and in their roles as citizens.

Children's mathematical experience

Pupils enter school as active thinkers, having already experienced mathematics informally handling objects, doing things in order, enjoying pattern. They may have some grasp of number, shape, direction and some skills in counting, measuring, sorting and sharing. They are not, however, conscious of mathematics as a discipline or as a discrete activity; it is embedded in their play and in everyday activities such as dressing, eating, shopping and travelling.

As they grow older, children continue to learn some of their mathematics through recreation and daily life. At school, however, teachers will wish to plan their pupils' experience of mathematics with specific objectives in mind, taking into account:

the teaching methods best adapted to developing competence in and positive attitudes towards mathematics.