The overall intent is to clarify relationships between psychological constructivist, sociocultural, and emergent perspectives by grounding them in attempts to understand what might be happening in a variety of teaching and learning situations. The first part of the paper outlines an interpretive framework developed in the course of a…

Presents a relational perspective in which cultural diversity is viewed as a relationship between people's participation in the practices of different communities. Suggests that the gatekeeping role that mathematics plays in students' access to educational and economic opportunities includes difficulties that students experience in reconciling…

Argues that mathematical learning should be viewed as a process of active individual construction and a process of enculturation into the mathematical practices of wider society. It further argues that the sociocultural perspective theorizes the conditions for the possibility of learning, whereas constructivist perspectives focus on what students…

Describes the role of an instructional sequence and two accompanying computer-based tools in supporting students' developing understandings of statistical data analysis. Documents the emergence of the sociomathematical norm of what counts as a mathematical argument in the context of data analysis. (Author/MM)

Compares mathematics achievement of children in Taiwan and the United States by analyzing the arithmetical learning contexts of each. Interviews with parents and teachers identify cultural beliefs about learning arithmetic; interviews with students identify level of sophistication of arithmetical concepts. Found greater understanding by Chinese…