The Policy and Practice of Mathematics Mastery: The Effects of Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism on Curriculum Reform

Autor/inn/en	Pratt, Nick; Alderton, Julie
Titel	The Policy and Practice of Mathematics Mastery: The Effects of Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism on Curriculum Reform
Quelle	In: Curriculum Journal, 34 (2023) 4, S.578-593 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Pratt, Nick) ORCID (Alderton, Julie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0958-5176
DOI	10.1002/curj.202
Schlagwörter	Neoliberalism; Criticism; Mastery Learning; Teaching Methods; Learning Processes; Mathematics Instruction; Foreign Countries; Theory Practice Relationship; Educational Policy; Epistemology; Ethics; Equal Education; Educational Change; Curriculum Development; Policy Analysis; Educational Theories; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Kritik; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Learning process; Lernprozess; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Ausland; Theorie-Praxis-Beziehung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Erkenntnistheorie; Ethik; Bildungsreform; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Politikfeldanalyse; Educational theory; Theory of education; Bildungstheorie
Abstract	This paper explores how the twin processes of neoliberalism and neoconservatism work together on, and through, curricula and their associated pedagogies. It bridges the gap between policy and classroom practice, focusing on the particular example of the school subject of mathematics and the notion of mastery, operationalised in the English education system as Teaching for Mastery (TfM). From this context, it develops a theoretical argument using Dean's analytics of government as part of a broader Foucauldian frame, to analyse how TfM is constructed as a particular policy truth. It then shifts the analysis from a wide, social one to the individual classroom level using a psychological argument to critique TfM in its own terms, examining the onto-epistemological nature of mathematics as a subject. In doing so, it explores ways in which mastery might be problematic in classrooms, even whilst appearing to offer a solution at policy level to long-standing problems in English schooling. The aim is not to suggest that TfM has nothing to offer, but to point to ways in which it draws on the psychology of teaching and learning in a very particular manner, inscribing pupils with very specific mathematical subjectivities. By providing this insight into how neoliberal policy positions play out at practitioner level via curricula and pedagogies, the paper raises questions which are philosophical, political, and ethical, regarding the potential effect of TfM on teachers' and pupils' experiences of mathematics in schools, including implications for equity of this experience amongst the latter. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01