My family, thank you all for your support, prayers and encouragement every step of the way. The girls in this study are associated with two types of mathematics, Core Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy, and it is argued that they relate to mathematics in terms of the hierarchies and power given to each.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY…
Introduction
In South Africa, there is a growing need to improve the inclusion of women and girls in mathematics and science at school. Despite recent trends and developments in the fields of mathematics and science here in South Africa, very little has changed in terms of the number of women and girls choosing to pursue studies in these lucrative fields.
The gendered nature of mathematics
- Identities, labels and choices
- Charmaine – the mathematics pupil
- Charmaine – the gender student
- Charmaine – the mathematics teacher
My performance in Math helped me regain some of the heterosexual power I had lost by being an overweight and unpopular teenager in a co-educational high school. In trying to develop an understanding of the relationship I had built up with Mathematics, my school experiences, the need to compete with my sister and the desire to impress my father, I saw them as inextricably linked with gender.
Mathematics in the Further Education and Training band
It also appears in the new Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum for the senior secondary phase (grades 10 – 12). One of the key tensions underlying the curriculum choice between Core Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy is the great difference between the two learning areas in terms of the nature and purpose of each.
The context of the study
- Glenville College: Context and change – from single sex to coeducation…
- The research site
- The management and teaching staff
- The learners
- The Girls – Table 2 Biographical details
The management structure in the high school consists of the college principal, deputy principal and 5 heads of department (HODs). She wants to pursue a career in marine biology when she graduates next year.
Research question
Conclusion
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
The focus on African girls and the need for mathematics access and development in schools is a justifiable and important area of development as Mthiyane's (2007) research on African girls and mathematics and science suggests. All six girls in this study expressed that a degree of success in mathematics rather than enjoyment of mathematics was essential because success would enable them to access further education and careers.
Gender and the nature of mathematics
Mathematics is embedded in a social institution, is highly masculine (Paechter, 2001a) and, because of the power and prestige attached to it, allows only special associations with it. Not only is reason stereotypically associated with masculinity, mathematics is also perceived as the ultimate rational subject.
Biological and sociological accounts
Poststructuralism
- Power, subjectivities and identity
Within and around these discourses, the girls in this study are actively engaged in the production and reproduction of their identities and relationships. The girls in this study are identified and are identified by the positions they occupy within these discourses.
The relationship between mathematics and sexuality
It is the repetition of the performance of masculinities and femininities that constructs and reconstructs the masculine and feminine subject. Weeks (2003, p. 19) states, "sexuality is not a given, it is a product of human negotiation, structure and agency".
Constructing mathematical identities
Bhana (in press) writes that "it is important to recognize the social locations and the material realities from which the [girls] in this study emerge, as they impact on identity and create conditions for power relations". It is now essential to examine the research that has taken place in the South African context.
The South African context
She concludes by commenting that there is not much of this kind of analysis in the South African context. As relevance increases by connecting mathematics to students' lives, gender must be addressed in the mathematics classroom.
Conclusion
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The first section of this chapter presents the chosen research approach, and the latter section presents the data collection process as well as the data analysis process.
The qualitative, interpretive approach
This approach focuses on the importance of listening and is concerned with seeing the world from the perspectives of the research participants. It puts the individual at the center of the research process and views people as actively constructing their social world, giving personal meaning to their situations and events, and making informed decisions to act in particular ways. According to Mthiyane (2007), the role of the researcher is to understand the individual's interpretation of the world, rather than to impose the researcher's interpretation on the individual.
The research process
- Selecting the school
- Gaining access to the school
- Gaining access to teachers
- Selecting the participants
- Dealing with unequal power relations
Gaining access to the research site and participants was relatively straightforward as I have taught at the school for the past 13 years and have a good working relationship with the principal, my colleagues at. I explained that I was interested in doing school research for the various reasons mentioned above and gave details of the methods I intended to use and that the participants would be selected from Year 11 girls. Only one of the seventeen girls came to me to excuse herself from participating in the study.
Methods of data collection
- The interview process
- Observing lessons
- Document analysis
- Participant journals
I decided to conduct the interviews in the Learning Resource Centre, away from the main academic buildings and all but one of the interviews were conducted there. At the beginning of each interview, I reminded each of the girls that their participation in the study was voluntary and that they were free to withdraw at any time if they wished. The participants provided some very insightful comments about the structure of the interview process and ways I could have improved on it.
Analysis of the data
Trustworthiness and transferability
In my study, credibility was maintained through methodological triangulation, reflexivity through extensive field notes, and verification of the final stories by the participants. This chapter has explained the choice of applied research methodology, and the rationale for choosing the interpretive approach is described. In the next chapter, I present my findings and analysis of data collected at Glenville College.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
Furthermore, I examine how these girls negotiate their sexual selves in relation to Core Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy. How do grade 11 girls in a Catholic co-educational independent school build their relationship to the learning areas of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy. In this thesis, identity and experiences are focal points as they are important in the mutual construction of the girls' relationship to Mathematics and.
The overall relationship between girls and mathematics
- Presenting a clever self
- Hard working core girls
- The power and prestige of mathematics in terms of race and class
- Heterosexual femininity and the power of mathematics
For Nadiya, Rehana and Juliet, it is important to be seen as a "Mathy person" in terms of math-related power. In fact, many elementary math students wonder if math literacy students are learning math at all. These math literacy girls negotiate and construct their identities in terms of subordination to the power of elementary math girls.
Girls negotiating their sexual selves in relation to Core Mathematics and
- Romeo and Juliet
These smart girls negotiate basic math in terms of avoiding anything related to math literacy. CV: Would I go out with or date any of the guys who do elementary math. Nadiya makes the following findings regarding the difference between boys with basic math skills and boys with math literacy.
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
Overview of the study
Mathematical literacy aims to ensure that the citizens of South Africa are highly talented consumers of mathematics. The outcomes specified above show that mathematics and mathematical literacy have very specific outcomes and serve two different groups of students. These two groups of girls are part of a cohort of students in South Africa who were introduced to the areas of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy at the start of their sixth year in 2006.
Synthesis of argument
Implications of the study
- Girls and their overall association with mathematics
- Girls and their relationship to Core Mathematics and Mathematical
- Doing mathematics is not only doing gender, but sexuality as well
- The power and prestige of mathematics in terms of race and class
- Access to better resources does not ensure a more positive relationship
According to this policy, the learning areas of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy will have the same status as learning areas in the new curriculum. Even more inequalities are reproduced as girls in the field of mathematical literacy subordinate themselves and become subservient to the power and prestige of core mathematics. What needs to be reinforced is that mathematical literacy is a different kind of mathematics with its own specific aims and objectives, and not a lower level of core mathematics.
Limitations of the study
To conclude with the findings of this study, it is a mistake to assume that girls from resource-rich contexts will automatically have a more positive association and better relationship with hard subjects like mathematics.
Conclusion
The club that rejects me is the club I want to join: Identity, learning mathematics, and researching mathematics education. Zevenbergen (Eds.), Exploring the sociopolitical dimensions of mathematics education: Issues of power in theory and methodology (pp. 65-84). Paper presented at the 28th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.
Request to conduct research at Glenville College
Participant observation requires me to observe each of my participants in their math/math literacy classroom setting. I plan to use the audio tapes of the interviews and group discussions, the diaries, and my observations of your daughter in the classroom setting as evidence for my MEd research. Participant observation requires me to observe each of my participants in their math/math literacy classroom setting.
Permission to conduct research at Glenville College
Letter to teachers to collect data – participant observation
As you know I am now in the final year of my Master of Education, specializing in gender and education. Two of the methods I am using to collect data are; semi-structured interviews and participant observation in the classroom learning environment. I give you my assurance that I am only interested in focusing on each of my participants and at no time is the observation directed at you or the other students in the class.
Letter to Mrs Vermeulen from Ameetha Naidoo
Invitation to participants
Letter of informed consent for participants
I would appreciate it if you would take a moment to consider my request and then complete, sign and return this letter to me. Should you require any issues clarified or explained, please do not hesitate to come and talk to me or contact my supervisor at the University of KwaZulu - Natal regarding the following details:. full names of the participant) hereby confirm that I understand the contents of this letter and the nature of the MEd study, and. tick one) my permission for Charmaine Vermeulen to use my written and spoken words and hair.
Letter of informed consent for parents
Your daughter's name or any information that can directly identify her or the school will not be used in the MEd thesis or any other presentation or publication that may come from the study. Copies of your daughter's written work, audio tapes of interviews and discussions, and my observations will be stored securely and disposed of if no longer needed for research purposes. It is important for me to emphasize that your daughter's participation in my study is completely voluntary and that she is free to withdraw from participation at any time if she so wishes.
Participant observation and interview letter
Semi-structured interview schedule
How do you feel and what do you think when so many people say that "boys are naturally better at math than girls". Do you think being a woman affects your life in any way? Do you think you would have answered question 19 differently if you had attended an all-girls school?
Abridged observation schedule
