Using Vygotsky‟s (1978) theory of mediation, teachers‟ goals were linked to how they interpreted the NCS policy document. The teachers focused on promoting mathematical skills and knowledge, with a shift from everyday life to „basic Maths‟. The teachers‟ goals seem to be different from Maths Lit goals – as the
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Maths Lit goals are to work with everyday life situations, but teachers‟ understanding of Maths Lit has shifted away from that, to teaching Mathematics. This kind of interpretation relates to the contradictions inherent in the NCS document. This document acts as a mediating tool, which as stated earlier could “empower as well as restrict human action in specific ways; they influence the form interaction taken and thereby the goals that emerge in the interactions” (Daniels, 1993, p.79; 112). In this instance the teachers used teaching Mathematics as a tool that will mediate their mathematical goals.
Another contributing factor to this shift appears to be the work schedule designed in such a way that it consists of a significant number of content driven topics and fewer contextualized topics. The framework of this work schedule seems to be guided by the Learning Outcomes found in the NCS policy document, which are more mathematically inclined.
With reference to the model proposed in chapter 3, the model reflected the ways in which my data suggested policy-practice interaction occurred in relation to tools used. Here the original model needed adapting to show that at teacher level, mathematical goals were predominating, and loss of other policy goals. Further, the strong presence of district level mediation via the work schedule with its largely mathematical frame also needed to be inserted.
The unanticipated dominance of the district work schedule in this study added a further level that needed to be taken into account in my consideration of tools. District level tools are therefore added in below, working between the national policy and teacher levels:
District work schedule writers
(Contextualization)
Policy
architects Social, life and mathematical goals
Policy tools District tools
(Work schedule)
Mathematical goals National Policy level District level
Mathematical goals Maths Lit
teacher
Teachers’ tool for selection and use of context
Teachers’ level
(Work schedule, Textbook)
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The work schedule from the district level was used as the tool to mediate the district goals, in this instance topics that dominated in the work schedule were mathematically inclined, and thus, it appeared that the work schedule goals were mathematically oriented. There seemed to be a tension between the district tools and the policy tools, as the district tool seemed not to align itself with the policy tools. This work schedule contributed to creating a disjunction between the teachers‟ practice and the national policy, as the teachers rarely followed the principle of contextualization as envisaged in the policy, but followed what was indicated in the work schedule. Thus in figure 3 above we have overlapping tools for district level and the teachers‟ level which are different from the policy. The work schedule was indicated by all teachers in the study as one of the tools which assisted teachers to understand Maths Lit. Teachers‟ viewed the work schedule as the tool “[which was]… used to influence or direct the mind and behavior” ((Vygotsky, 1991; cited by Daniels, 2001, p.16). Since it was framed in a more mathematical structure, it seems to have influenced how the teachers selected tasks and the way teachers‟ perceived Maths Lit – to be about the application of Mathematics, or as a watered-down version of Maths. Thus their goals were also directed towards promoting a more content-led learning which is the focus of Mathematics. Thus tasks selected are more content-led than context-led. It appears that the teachers‟ mediating tools seemed to be directing teachers‟ to achieve more mathematically inclined goals. This means that the teachers‟ end up with their own goals – that is to promote mathematical skills. This is in contrast to what the policy states, that the tasks have not only to be context led but the content has to be embedded in the context and be determined by the context in order to ensure that the social, life and mathematical goals are achieved.
The teachers used the textbooks as their material tools that will mediate the Maths Lit goal. The text book assisted in the selection of context for their tasks. The textbook tasks are more content focused, and the contexts are not related to the learners‟ everyday life. The textbook then does not explicitly accommodate the principle of localization and familiarization. This means that the Maths Lit – social and life goals are unlikely to be achieved.
The policy document provided examples of topics that teachers should focus on for their tasks, topics such as hire purchase, investment, mortgage bonds, ratio and proportion as encountered on daily basis, and cooking. These tasks topics are seen as mediating tools that will ensure that the Maths Lit goals are achieved as envisage from the policy documents. When looking at the learners‟ work books and referring to the teachers‟ interviews in relation to the tasks selected –
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the tasks in the learners books did focus on financial Maths, but the topics were not based on what is stated in the policy. The focus was on loans and discounts. When looking at the ratio and proportion, in the learners‟ books, the focus was on basic calculations and not linked to everyday lives. There was a mismatch between the policy tasks topics and the tasks topics that are given to the learners. This means that the tasks used in the class room mediated different goals from those in the policy document. Furthermore, the topics that appeared in the work schedule are not in line with those stipulated within the purpose of Maths Lit. They seem to be mathematically inclined, and not linked to everyday life situations. The topics in the work schedule were used by teachers to structure their tasks, as the majority of the tasks that appeared in the learners‟ workbooks focused on similar topics. Overall therefore, the topics in the learners‟ workbooks and the topics in the work schedule leaned more towards mediating mathematical goals rather than social or life goals.
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