Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 49 Issue 2, June 2012
16 – 26
Integrating History of Mathematics into High School Curriculum: To Be or Not to Be?
Regina Panasuk and Leslie Bolinger Horton
A decade ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) created principles and standards for school mathematics, called Standards 2000, as an effort to provide benchmarks of achievement as well as consistency in content and rigour for all mathematics students in the United States. These documents were designed to give students a well rounded, enriched and useful mathematics education that would foster conceptual understanding, appreciation and achievements in mathematics for all students (NCTM, 2000, 13-14). While there was a strong emphasis on values and appreciation of mathematics, the history of mathematics (HOM) was ignored. Recently, the new Common Core Mathematics Standards I have been issued and adopted by many states. Not unlike the NCTM principles and standards, the goal in the adoption of the Common Standards is to ensure that students across the United States are provided with a curriculum that is unified in rigour and content. And again, unfortunately, nowhere in the Common Core Standards is there any mention of learning HOM.
