Learning mathematically as social practice in a workplace setting

This chapter reports on a small-scale case study involving 15-16 year old secondary school students participating in a vocational module under the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) scheme that operated in England during the late 1990s. The development was a pilot study involving experience in the workplace in a small-scale light engineering context. An initial aim of the study was to explore the potential of the setting for the development of numeracy practices. The theoretical framework adopted is based on a social perspective on learning and a view of learning mathematically as social practice. Of particular interest were the differences between everyday and school mathematical practices. The analysis focuses on differences in the practices between the settings of workplace and school in particular. Finally issues to emerge from this study are discussed in relation to the wider context of policy and practice. These include issues of relevance, questions of purpose, learner confidence and approaches to assessment in mathematics.