CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION             Background to the Study

The significance of mathematics education cannot be over emphasised. From my years of experience as a primary school teacher, there is clear attestation that the efficient delivery of the curriculum seeks to equip learners with an array of benefits. In my opinion, the enhancement of pupils’ reasoning abilities, critical thinking skills and competence at problem solving are few of the several existing advantages associated with the in-depth study of Mathematics. In fact, Legner (2013) upholds the view that the basic arithmetic required for many jobs will be largely acquired by the end of primary school thus laying more emphasis on the essence of its fundamental teaching and learning. Based on this opinion and the research of other scholars (Kavkler, Magajna and Babuder, 2014) who have, over time, unravelled the benefits of the subject, it is prudent to say that offering young learners a meaningfully concrete mathematical knowledge remains paramount and must be the duty of all educators within this field.

Across the globe today, it is therefore not surprising that governments’ commitment to effective teaching and learning of mathematics continue to initiate several reforms within the area. Kilpatrick (1997) believes that such reform impulse especially within the United States has, over the past years, heated up so much and been led by professional organisations under the banner of raising expectations and providing mathematical literacy for all. Such growth in reforms is certainly prevalent in other developed countries; Australia’s reform for Mathematics Year 1-10, which was implemented in 2007, was an example of such excellent initiatives which aimed at representing a significant shift in the teaching of the subject from the previous syllables

(Department of Education, 1987). Bruniges (2005) believes that such rapid reforms, apart from development in teaching and learning, characterise a feature of education due to several context related developments including globalisation, new technology, knowledge of the economic and cultural diversity.

Perhaps these factors account for a number of laudable strides which have, over time, also seeped into Africa. For example, the African Mathematics Project (AMP) pursued a policy of bringing together African American and British educators in English speaking African countries to influence Mathematics education (Mereku, 1999). South Africa, for instance, has also had a taste of several radical curriculum change particularly due to the need for social, economic and political transformation; and in countries like Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria, there have been other advances within the area of Mathematics (Parker, 2006; IMU, 2014). Evidently, such transformational developments remain positive leaps particularly towards the enhancement of Mathematics Education and the good news according to White, Bloomfield and Cornu (2010) is that, these contexts related developments promise opportunities for change in primary mathematics education, thus shaping the curriculum reform agenda of ‘productivity, participation and quality.’ Highlighting further on the importance of the subject, they also comment that the proper grounding of one’s knowledge in the area of Mathematics education comes with great benefits for the future. For instance, an excellent achievement in the subject often prepares the individual adequately for one’s contribution to economic productivity. The need for such global reform is therefore in the right direction.

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