Abstract:
In the western world mathematics in education has been traditionally viewed as a masculine area of knowledge and expertise. In more modern times girls and young women have been assimilated into this male cultural domain of abstract and rational thought. This article examines this process of assimilation through feminist theoretical lenses to locate the current position of girls and young women in school mathematics: in the dynamics of the classroom and in the discourse of the Mathematics in New Zealand Curriculum document. This paper explores the extent to which the epistemology and pedagogy of the mathematics discipline has diversified to include the knowledge and experiences of women, to become gender-inclusive as required by the New Zealand Curriculum Framework.