For more than twenty years, the number of people studying relationships between history of mathematics and pedagogy of mathematics has been steadily increasing. One landmark work was the 2000 ICMI Study, History in Mathematics Education, which gave a comprehensive overview of the field at the time. (Fauvel & van Maanen, 2000)
The publication of the 2000 ICMI study raised awareness that history of mathematics in teaching mathematics:
- allows pupils to experience the process of mathematics - problem solving, proof construction (e.g., Lakatos, 1976; Ernest, 1998);
- provides the landscape of Guided reinvention (Freudenthal, 1991);
- expands understanding of nature of mathematics; that is, mathematics is not “finished” and continues to evolve and some ideas are subject to change (Ernest, 1998); and
- often relies on not taking the end results of mathematicians’ works as starting points (Freudenthal, 1973) aimed at progressive mathematization (Gravemeijer & Doorman, 1999, p. 116).
The International Study Group on the Relations Between the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics (HPM Group) has been active since 1976. In addition to numerous publications and participation in several conferences (e.g., European Summer University; CERME), the HPM Group hosts an ICME satellite meeting every four years. Although a number of papers resulting from these conferences concerns the inclusion of history in primary and secondary school (pupils aged 6 – 16), the result is still that there are not many resources available for teachers who teach mathematics to students aged 6 – 13. An analysis of 130 papers from the HPM satellite conferences in 2000 and 2008, published in HPM Newsletter No. 77, shows that there are far more papers for pupils aged 14 – 19 than for 6 – 13. (Smestad 2011)
The inclusion of history of mathematics in primary and secondary school often does not go further than storytelling and the purpose of the use of historical content is more to increase student motivation instead of deepening student learning. (Smestad 2003, 2004) However, in the general literature there are several other examples, including:
- working with original sources (that can include historical pictures or historical texts from textbooks or other sources);
- using old techniques or algorithms;
- using concrete materials in ways they were used in history, such as clay tablets or counting boards;
- performing plays on the history of mathematics;
- exercises based on the history of mathematics, either implicitly or explicitly;
- incorporating cross-curricular approaches;
- completing projects on mathematicians; and
- producing exhibitions.
There is a need for discussions on which methods of working with history of mathematics are suitable for younger children and which are aligned with their particular topics of study. Furthermore, there is need for discussion on which of the goals outlined above are of particular interest when working with younger children.