The indelible Verwoerd’s edicts : a critical review of their indirect impact on South African basic mathematics education reforms

Abstract

Several decades into having become a democratic state, the proclamation “What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when he cannot use it in practice" (Verwoerd, 1953 cited in Clark & Worger, 2004, p.48) haunts the mathematics classroom and its curriculum reform. Drawing from the ideas of Althusser’s ideological state apparatus and critical discourse analysis, this article argues the non-causal inference of Verwoerd’s mathematics ideological construct on the current mathematics education reforms. Significant discussions and efforts have been dedicated to improving basic mathematics education in South Africa, but many of these discussions and efforts have yielded inadequate outcomes. Policies in basic mathematics education have inadequately addressed the challenges faced in the mathematics classroom. This article critically reflects on Verwoerd’s ideological edict and how it has indirectly shaped and continues to shape the culture and the state of mathematics teaching and learning and how the culture has translated into education policies.