The Ethics of Authority and Control in Mathematics Education: From Naked Power to Hidden Ideology

Mathematics education, especially the central activities of teaching and learning mathematics, is thoroughly entangled with issues of power, authority, necessity, compulsion and submission. Schooling is compulsory almost everywhere as is mathematics. What is the ethical basis of universal schooling and the imposition of mathematical study within it? General areas of authority in schooling and mathematics teaching can be identified at several levels from the macro-view down to the micro-view. Drawing on four ethical principles from medical ethics (beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice), an ethical audit of the teaching and learning of mathematics is conducted. Evaluating the mathematics curriculum means applying these principles to its aims, content, pedagogy and assessment system. Two outstanding problems are identified: first, the large number of ideological assumptions in most education systems and mathematics curricula, which cause distortions and harm; second, the central embedding of power and authority in mathematics itself, which, in the way it is manifested in schooling, is empowering for many, but harmful for some. The findings of the chapter are that school mathematics is beneficial for some students (and for society), is harmful to a minority and offers very restricted autonomy—less than is possible for children. However, the major ethical deficit of school mathematics is with regard to social justice. In most societies, school mathematics does not benefit all alike and does not fully develop everyone’s talents and potential.