Values in the Mathematics Classroom: Supporting Cognitive and Affective Pedagogical Ideas

Values are the personal convictions which one finds important. Three different aspects which are associated with mathematics education differently are identified, namely, values through mathematics education, values of mathematics education, and values for mathematics. These are paired with Bishop's (1996) conceptions of general educational, mathematical, and mathematics educational values respectively. This article provides examples of what these values might look like in different classroom scenarios, and how values as a volitional construct scaffolds cognitive and affective developments in mathematics learning. Implications for teachers include the need to assess validly what students value, and the need to better understand how teachers practise values alignment within their own classrooms. In so doing, appropriate valuing by teachers and their students can serve its purpose of fostering mathematical understanding and/or performance.