Development History of  Critical Mathematics Education and the Key Curricular Elements

Abstract: The present study analyzed the concept of Critical Mathematics Education (CME) and introduced the prominent theorists with the purpose of recognizing and explaining the key elements of CME curriculum. After a historical overview of CME and defining the key concepts such as ‘mathematics’ and ‘learning’, the philosophical and educational ideas of M. Frankenstein, O. Skovsmose and E. Gutstein were presented. Then some of the key curriculum elements in CME including the objectives, the role of teachers and students, the educational content and teaching methods were analyzed. For this analysis, the information was obtained from teacher's works and it was analyzed by deductive method. In CME, students participate actively in posing and solving the problems which arise from their society. Therefore, through learning the basic concepts of mathematics, CME helps students to recognize the issues in their environment, to conduct critical dialogues about them, and to solve them consciously.