Street EU eee C4] mathematics Us: Ei ll i a Sr eeeeese Le i LEARNING INStreet Mathematics and School Mathematics is a comparison of mathe- matics used in school and out of school, describing the two forms of activity as different cultural practices that are based upon the same mathematical principles. Many philosophers and psychologists have recognized that reason- ing about numbers and space is part of people’s everyday experience as well as part of the formal discipline of mathematics, However, dis- cussions of everyday mathematical reasoning have been speculative, because until the work described here little systematic research had been carried out comparing mathematical knowledge developed in and out of school. Street Mathematics and School Mathematics illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of the two practices as they are now observed, pointing out the trade-off between preservation of meaning and potential for generalization in mathematical knowledge. The em- pirical findings are analyzed within a broad theoretical framework in the concluding chapter, which discusses the educational implications of these findings and presents a case for realistic mathematics edu- cation — a form of teaching that builds formal mathematical knowl- edge on the foundations of street mathematics.Street mathematics and school mathematics