Aesthetics and Mathematics … 1 Running head: AESTHETICS AND MATHEMATICS Adding an Aesthetic Image to Mathematics Education

Mathematics educators are calling for reform in mathematics education, usually focussing on “success for all ” learners of mathematics (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). The assumption that only certain people can understand mathematics is pervasive in society and calls into question the role of mathematics education since not all learners will succeed. The goal of this paper is to explore the possibility of adding an appreciation of the aesthetic nature of mathematics to mathematics education, and to suggest that the goal of success for all cannot be achieved without providing opportunities for students to experience an aesthetic image of mathematics. To explore adding an aesthetic image to mathematics education, we will borrow Eisner’s four aims for discipline-based art education, adapted as a framework based on the activity of doing mathematics, and used to challenge underlying assumptions concerning the nature of math, artistic knowing of mathematics and success for all. Aesthetics and Mathematics …