Instrumentalization in mathematics education

International audience“To instrumentalize” is generally defined1 as “to perform (a piece of music) using a musical instrument or instruments” or “To arrange or score(a piece of music) for instruments, especially for an orchestra,” or “To make or render (something) instrumental to accomplishing a purpose or result;to use as a means to an end.” In mathematics education, the noun “instrumentalization” has been more frequently used than the verb “to instrumentalize.” This type of use has evolved over the time, keeping a strong link with general definitions above, pointing out the creative potentialof an agent (performing, arranging, scoring, making something instrumental. . ..), in the frame of an orchestra.In this entry, we will first address our general view on mediated action, before introducing the notion of instrumentalization, as adapting a toolfor adopting it as a support of one’s mathematical activity.We situate this notion as an element of the dialectics instrumentalization-instrumentationgrounding the instrumental approach. Next, we evidence the evolution of this notion, giving more importance to its role in learning processes.In the fourth section, we underline the influence of this evolution for rethinking the role of the teacher. In the fifth section, we analyze the influence of this evolution for rethinking the instrumental approach itself. From these dynamics,finally, we will sketch some perspectives for further research