This book develops the theoretical perspective on visuospatial reasoning
in ecocultural contexts, granting insights on how the language,
gestures, and representations of different cultures reflect visuospatial
reasoning in context.
For a number of years, two themes in the field of mathematics education
have run parallel with each other with only a passing acquaintance.
These two areas are the psychological perspective on visuospatial
reasoning and ecocultural perspectives on mathematics education. This
volume examines both areas of research and explores the intersection of
these powerful ideas.
In addition, there has been a growing interest in sociocultural aspects
of education and in particular that of Indigenous education in the field
of mathematics education. There has not, however, been a sound analysis
of how environmental and cultural contexts impact visuospatial
reasoning, although it was noted as far back as the 1980s when Alan
Bishop developed his duality of visual processing and interpreting
visual information. This book provides this analysis and in so doing not
only articulates new and worthwhile lines of research, but also uncovers
and makes real a variety of useful professional approaches in teaching
school mathematics. With a renewed interest in visuospatial reasoning in
the mathematics education community, this volume is extremely timely and
adds significantly to current literature on the topic.