Abstract:
Order in classrooms is an attribute which many teachers strive for, but recent innovations have brought relative disorder. However, the work of Benoit Mandlebrot encourages us to think of a new kind of order - that which grows out of disorder. This paper draws on data collected in four classrooms where teachers are encouraging the construction of mathematical understandings through the use of student-initiated group activities. Classroom scenarios are used in the examination of strategies that teachers employ to link the resulting 'disorderly' curriculum with the more traditional, socially-valued curriculum.