Classifying the Arguments & Methodological Schemes for Integrating History in Mathematics Education¹

The ICMI Study volume “History in Mathematics Education”, published in 2000, includes a comprehensive list of arguments for integrating history in Mathematics Education and methodological schemes of how this can be accomplished. Recently Jankvist distinguished between using “history-as-a-goal” and using “history-as-a-tool” to classify the above arguments. Independently, Grattan-Guinness distinguished between “history” and “heritage” in the hope that –among other things - this will help to understand better which history is expected to be helpful and meaningful in Mathematics Education. We attempt to connect these two conceptual “dipoles”, aiming to provide in this way a finer and deeper classification of the arguments and methodological schemes for integrating history in Mathematics Education that will serve as an appropriate theoretical framework. These ideas are illustrated by outlining their application in a specific example.