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Article
Review: Re-rooting the Learning Space: Minding Where Children's Mathematics Grow, by Jennifer S. Thom
Canadian Journal of Environmental Education
  • Nicholas Stanger, Western Washington University
Document Type
Book Review
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Keywords
  • Complex learning theory,
  • Teaching mathematics to children
Disciplines
Abstract

Jennifer Thom’s first single-authored book is an engaging and organic approach to complex learning theory and mathematics. At first glance, the reader is met with an intertextual exploration of mathematics education through ecological sensibility, thought, and diverse ways of knowing. Yet what is most striking about this book is its playfulness, and the ease with which Thom explains concepts. As the reader opens the first page, she/he is invited to consider the living systems of a tree as an analogy of learning systems, and is invited to interact with this book as one might with various parts of a tree: “that any one leaf is neither directly connected to the other leaves nor does one need to view them in any particular sequence” (p. xi). Through this acknowledgement of parts, Thom also accepts the interconnected nature of mathematics and an ecological sensibility. What follows this initial statement is a key, of sorts, to help interpret the intentional complexity of the text, visuals, font choice, shading, and type-setting.

Required Publisher's Statement

This is an open access journal

Comments

This is an open access journal

Subjects - Names (LCNAF)
Thom, Jennifer S. (Jennifer Susan). Re-rooting the learning space
Genre/Form
reviews (documents)
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Nicholas Stanger. "Review: Re-rooting the Learning Space: Minding Where Children's Mathematics Grow, by Jennifer S. Thom" Canadian Journal of Environmental Education Vol. 18 (2013) p. 196 - 198
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nicholas-stanger/10/