John achieved a distinction for his dissertation on ‘Mathematics, Critical Thinking and Conscientization’. He subsequently published adapted versions of this work in the field of ‘Mathematics & Society’ (a branch of STS) along with some other radical statistical work. Inspired by the work of Dr Michael Brown, Professor Ian Miles, Professor Donald Mackenzie, Professor Sal Restivo, and Professor Barry Cooper, from his early twenties, John became one of the leading figures in an international network advocating for the development of research and pedagogy on the social and political aspects of mathematics and statistics.
John Abraham (1987) ‘A framework for a Public Educator Mathematics Curriculum’ Research into Social Perspectives on Mathematics Education Papers.
John Abraham (1988) ‘Mathematics and Society: Ethnomathematics and a Public Educator Curriculum’ For the Learning of Mathematics 8: 2-11.
John Abraham (1989) ‘Human Agency: the Black Box of Mathematics in the Curriculum’ Zentralblatt fur Didaktik der Mathematik (International Reviews of Mathematics Education) 21: 183-188.
John Abraham (1989) ‘Social History of Mathematical Controversies: Some Implications for the Curriculum’ in Keitel, C., Damerow, P., Bishop, A. and Gerdes, P. (eds) Mathematics, Education and Society, pp56-57. UNESCO Science and Technology Education Document Series No. 35, Division of Science, Technical and Environmental Education.
John Abraham (1992) ‘Mathematics and Society’ in (eds.) M. Nickson and S. Lerman, The Social Context of Mathematics Education: Theory and Practice, pp. 180-201. Southbank Press.
Ian Plewis, John Abraham, John Bibby, Jeff Evans, Harvey Goldstein and Steve Simpson (1987) ‘Figuring Out Education Spending: Trends 1978-1985 and their meaning’ Radical Statistics 22pp.