• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2006

An objective of this paper is to discuss the didactical contracts which have been conceptualized by Brousseau. He modelled mathematics instruction as a game. In such game, didactical contracts existed as its own hidden rules which teacher and student should obey Brousseau introduced it to reveal certain hidden rules which regulates mathematics instruction. Those rules are implicit and reciprocal. In particular, it is not revealed until students break. He defined didactical contracts as teacher's behaviour and corresponding students 'behaviour in order to define it operationally. He he did not define it in psychological and epistemological dimension. But it is necessary to discuss teacher's belief system and epistemology, since teacher's behaviour in instruction is affected by them. He also did not discuss fully teacher's breaking of didactical contracts.