The supporters of the progressive tradition in mathematics education include mathematics educators, advisors and teacher educators, as well as progressive teachers. The tradition had grown in strength this century, embracing both primary and secondary education in Britain. This be partly attributed to progressive educators forming an alliance with progressive technological pragmatists, on the basis that practical, confident problem solvers serve the needs of employment (Hodkinson,1989). Such an alliance can be inferred from Cockcroft (1982), in which both progressive and utilitarian aims for mathematics education are endorsed.