Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds
In this paper, we discuss how critical mathematics education (CME) and actor–network theory (ANT) come together in a mathematics teacher education course that focuses on the thematic context of climate change to study statistics. Acknowledging the complexity that student teachers encounter when aske...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/12/1201 |
| _version_ | 1797381337566412800 |
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| author | Magnus Ödmo Anna Chronaki Lisa Bjorklund Boistrup |
| author_facet | Magnus Ödmo Anna Chronaki Lisa Bjorklund Boistrup |
| author_sort | Magnus Ödmo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we discuss how critical mathematics education (CME) and actor–network theory (ANT) come together in a mathematics teacher education course that focuses on the thematic context of climate change to study statistics. Acknowledging the complexity that student teachers encounter when asked to move from a mainly instrumental treatment of statistics toward a critical foreground of data in society, we turn to explore the actant networks, as theorized by ANT, utilized by student teachers when asked to imagine teaching from a CME perspective. For this, our study is based on a series of interviews with student teachers who participated in a statistics course where pollution data graphs were discussed, inquiring about their role as future critical mathematics teachers. The transcribed interviews, analyzed through ANT, inform us as to how student teachers’ foregrounds are being shaped by actants such as the curriculum, social justice, democracy, and source critique, among others. Based on the above, we recommend that teacher education should invite active discussion of the complexity created when a CME perspective is required. This move would allow for a critical approach to critical mathematics education itself that could prepare student teachers to navigate, instead of ignoring or opposing, such complexity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:50:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a0a5217aeba2472b8da16697d5577f88 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:50:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a0a5217aeba2472b8da16697d5577f882023-12-22T14:04:25ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022023-11-011312120110.3390/educsci13121201Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ ForegroundsMagnus Ödmo0Anna Chronaki1Lisa Bjorklund Boistrup2Department of Natural Science, Mathematics and Society, Malmö University, 211 19 Malmö, SwedenDepartment of Natural Science, Mathematics and Society, Malmö University, 211 19 Malmö, SwedenDepartment of Natural Science, Mathematics and Society, Malmö University, 211 19 Malmö, SwedenIn this paper, we discuss how critical mathematics education (CME) and actor–network theory (ANT) come together in a mathematics teacher education course that focuses on the thematic context of climate change to study statistics. Acknowledging the complexity that student teachers encounter when asked to move from a mainly instrumental treatment of statistics toward a critical foreground of data in society, we turn to explore the actant networks, as theorized by ANT, utilized by student teachers when asked to imagine teaching from a CME perspective. For this, our study is based on a series of interviews with student teachers who participated in a statistics course where pollution data graphs were discussed, inquiring about their role as future critical mathematics teachers. The transcribed interviews, analyzed through ANT, inform us as to how student teachers’ foregrounds are being shaped by actants such as the curriculum, social justice, democracy, and source critique, among others. Based on the above, we recommend that teacher education should invite active discussion of the complexity created when a CME perspective is required. This move would allow for a critical approach to critical mathematics education itself that could prepare student teachers to navigate, instead of ignoring or opposing, such complexity.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/12/1201statistics educationcritical mathematics education (CME)climate changeactor–network theory (ANT)teacher education |
| spellingShingle | Magnus Ödmo Anna Chronaki Lisa Bjorklund Boistrup Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds Education Sciences statistics education critical mathematics education (CME) climate change actor–network theory (ANT) teacher education |
| title | Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds |
| title_full | Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds |
| title_fullStr | Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds |
| title_short | Bringing Critical Mathematics Education and Actor–Network Theory to a Statistics Course in Mathematics Teacher Education: Actants for Articulating Complexity in Student Teachers’ Foregrounds |
| title_sort | bringing critical mathematics education and actor network theory to a statistics course in mathematics teacher education actants for articulating complexity in student teachers foregrounds |
| topic | statistics education critical mathematics education (CME) climate change actor–network theory (ANT) teacher education |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/12/1201 |
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