Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A framework for analysing the relationships between peer interactions and learners’ mathematical identities: accounting for personal and social identities

  • Published:
Educational Studies in Mathematics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The absence of discussions of identity that consider both subjective/personal and social aspects of identity is an important concern in mathematics education research. This paper proposes a framework to analyse the mathematical identities offered to and constructed by learners during peer interactions, by considering personal and social identities. To exemplify the framework, we discuss how two pairs of secondary school learners, who were engaged with similarly by their teachers and who performed similarly academically, interacted with each other and offered and constructed micro-identities during moments of a lesson, and macro-identities across lessons. We show that when learners were offered identities by a peer as higher, lower or equal status, they constructed their identities by affiliating with or resisting the identities offered by their peer. Their interactions and the identities that they constructed were informed by their personal identities, including their emotions when learning mathematics, and their social identities, including their choices to occupy certain roles in the classroom community.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Elsewhere, we show how learners’ mathematical identities are informed by their interactions with teachers (see Gardee, 2019, 2021; Gardee & Brodie, 2021, 2022).

References

  • Andersson, A., Valero, P., & Meaney, T. (2015). “I am [not always] a maths hater”: Shifting students’ identity narratives in context. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90, 143–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9617-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, A., & Wagner, D. (2019). Identities available in intertwined discourses: Mathematics student interaction. ZDM-Mathematics Education, 51, 529–540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-019-01036-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer, M. (2002). Realism and the problem of agency. Alethia, 5(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1558/aleth.v5i1.11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J. P. (2012). "She’s always been the smart one. I’ve always been the dumb one”: Identities in the mathematics classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 43(1), 34–74. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.43.1.0034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boaler, J., & Greeno, J. G. (2000). Identity, agency, and knowing in mathematics worlds. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 171–200). Ablex Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boaler, J., & Staples, M. (2008). Creating mathematical futures through an equitable teaching approach: The case of Railside school. Teachers College Record, 110(3), 608–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, P., Gresalfi, M., & Hodge, L. L. (2009). An interpretive scheme for analyzing the identities that students develop in mathematics classrooms. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 40(1), 40–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, E. G., & Lotan, R. A. (1995). Producing equal-status interaction in the heterogeneous classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 32(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.2307/1163215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, E. G., & Lotan, R. A. (Eds.). (1997). Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms: Sociological theory in practice. Teachers College Press.

  • Darragh, L., & Radovic, D. (2018). Mathematics learner identity. In S. Lerman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of mathematics education (pp. 582–584). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77487-9_100017-1

  • Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 20, 43–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1990.tb00174.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeJarnette, A. F., & González, G. (2015). Positioning during group work on a novel task in algebra II. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 46(4), 378–422. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.46.4.0378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danermark, B., Ekström, M., & Karlsson, J. C. (2019). Explaining society: Critical realism in the social sciences. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351017831

  • Esmonde, I. (2009). Mathematics learning in groups: Analyzing equity in two cooperative activity structures. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 18(2), 247–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review, 10, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.05.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenzel, J. M., Lampen, C. E., & Brodie, K. (2019). Learners’ awareness of their emotions and their engagement with mathematics tasks in a mathematics club. Journal of Education, 77, 44–59. https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i77a03

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardee, A. (2019). Social relationships between teachers and learners, learners’ mathematical identities, and equity. African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 23(2), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2019.1662641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardee, A. (2021). Relationships between teachers’ practices and learners’ mathematical identities. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 52(3), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2019.1688403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardee, A., & Brodie, K. (2021). A framework for learners’ mathematical identities: A critical realist perspective. Didactica Mathematicae, 43, 5–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardee, A., & Brodie, K. (2022). Relationships between teachers’ interactions with learner errors and learners’ mathematical identities. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-020-10142-1

  • Graven, M., & HeydMetzuyanim, E. (2019). Mathematics identity research: The state of the art and future directions. ZDM-Mathematics Education, 51, 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-019-01050-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gresalfi, M., & Hand, V. M. (2019). Coordinating situated identities in mathematics classrooms with sociohistorical narratives: A consideration for design. ZDM-Mathematics Education, 51, 493–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-019-01034-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gresalfi, M., Martin, T., Hand, V., & Greeno, J. (2008). Constructing competence: An analysis of student participation in the activity system of mathematics classrooms. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 70(1), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-008-9141-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harré, R., & van Langenhove, L. (Eds.). (1999). Positioning theory: Moral contexts of intentional action. Blackwell.

  • Herbel-Eisenmann, B. A., Wagner, D., Johnson, K. R., Suh, H., & Figueras, H. (2015). Positioning in mathematics education: Revelations on an imported theory. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 89(2), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-014-9588-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heyd-Metzuyanim, E., & Sfard, A. (2012). Identity struggles in the mathematics classroom: On learning mathematics as an interplay of mathematizing and identifying. International Journal of Educational Research, 51–52, 128–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgen, J., & Marks, R. (2009). Mathematical ‘ability’ and identity: A sociocultural perspective on assessment and selection. In L. Black, H. Mendick, & Y. Soloman (Eds.), Mathematical relationships in education: identities and participation (pp. 31–41). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland, D., & Leander, K. (2004). Ethnographic studies of positioning and subjectivity: An introduction. Ethos, 32(2), 127–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer-Osuna, J. M. (2011). How Brianna became bossy and Kofi came out smart: Understanding the trajectories of identity and engagement for two group leaders in a project-based mathematics classroom. Canadian Journal of Science Mathematics and Technology Education, 11(3), 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2011.595881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer-Osuna, J. M. (2016). The social construction of authority among peers and its implications for collaborative mathematics problem solving. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 18(2), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/10986065.2016.1148529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer-Osuna, J. M., & Esmonde, I. (2017). Insights and advances on research on identity in mathematics education. In J. Cai (Ed.), Compendium for research in mathematics education (pp. 637–648). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerman, S. (2001). Accounting for accounts of learning mathematics: Reading the ZPD in videos and transcripts. In D. Clarke (Ed.), Perspectives on practice and meaning in mathematics and science classrooms (25 vol., pp. 53–74). Kluwer Academic Publishers.

  • Marks, A., & O’mahoney, J. (2014). Researching identity: A critical realist approach. In P. K. Edwards, J. O’mahoney, & S. Vincent (Eds.), Studying organizations using critical realism: A practical guide (pp. 66–85). Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2010). Research in education evidence based enquiry. Pearson Education Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radovic, D., Black, L., Williams, J., & Salas, E. C. (2018). Towards conceptual coherence in the research on mathematics learner identity: A systematic review of the literature. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 99, 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-018-9819-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sfard, A., & Prusak, A. (2005). Telling identities: In search of an analytic tool for investigating learning as a culturally shaped activity. Educational Researcher, 34(4), 14–22. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034004014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wegerif, R., & Mercer, N. (1997). A dialogical framework for investigating talk. In R. Wegerif & P. Scrimshaw (Eds). Computers and talk in the primary classroom (pp. 49–65). Multilingual Matters.

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, M. B. (2013). Mathematical micro-identities: Moment-to-moment positioning and learning in a fourth grade-classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 44(5), 775–808. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.44.5.0775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wortham, S. E. (2004). From good student to outcast: The emergence of a classroom identity. Ethos, 32(2), 164–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all who supported this study, including learner participants, teachers, and the school principal.

Funding

This work is based on research supported by the National Institute for The Humanities and Social Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Aarifah Gardee & Karin Brodie

Authors
  1. Aarifah Gardee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karin Brodie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aarifah Gardee.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gardee, A., Brodie, K. A framework for analysing the relationships between peer interactions and learners’ mathematical identities: accounting for personal and social identities. Educ Stud Math 113, 443–473 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10201-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10201-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation