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Facing the Mathematics: Students’ Critical Awareness of the Elusiveness of Mathematical Objects

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Abstract

What happens when mathematics students are invited to ask questions and make observations about the way discourse works in their classroom? This article describes my extended conversation with a high school mathematics class about a phenomenon that caught the attention of two girls in the class. Together we observed and reflected on the direction of one’s gaze during mathematics conversations. This discussion came about while I co-taught this class, prompting the students daily to become more aware of their language practices in class. This critical language awareness effort aimed to address inequities in power relations within the classroom discourse by inviting student perspectives and resulted in drawing two students’ attention to the power of symbols.

Résumé

Que se passe-t-il lorsque les étudiants de mathématiques sont invités à poser des questions et à faire des observations sur le fonctionnement du discours dans leurs cours ? Cet article analyse une longue conversation que j’ai eue avec les élèves d’un cours de mathématiques au secondaire, au sujet d’un phénomène qui a attiré l’attention de deux étudiants en particulier. Ensemble nous avons réfléchi sur la question du regard des participants lors de conversations qui traitent de mathématiques. La question a été soulevée pendant que j’enseignais à ce groupe en collaboration avec un autre professeur et que j’encourageais quotidiennement les étudiants à prendre conscience de leurs pratiques de discours en classe. Cet effort de «réflexion critique sur la conscience du discours» visait à faire aborder la question de l’iniquité des rapports de pouvoir dans le discours en classe en invitant les étudiant à exprimer leur point de vue, ce qui a attiré l’attention de deux étudiants sur le pouvoir des symboles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3, Canada

    David Wagner

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  1. David Wagner
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Correspondence to David Wagner.

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Wagner, D. Facing the Mathematics: Students’ Critical Awareness of the Elusiveness of Mathematical Objects. Can J Sci Math Techn 11, 292–305 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2011.595985

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