Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Disorder of Mathematics Education pp 291–306Cite as

Reflections on Research Positioning: Where the Math Is and Where the People Are

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Using positioning theory and functional grammar, I reflect on the way I position myself when my research in mathematics education is published. I consider the way my authorship addresses the field, focusing on the distinction between scholars who attend to the sociopolitical context and they who ask of this research “Where is the math?” I identify a range of discourses in which mathematics might be located. Throughout this reflection I draw on two of my publications for examples. Finally, I suggest some tools for reflecting on the positioning and discourses at play in a research situation.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Atwood, M. (2002). Negotiating with the dead: A writer on writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin, M. (1975/1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. (M. Holquist, Ed.; C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barthes, R. (1977). Image, music, text. (Trans. S. Heath). New York: Hill and Wang.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Ambrosio, U. (1994). Cultural framing of mathematics teaching and learning. In R. Biehler, R. Scholz, R. Sträßer, & B. Winkelman (Eds.), Didactics of mathematics as a scientific discipline (pp. 443–455). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Ambrosio, B., Frankenstein, M., Gutierrez, R., Kastberg, S., Martin, D. Moschkovich, J., … Barnes, D. (2013). Positioning oneself in mathematics education research. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 44(1), 11–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1999). Positioning and personhood. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory: Moral contexts of intentional action (pp. 32–51). Blackwell: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson, E. (1960). The complete poems of Emily Dickinson (Ed. T. Johnson). Boston, MA: Little, Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eco, U. (1979). The role of the reader. Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eco, U. (1994). Six walks in the fictional woods. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esmonde, I., & Langer-Osuna, J. (2013). Power in numbers: Student participation in mathematical discussions in heterogeneous spaces. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 44(1), 288–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foote, M., & Bartell, T. (2011). Pathways to equity in mathematics education: How life experiences impact researcher positionality. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 78(1), 45–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge (A. M. Sheridan Smith, Trans.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez, R. (2013). The sociopolitical turn in mathematics education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 44(1), 37–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halai, A. (2014). Social justice through mathematics education: Skilling youth for a societal participation. In P. Liljedahl, C. Nicol, S. Oesterle, & D. Allan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of PME 38 and PME-NA 36 (Vol. 1, pp. 67–71). Vancouver, Canada: PME.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Heid, M. (2010). Where’s the math (in mathematics education research)? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 41(2), 102–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbel-Eisenmann, B., & Wagner, D. (2010). Appraising lexical bundles in mathematics classroom discourse: Obligation and choice. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 75(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbel-Eisenmann, B., Wagner, D., Johnson, K., Suh, H., & Figueras, H. (2015). Positioning in mathematics education: Revelations on an imported theory. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 89, 185–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbel-Eisenmann, B., Wagner, D., & Cortes, V. (2010). Lexical bundle analysis in mathematics classroom discourse: The significance of stance. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 75(1), 23–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J., & Rose, D. (2005). Working with discourse: Meaning beyond the clause. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Setati Phakeng, M. (2014). The calculus of social change—mathematics at the cutting edge. In P. Liljedahl, C. Nicol, S. Oesterle, & D. Allan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of PME 38 and PME-NA 36 (Vol. 1, pp. 55–60). Vancouver, Canada: PME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J. (2014, October 18). The ideological roots of Stephen Harper’s vendetta against sociology. The Toronto Star. Retrieved November 14, 2015, from http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/08/26/the_ideological_roots_of_stephen_harpers_vendetta_against_sociology.html.

  • Valero, P. (2004). Socio-political perspectives on mathematics education. In P. Valero & R. Zevenbergen (Eds.), Researching the socio-political dimensions of mathematics education: Issues of power in theory and methodology (pp. 5–24). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Valero, P. (2014). Cutting the calculations of social change with school mathematics. In P. Liljedahl, C. Nicol, S. Oesterle, & D. Allan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of PME 38 and PME-NA 36 (Vol. 1, pp. 73–77). Vancouver, Canada: PME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D. (2012). Opening mathematics text: Resisting the seduction. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 80(1-2), 153-169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D. (2014). Privileging local cultures and demographics in the mathematics classroom. In P. Liljedahl, C. Nicol, S. Oesterle, & D. Allan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of PME 38 and PME-NA 36 (Vol. 1, pp. 61–66). Vancouver, Canada: PME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D. (2015). A speech act in mathematics education—the social turn. In P. Gates & R. Jorgensen (Eds.), Shifts in the field of mathematics education: Stephen Lerman and the turn to the social (pp. 75–87). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D., Dicks, J., & Kristmanson, P. (2015). Students’ language repertoires for prediction. The Mathematics Enthusiast, 12(1–3), 246–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D., & Herbel-Eisenmann, B. (2009). Re-mythologizing mathematics through attention to classroom positioning. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 72(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, D., & Herbel-Eisenmann, B. (2014). Mathematics teachers’ representations of authority. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 17(3), 201–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walshaw, M. (2014). Raising political, psychoanalytic, and cultural questions of a proposed educational intervention. In P. Liljedahl, C. Nicol, S. Oesterle, & D. Allan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of PME 38 and PME-NA 36 (Vol. 1, pp. 79–83). Vancouver, Canada: PME.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada

    David Wagner

Authors
  1. David Wagner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Wagner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hauke Straehler-Pohl

  2. Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Nina Bohlmann

  3. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Alexandre Pais

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wagner, D. (2017). Reflections on Research Positioning: Where the Math Is and Where the People Are. In: Straehler-Pohl, H., Bohlmann, N., Pais, A. (eds) The Disorder of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34006-7_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34006-7_17

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-34005-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-34006-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation