“If I had to pick any subject, it wouldn’t be maths”: foundations for engagement with mathematics during the middle years

This article is a report on a longitudinal case study that investigated the problem of lowered engagement with mathematics and students’ perspectives of the factors that influenced their engagement during the middle years of schooling. The article provides a synthesis of the entire study and a summary of its findings. In order to address the research question a group of 20 students from within the same school cohort participated in the study spanning three school years from their final year of primary school, to their second year of secondary school. Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, and classroom observations. A major finding of this study was that positive pedagogical relationships between teachers and their students must be developed as a foundation for sustained engagement

Structural exclusion through school mathematics: using Bourdieu to understand mathematics as a social practice

In this paper, we explore a sociological approach to mathematics education and offer a theoretical lens through which we can come to understand mathematics education as part of a wider set of social practices. Many studies of children's experiences in school show that a child's academic success is a product of many factors, some of which are beyond the control and, sometimes, the knowledge of the classroom teacher. We draw on the sociological ideas of Pierre Bourdieu to frame our analysis of the environment in which the pupils learn and the ways in which the practices help to create parallel worlds which are structured quite differently inside and outside the classroom. Specifically, we use Bourdieu's notions of habitus, field and capital. Using two cases, we highlight the subtle and coercive ways in which the practices of the field of mathematics education allow greater or lesser access to the hegemonic knowledge known as school mathematics depending on the cultural backgrounds and dispositions of the learners. We examine the children's mathematical learning trajectories and reflect on how what they achieve in the future will, in all likelihood, be shaped by their social background and how compatible this is with the current educational climate.Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Education and Professional StudiesNo Full Tex