Towards a socio-ecological practice of mathematics teacher education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35763/aiem23.5489Keywords:
Socio-ecological, Mathematics teacher education, Teacher education, Futures (of society), EthicsAbstract
This theoretical article is a response to UNESCO’s call for a new social contract for education, in the context of mathematics teacher education. The article sets out four principles behind “socio-ecological” practices in mathematics education: not taking nature as a fixed background for concerns; avoiding the epistemological error of taking the individual as the unit of learning; questioning what is centred in our work; moving towards a dialogic ethics. The article considers the “what” and the “how” of mathematics teacher education, from this socio-ecological perspective. In terms of the “how”, it is argued a dialogic ethics prompts attention to the potential for a mathematics teacher educator taking a “meta-perspective” in relationships with prospective teachers, recognising those prospective teachers as “teachers”, from the start of a teacher education course. In contexts where the “what” of mathematics teacher education is highly constrained, the “how” of socio-ecological practices may still be possible to enact.
Downloads
References
Abtahi, Y., Gotze, P., Steffensen, L., Hauge, K. H., and Barwell, R. (2017). Teaching climate change in mathematics classrooms: An ethical responsibility. Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, 32. https://education.exeter.ac.uk/research/centres/stem/publications/pmej/pome32/index.html
Bakhtin, M. M. (1993). Toward a philosophy of the act (Eds. V. Liapunov & M. Holquist; Trans. V. Liapunov). University of Texas Press.
Barwell, R., Boylan, M. & Coles, A. (2022). Mathematics education and the living world: a dialogic response to a global crisis. Journal of Mathematical Behavior 68, 101013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2022.101013
Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Boons, F. (2013). Organizing Within Dynamic Ecosystems: Conceptualizing Socio-Ecological Mechanisms. Organization & Environment 26(3), 281–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026613498755.
Boylan, M. (2016). Ethical dimensions of mathematics education. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 92(3), 395–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9678-z
Boylan, M., & Coles, A. (2017). Is another mathematics education possible? An introduction to a Special Issue on “Mathematics Education and the living world: Responses to ecological crisis”. Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, 32. https://education.exeter.ac.uk/research/centres/stem/publications/pmej/pome32/index.html
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.
Brown, J., Brown, L., Coles, A. & Helliwell, T. (2020). Learning to teach mathematics: The lesson de-brief conversation. In, O. Chapman (Ed.), The International Handbook of Mathematics Teacher Education: Volume 2: Tools and processes in Mathematics Teacher Education (pp. pp.85-109). Sense Publishers.
Brown, J., Brown, L., Coles, A. & Helliwell, T. (2021). Working with awareness as Mathematics Teacher Educators: Experiences to issues to actions. In M. Goos and K. Beswick (Eds.), The Learning and Development of Mathematics Teacher Educators: International Perspectives and Challenges (pp. 187-204). Springer.
Brown, J., Coles, A., Hayward, R., Helliwell, T., Lustig-Bruce, D., Owen, E., & Salt, A. (2021). Mathematics teaching and global challenges: Part one. Mathematics Teaching, 276, 9-12.
Brown, J., Coles, A., Helliwell, T., James, I., Kurian, H., Läderach, J., Morris, L. & Sebe, I. (2021). Mathematics teaching and global challenges: Part 2. Mathematics Teaching, 277, 11-13.
Coles, A. (2020). Communicating ‘nots’: A journey in mathematics education. For the Learning of Mathematics, 40(0), 15-20. https://flm-journal.org/index.php?do=show&lang=en&vol=40&num=0
Coles, A. (2022). A socio-ecological turn in mathematics education: Reflecting on curriculum innovation. Paradigma, 43(1), 207-228.
https://doi.org/10.37618/PARADIGMA.1011-2251.2022.p207-228.id1168
Coles, A., & Helliwell, T. (2023). The role of mathematics teacher educators in preparing teachers of mathematics to respond to global challenges within their classrooms. London Review of Education, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.21.1.02
Coles, A., le Roux, K., & Solares-Rojas, A. (2022). Towards a socio-ecological perspective of mathematics education. In: C. Fernández, et al. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 45th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 171-178). Alicante: PME, Vol. 2.
Latour, B. (2017). Facing Gaia: Eight lectures on the new climatic regime. Polity.
Levinas, E. (2011). Totality and infinity: An essay on exteriority. Springer.
Louie, N., & Zhan, W.-Y. (2022). A Socio-Ecological Framework for Research in Mathematics Education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 53(5), 365–371. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc-2022-0003
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1992). The tree of knowledge: The biological roots of human understanding (Rev. ed). Shambhala.
Murray, J. (2000). Bakhtinian answerability and Levinasian responsibility: Forging a fuller dialogic communicative ethics. Southern Journal of Communication, 65(2–3), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/10417940009373163
OECD (2019). OECD Future of Education and Skills, 2030 OECD Learning Compass 2030: A Series of Concept Notes. https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/learning/learning-compass-2030/OECD_Learning_Compass_2030_Concept_Note_Series.pdf
Oishi, S., & Graham, J. (2010). Social Ecology: Lost and Found in Psychological Science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 356–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610374588
Radford, L. (2021). The theory of objectification: A Vygotskian perspective on knowing and becoming in mathematics teaching and learning. Brill.
Roe, J., deForest, R., & Jamshidi, S. (2018). Mathematics for Sustainability. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76660-7
Savard, A. (2017). Implementing inquiry-based learning situation in science and technology: What are elementary school teachers’ learning intensions and mathematics? Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, 32. https://education.exeter.ac.uk/research/centres/stem/publications/pmej/pome32/index.html
Solares-Rojas, A., Arellano-Aguilar, O., García González, M., López-Vargas, A., Coles, A., & Méndez, A. (2022). Mathematics education and social-environmental crises. Research in Mathematics Education 24(2), https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2022.2062781
UNESCO (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. Educational and Cultural Organization of the United Nations. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379707
Valero, P. (2004). Socio-political perspectives on mathematics education. In P. Valero & R. Zevenbergen (Eds.), Researching the socio-political dimensions of mathematics education (pp. 5–23). Kluwer.
Varela F. J. (1999). Steps to a science of interbeing: Unfolding the dharma implicit in modern cognitive science. In: G. Watson, S. Bachelor & G. Claxton (Eds.), The psychology of awakening (pp. 71–89). Rider. https://cepa.info/4118
Wolfe, C. (2020). What “The Animal” Can Teach “The Anthropocene”. Angelaki, 25(3), 131–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2020.1754033
Wilden, A. (2001). System and structure: Essays in communication and exchange (2nd. ed.; Reproduction of the ed. London 1972). Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Alf Coles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The articles published in this journal are under a license Creative Commons: By 4.0 España from number 21 (2022).
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and keep the acknowledgement of authorship.
- The texts published in this journal are – unless indicated otherwise – covered by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international licence. You may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, provided you attribute it (authorship, journal name, publisher) in the manner specified by the author(s) or licensor(s). The full text of the licence can be consulted here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
