Refusal as a democratic catalyst for mathematics education development
Pythagoras
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Refusal as a democratic catalyst for mathematics education development | |
| Creator | Swanson, Dalene Appelbaum, Peter | |
| Description | Discussions about the connections between mathematics and democracy amongst the general populace have not been explicitly well rehearsed. A critical relationship with democracy for mathematics education may involve directing and redirecting its purposes. But, we ask, what if the ‘choice’ to not participate in experiences of mathematics education, or in its (re)direction, were itself also a critical relationship with mathematics education? What if this refusal and disobedience to the evocative power of mathematics were a democratic action? We argue that consideration of mathematics education for democracy and development must take seriously specific acts of refusal that directly confront the construction of inequality common in most development contexts. Globalisation and development discourses, via citizenship and nationalism, construct relationships with learners and mathematics education in very specific ways that delimit possibilities for egalitarianism and democratic action. But, might such action not be recognised, not as refusal to participate per se, but as a refusal to participate in mathematics education’s colonising and/or globalising neo-liberal gaze? In arguing for the opening of a position of radical equality, we introduce Jacques Rancière to mathematics education theory, noting that for Rancière emancipation is the intentional disregard for ideological narratives such as the ones produced by mathematics education discourses. Thus, we provoke serious reconsideration of the assumptions behind most school improvement and professional development projects, as well as mathematics education policies and practices framed by globalising development discourses, and in the process we challenge our colleagues to consider ‘refusal’ not as deficit or failure, but as a critical position of radical equality in relation to mathematics education. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS Publishing | |
| Date | 2012-12-04 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/pythagoras.v33i2.189 | |
| Source | Pythagoras; Vol 33, No 2 (2012); 6 pages 2223-7895 1012-2346 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/189/249
https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/189/250
https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/189/255
https://pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/189/248
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