Mathematics and the Body: Material Entanglements in the Classroom (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives)

This book explores alternative ways to consider the relationship between mathematics and the material world. Drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Châtelet and the post-humanist materialism of Karen Barad, the authors present an “inclusive materialist” approach to studying mathematics education. This approach offers a fresh perspective on human and nonhuman bodies, challenging current assumptions about the role of the senses, language, and ability in teaching and learning mathematics. Each chapter provides empirical examples from the classroom that demonstrate how inclusive materialism can be applied to a wide range of concerns in the field. The authors analyze recent studies on students' gestures, expressions, and drawings in order to establish a link between mathematical activity and mathematical concepts. Mathematics and the Body expands the landscape of research in mathematics education and will be an essential resource for teachers, students, and researchers alike. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Table of contents List of figures Series Foreword Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Outline of the book Synopsis 1 When does a body become a body? Theories of embodiment Material phenomenology and post-humanism Objects, quasi-objects and agency Assemblages and processes of becoming 2 The ‘ontological turn’ of inclusive materialism New materialisms Towards a relational ontology The pedagogy of the concept How mathematical assemblages come to matter 3 Diagrams, gestures, movement On gestures and diagrams Mobile Mathematics A diagramming experiment Inventive diagramming in the classroom Diagrams and the exteriority of thought 4 Inventiveness in the mathematics classroom Creative acts and materiality Digital technologies, mathematics and impulse When do two lines intersect? Creating a new space for potential intersection What kind of motion makes a vertical line? Mobility and potentiality 5 Materialist approaches to mathematics classroom discourse The materiality of language Word assemblage The human voice 6 The sensory politics of the body mathematical Mathematics, the senses and intuition Mathematics education and the sensory organs Rethinking perception and sensation The sensory politics of (dis)ability in mathematics Reconfiguring the human body 7 Mapping the cultural formation of the mathematical aesthetic Classroom consensus and dissensus A political aesthetics The mathematician’s sensibility New standards of curricular consensus 8 The virtuality of mathematical concepts Bridging the mathematical and physical worlds Curriculum mapping of concepts Conclusion Bibliography Author Index Subject Index This books presents an 'inclusive materialist' approach to studying mathematics education, which offers a fresh perspective on human and nonhuman bodies and their relationship to mathematical concepts. The authors provide empirical examples to challenge current assumptions about the role of the senses, language, and ability in teaching and learning mathematics.