Abstract
Developed from Noddings’s (2002) care theory, von Glasersfeld’s (1995) constructivism, and Ryan and Frederick’s (1997) notion of subjective vitality, a mathematical caring relation (MCR) is a quality of interaction between a student and a mathematics teacher that conjoins affective and cognitive realms in the process of aiming for mathematical learning. In this paper I examine the challenge of establishing an MCR with one mathematically talented 11-year-old student, Deborah, during an 8-month constructivist teaching experiment with two pairs of 11-year-old students, in which I (the author) was the teacher. Two characteristics of Deborah contributed to this challenge: her strong mathematical reasoning and her self-concept as a top mathematical knower. Two of my characteristics also contributed to the challenge: my request that Deborah engage in activity that was foreign to her, such as develo** imagery for quantitative situations, and my assumption that Deborah’s strong reasoning would allow her to operate in the situations I posed to her. The lack of trust she felt at times toward me and the lack of openness I felt at times toward her impeded our establishment of an MCR. Findings include a way to understand this dynamic and dissolve it to make way for more productive interaction.
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The research reported in this paper was carried out while the author was at The University of Georgia.
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Hackenberg, A. Mathematical caring relations: A challenging case. Math Ed Res J 22, 57–83 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03219778
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03219778