The Sensory Politics of Embodied Mathematics: A Posthumanist Approach to (Dis)ability in Mathematics Classrooms

• In Event: 60.038 - Exploring Different Theoretical Frontiers in Mathematics Education Research: Toward an Empowering Mathematical Experience for All

Abstract

In this presentation, the panelists use posthumanist theories of sensation to examine current conceptions of embodied mathematics, and to propose an alternative and possibly more inclusive approach to research on (dis)ability in mathematics classrooms. The parenthetical (dis)ability is used to underscore the ways in which “disability” is inscribed within ability, and vice versa, as well as to draw attention to the cultural and historical variability of such delineations. The term posthumanist refers to contemporary theory that decenters the humanist epistemic subject in accounts of social interaction, focusing instead on the flow of affect and semiotic across open collectives of distributed agency (Deleuze, 2003; Braidotti, 2013). The panelists show how a posthumanist approach offers an innovative and inclusive way of studying mathematics classrooms, where bodies can be seen as differently abled and differently (organ)ised rather than disabled or distracted. In keeping with a posthumanist approach, the panelists decenter the human organs—with their fixed forms of perception, prescribed patterns, and implied (dis)abilities—so as to understand both mathematics and sensation as provisionally configured and dispersed across a relational classroom ontology.

With increased emphasis on the body in mathematics teaching and learning, political concerns about how to study the senses and sensation have come to the forefront (de Freitas & Sinclair, 2014). For example, emphasis in classrooms on the alphanumeric entails a sensory politics that excludes many students. Students labelled dyslexic demonstrate exceptional spatial skills, while performing poorly on tests that privilege the alphanumeric (Eide & Eide, 2011). A school mathematics that demotes the visual-haptic-spatial aspects of sense-making in mathematics creates a disadvantage for a large population of students. It is in this sense that mathematics itself—and in this case school mathematics—is formatted by certain sensory assumptions. The challenge is to question how our theories of embodied mathematics mask such assumptions.

The “dyscalculia” label provides an interesting case study of the desire to ascribe learning difficulties to individuals, rather than to any particular socio-political-technological complex. Borgioli (2008) argues that learning disabilities in mathematics are constructed using narrow definitions of what counts as acceptable mathematics and what counts as evidence of proficiency in mathematics. Gifford (2006) questions whether dyscalculia describes a specific cognitive deficit, in part because no consensus has been reached about its defining characteristics, aside from poor recall of number facts. While such a consensus may well emerge, as might evidence of neurological differences between individuals in their processing of number, any exclusively neuropsychological approach is highly problematic. In light of these concerns, the neurodiversity movement has shifted the political terrain by advocating for the right to cognitive difference while resisting others’ claims that such differences need to be corrected.

During this presentation, the panelists contribute to these debates by (a) outlining a theoretical framework for studying embodied mathematics that addresses the sensory politics of school mathematics, (b) demonstrate how this framework can be used in analysing classroom video data, and (c) advocate for a more inclusive approach to the study of mathematical competencies.

Authors

• Elizabeth De Freitas, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Nathalie Sinclair, Simon Fraser University