What’s on the Agenda? Exploring the Imaginative Possibilities of Mathematics Through Kindergarteners’ Play

• In Event: Challenging Dominant Structures in Mentoring, Math, Data, and Making

Abstract

Despite the characterization of schools as sites for children, norms around mathematics teaching often leave little room for students to shape the direction of what happens to them in classrooms. This study positions play as a potential site of disruption. I analyze video data from one kindergarten classroom’s year-long process of integrating play with mathematics in order to uncover how students agentically reshaped play-inspired tasks. Findings indicate that kindergarteners transformed tasks in ways that often led to productive mathematical shifts amongst peers. Results extend prior work on the transformative possibilities of cultivating classrooms where students can concurrently explore mathematical and social agendas. I close by situating students’ creative disruptions as generative resources to be garnered for reimagining future instruction.

Author

• Jamie Vescio, Vanderbilt University