Joy as a Political Emotion in Mathematics Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: From Empathy to Action: Emotional, Restorative, and Creative Pathways in Teacher Preparation

Abstract

In this paper, we examine joy as a political emotion in our work with novice mathematics teachers. While joy is often celebrated as inherently good, we interrogate how it can also reinforce control, hierarchy, and dominant ideologies. Using a post-structuralist lens, we analyze teachers’ reflections on joyful moments in their classrooms, uncovering how joy often emerges through student mimicry, teacher-led legitimization, and managed autonomy. These moments, while emotionally satisfying, may align more with systems of oppression than with liberation. As mathematics teacher educators committed to justice, we do not reject joy but seek to understand how it operates within systems of power.

Authors

• Eric Cordero-Siy, Boston University

• Gregory Benoit, Boston University

• Aaron Brakoniecki, Boston University