DIVERSITY OF PERSPECTIVES AS A RESOURCE: CONNECTING IDENTITY THEORIES IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION - WG

This Working Group emerges from a small international community of early-career researchers in mathematics education who have been collaboratively negotiating how “identity” is conceptualised and operationalised in empirical research. Over the past year, we have met regularly to examine tensions in our own studies, compare and test methodological options, and reflect on how research settings and data sources shape what identity becomes in analysis. Our projects span multiple countries, learning groups, in- and pre-service teachers. Across diverse focal concerns, including language diversity, social justice, problem-solving, and emotions, we draw on sociocultural, political and psychological perspectives through narrative and participation-based approaches. Within this breadth, identity has functioned both as a shared focus and a productive point of tension. This leads us to a common set of questions about how identity is conceptualised across topics, how these conceptualisations relate to theoretical commitments, and how the analytic choices are justified.