“I get shouted at; Joe gets a pat on the back”: Ability, labelling and equity in elementary mathematics
In this presentation, I discuss the key findings from my doctoral study which examined ability discourses and practices in elementary mathematics education. In this thesis, ability is theoretically conceived of as an aspect of identity rather than an individual attribute. However, a significant finding of the research was the tendency for children from a very young age to construct a notion of ability – particularly mathematical ability – involving genetic predispositions and fixed limits to attainment. Classroom observations and interviews with teachers suggested that students were rehearsing the pervading discourse; a discourse set within a culture (UK) so dominated by notions of ability and intelligence that it is not seen as in any way peculiar and filtrates into schooling without question. Students’ fixed-ability beliefs limit the ways in which they engage with schooling and the implications for mathematics learning will be explored.
Dominant fixed-ability beliefs, in combination with ever increasing accountability pressures (for instance league tables and external assessment) have seen an increase in the use of structured ability grouping (tracking) at the elementary level particularly within mathematics in the UK. Specific findings in relation to this – focussing on a process of educational triage and differential experiences – will be outlined through both quantitative and qualitative study results. Adopting a broadly sociocultural approach in which learning is seen as a process of identity development through participation and enculturation, I will explore how students dealt with and made sense of the differential treatments they were all too aware of happening, and how their identity ‘choice’ was constrained, and was constraining, culturally as well as individually. In examining constraints, I will suggest how students negotiated tensions and how – often through improvisation and in co-construction with the teacher – existing identities were cemented.
In cementing identities within a culture of fixed-ability thinking, the students in this study faced often insurmountable barriers (both external and internal) to developing alternative identities and being a different type of mathematics student. Chiming with current literature, students in this study voiced their accepted position – often with sadness or anger – recognising that where they were placed (tracked) in Reception (Pre-Kindergarten) was in all likelihood where they would remain until the end of elementary school and that this would dictate their placement and opportunities in secondary school mathematics.
