Fragile Identities in Mathematics Classroom Interaction - Emancipation through Mathematics?

Through a Poststructuralist lens the project addresses the expression of identities in mathematics classroom interaction. The working hypothesis of the project is that identities are fragile and constantly created, negotiated, recognised and rejected in the discursive practices of the mathematics classroom. The discursive practices with all their dynamics are influenced by both the past experiences and present expectations and imaginaries of the future of participants, and these experiences and expectations heavily influence student possibilities for learning of mathematics. The project is theoretically rooted in poststructuralist theories of interaction and discourse studies and further contains a case study of pre-service teacher students' interaction in the mathematics classroom. The concluding part of the project addresses possibilities of individual emancipation through mathematics teaching in diverse and unstable classroom environments, where a shared identity of mathematics learner is not necessarily dominant or even present.