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Mathematics Learner Identity

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Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education

Definition

A socially produced way of being, as enacted and recognized in relation to learning mathematics. It involves stories, discourses and actions, decisions, and affiliations that people use to construct who they are in relation to mathematics, but also in interaction with multiple other simultaneously lived identities. This incorporates how they are treated and seen by others, how the local practice is defined and what social discourses are drawn upon regarding mathematics and the self.

The concept of identity in relation to learning mathematics has become increasingly evident in the mathematics education literature since before the turn of the century. Lave and Wenger (1991) introduced identity to mathematics education and conceptualized it in relation to learning in communities of practice. In the following decade other theories were introduced, notably those of Holland and Colleagues (1998) and Gee (2000) and early influential work within mathematics education included...

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Correspondence to Lisa Darragh or Darinka Radovic .

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Darragh, L., Radovic, D. (2020). Mathematics Learner Identity. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15789-0_100017

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