| In this dissertation, I take a multi-level approach to report findings about positional identities in mathematics of students in elementary school. Positional identities develop over time and in local moment-to-moment interactions and involve how individuals position themselves, or are positioned in relation to others in specific social contexts. The overarching research question that I examine in this study is: What is revealed about students' positional identities in mathematics by examining students' participation across multiple timescales of individual history, practice and local interaction ? The main purpose of the study was to highlight that each level of analysis contributes to a distinct yet partial understanding of the manner in which students' are positioned and how they negotiate their identity in an environment that involves doing mathematics. Combining different levels of analysis supports the construction of a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of identity. It helps us understand the identities that students bring to doing mathematics, how they enact their participation in mathematical practices, and how they develop identities based on social positioning. Specifically, I highlight how positions in local interactions are recognized are based on larger cultural practices in which they are embedded. Attention to social positioning in mathematics in relation to larger practices is crucial because it implicitly determines who is in charge during mathematical discussions and what constitutes mathematics.;The information sources included students' semi-structured written surveys, students' group interviews about doing mathematics in the classroom, and video records of students' participation in an after-school math club. The findings of this study suggest that students bring fairly robust identities about themselves and others to situations of learning. Despite this, opportunities to participate in varied practices over time, where students have agency to negotiate their own terms of participation, can afford the development of a range of positive positional identities for different students. At the classroom level, attending to the development of positive positional identities is one way to address issues of equity because it translates to giving students a voice and creating a space where students believe that they are legitimate stakeholders in that learning environment. This feeling of legitimacy in turn can support students' participation, and consequently, learning. |
