The what, how, and who of mathematics: Challenges in teaching mathematics as a social and political activity

In this dissertation I explore the social and political nature of mathematics teaching and learning. I begin by drawing on the literature to understand mathematics as a socially constructed discipline; I focus primarily on the raced nature of mathematics, but also consider the role of gender and class in mathematics. I then introduce the What, How, and Who framework for thinking about the social and political aspects of mathematics teaching and learning. I use this framework as a tool for considering the What, How, and Who of the mathematical narratives we construct and as a means of understanding the range of social and political dimensions of mathematics activity in the classroom. This framework emerged out of my own tensions in attempting to integrate a sociopolitical view of mathematics into my teaching of a mathematics content course for prospective K-8 teachers. I describe the usefulness of the What, How, and Who of mathematics for understanding tensions in taking a sociopolitical view of mathematics and as a guide for reflecting on future instruction and research.;Finally, I use the What, How, and Who framework to examine prospective K-8 teachers' (PTs) views of mathematics as a social and political activity in response to my instruction of a content course in which they were enrolled. I report on the PTs' views as expressed in reflection assignments in which they responded to authors' arguments about the social and political nature of mathematics, their descriptions of the mathematics in our course, and their past experiences with mathematics. Results indicate that the PTs entered the course with little prior experience with the social and political dimensions of mathematics, and while the PTs were receptive to the ideas presented in the course they tended to reframe the arguments raised in less political terms.