Mathematics teaching and teacher education against marginalisation, or towards equity, diversity and inclusion

Abstract

The interrogation of often unintended practices of marginalisation has gained focus in research on mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education throughout the last decades. In this introductory survey paper, work against marginalisation in these contexts of mathematics education is viewed in terms of work towards equity, diversity and inclusion. Based on this interpretation, we present a framework on awareness and practice of equity, diversity and inclusion in mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education research. We then use this framework and a survey method of mapping review to identify and comment on a selection of studies. As a result, we illustrate three research moves towards equity, diversity and inclusion, in the form of interconnected themes: (1) Widening the understanding of the mathematics and the mathematics education curricula (2) Improving the practice and discussion of mathematics teaching (3) Unpacking ideologies in mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education. We finally examine the themes and the special issue papers together to foreground commonalities regarding awareness of discriminatory discourses and practices of creating and distributing opportunities for all groups, including those historically and currently marginalised. Despite the important increase of equity-driven principles of awareness, we conclude that mathematics education research on teaching and on teacher education needs more examples of practices whose development has been proved to challenge marginalisation.