The Psychology of Mathematics Education: A Psychoanalytic Displacement

Brown, Tony (2008) The Psychology of Mathematics Education: A Psychoanalytic Displacement. New Directions in Mathematics and Science Education, 13 . Sense Publishers. ISBN 9087905572

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Abstract

This book paints an alternative and contemporary portrait of psychology within mathematics education, drawing on psychoanalytic practices and theory. Mathematics education is still a fairly new social science that began as an adjunct to the practice of mathematics in schools some forty years ago, defined by a marriage with cognitive psychology. As a consequence school mathematics has often been seen as a scientific enterprise centred on the operation of individual minds confronting mathematical ideas. Meanwhile, psychoanalysis had earlier come into existence through the work of Sigmund Freud. And for much of his life Freud had similarly seen his work as scientific, a view that later fuelled mainstream practices in psychology. Yet Freud’s engagement with his patients combined with his literary capabilities produced surprising results defining humans in ways that transcended mere scientific assessment. Rather his accounts of humans weaved a rich social tapestry in which individuals were understood relationally to those who shared their world. And through re-telling the story lines of their lives individuals were able to create alternative futures. This dimension of Freud’s work provoked an alternative tradition, best exemplified in the work of Lacan, in which narrative-based understandings linking humans to the social world replaced cognitive models centred on controlling individuals through particular understandings of normality. Through its eleven chapters this book provides accounts of how children, teachers, researchers and mathematical learning can be understood differently, towards emphasising how they are each consequential to the many ways in which the world can be created and described.