Metaphorising and enaction in the learning of mathematics

18th February 2019 : 11:00 - 12:30

Category: Seminar

Research Group: Subject Pedagogy

Speaker: Professor Jorge Soto-Andrade (Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Centre for Advanced Research in Education, University of Chile (Santiago, Chile))

Location: Seminar Room B, Department of Education

We argue that an enactivist approach to the learning of mathematics which emphasizes metaphorising may significantly help in alleviating the cognitive abuse millions of children worldwide suffer when exposed to mathematics.

We present and discuss some illustrative examples of enactivist and metaphoric approaches in the context of problem posing and solving in mathematics education, involving geometry and randomness, two critical subjects in school mathematics. Our examples show to what extent the way a mathematical situation is metaphorised and enacted by the learners shapes their emerging ideas and insights and how this may help to bridge the gap between the “mathematically gifted” and those apparently not so gifted or mathematically inclined. Our experimental background includes a broad spectrum of prospective secondary mathematics teachers, in-service primary teachers and their pupils, first-year university students majoring in social sciences and humanities and also university students majoring in mathematics.

About the Department of Education

In 2019, the University of Oxford’s Department of Education celebrates the 100th year since the passing of a statute creating what was known in 1919 as the University Department for the Training of Teachers. To celebrate our centenary a year-long series of activities will be delivered to address some of the department’s top initiatives for 2019, answer some of the big questions facing education today and to reveal the advancements the department has made to the study of and research in the field of education. Join us as we mark our 100th year and discover more about our anniversary here.

To receive more event details from the Department of Education, join our mailing list.