A Call for Field Disruptions and Connections in Mathematics Education Research

Susan Ophelia Cannon

doi:10.21423/jume-v13i2a389

Authors

Susan Ophelia Cannon Mercer University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3858-3603

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21423/jume-v13i2a389

Keywords:

agential realism, fields, poststructuralism, qualitative inquiry

Abstract

The Field Disruptions and Field Connections section of the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education (JUME) seeks manuscripts that bring to light innovative, underutilized, or marginalized theories and methods that show potential for radical reconfiguration in (urban) mathematics education research. In this introductory and invitational editorial to the section, I provide illustrations of field disruptions through the use of poststructural and agential realist theories in mathematics education research. The purpose in doing so is to highlight how past disruptions have caused shifts in what counts as mathematical knowledge and who can be seen as mathematical. I also point to examples of field connections that demonstrate the importance of innovation and creativity in not only what we research but also in the ways we research in urban mathematics education. Because new and newly considered theories and methods can and have shifted the field of mathematics education research, an intellectual space to share and explore these innovative contributions to the field is being created within JUME. Specifically, the section seeks submissions that bring forward theories, methods, and concepts that the author argues have potential to disrupt the structures that support systemic racism and other forms of exclusion in mathematics teaching and learning. In addition, as section editor, I welcome alternative texts, poetry, and research texts and data that may not fit or have been systematically excluded in more traditional disciplined spaces but speak to important issues in urban mathematics education.

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