Listening and responding to mathematics-averse speech

2026-08-11

Caroline Yoon *

DOI：10.1007/s10649-026-10546-w

Original

Original request for help

Save

Abstract

En 中文

As mathematics educators, we frequently encounter problematic messages about mathematics. For example, we are often told by students, parents, and people we meet that they do not have a mathematics brain or are not a mathematics person. Such speech is inaccurate and harmful to learners, but its origins are complex and responding requires care. In this article, I discuss the ethical considerations that shaped my attempt to respond to this speech through fiction and essay. My approach is grounded in Levinasian ethics, which views listening as a nonviolent response to difference. I explain how my attempts to listen to the alterity of this speech influenced my response and changed me. I offer the story-essay pairing that resulted from this process as a resource for mathematics educators working with those who might be exposed to this speech or use it themselves. I argue that listening can be a methodology for using fiction as an ethical tool to access alterity, and I share my reflections on my process as a case study of ethically guided action in a contested mathematics education space.

Keywords:

Listening

Mathematics aversion

Writing-story

Fiction

Ethics

Listening and responding to mathematics-averse speech

Abstract

Journal

Organization

Cited Papers

Citing Papers