How Brianna Became Bossy and Kofi Came Out Smart: Understanding the Trajectories of Identity and Engagement for Two Group Leaders in a Project-Based Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

This article addresses equity in mathematics classrooms through a focus on students’ co-constructed trajectories of identity and engagement in cooperative learning groups. I examine how two students who served as group leaders in a projects-based algebra classroom constructed markedly different trajectories of identity and engagement across the academic year. Results showed that group members differentially interpreted their respective project-related directives in gendered ways such that the female group leaders’ displays of authority were positioned as inappropriate, while the male group leaders’ displays were positioned as desirable.