(Re)Learning What It Means to Participate

Abstract

Previous research on participation in mathematics classrooms has focused on adults’ perspectives, which overemphasize the role of talk. Drawing on sociocultural theory, I define participation as a complex and situated phenomenon. I describe a participatory research collaboration where a Spanish immersion third-grade teacher, and I brought the students’ and the teacher’s perspectives on participation into dialogue. A social semiotics analytical framework informed the exploration of multimethods focus groups with the students and an interview with the teacher. Teacher-researcher collaborative data analysis supported the emergence of three main participation-related aspects: (1) beginning to consider multiple characteristics of participation, (2) relocating participation in a dynamic between the social and the individual, and (3) rethinking the teacher’s role in participation. I argue that an initial step toward developing inclusive classrooms is for teachers and researchers to unlearn simplistic perspectives on participation, becoming learners of what it means to participate in particular contexts.