Towards a socio-ecological perspective of mathematics education

Abstract

In this theoretical research report we propose a socio-ecological perspective, as relevant for research in mathematics education that takes account of our complex, precarious present and imagined future, while recognising its historical roots. We discuss briefly work that considers the social, political and ecological, and build from this scholarship. A ‘socio-ecological’ perspective considers the social and ecological as entangled, and mathematics (education) as both shaping and shaped by these entanglements. This is a mathematics (education) that gains meaning from questions that emerge in socio-ecological relations. We ground our theoretical argument using a project located in a community living in a polluted region of Mexico, where a river is central to the questions motivating community activism and our research.