The Ethical Turn in Mathematics Education

Fuente: arXiv
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1. Verfasser: Müller, Dennis
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Müller, Dennis
author_facet Müller, Dennis
contents This article analyzes the emerging ethical turn in mathematics education, arguing that it is a nuanced extension of the sociopolitical turn. While sociopolitical studies of mathematics have highlighted systemic issues and group concerns (e.g., equity, diversity, exclusion), the newer scholarship on ethics in mathematics presents a sharpened focus on the individual responsibility of learners, teachers, and mathematicians by explicitly engaging with philosophical ethics. We analyze key themes of the discourse, including the tension between "doing good" and "preventing harm," and present various philosophical foundations from which scholars have engaged with ethics: Levinas, non-Western perspectives, and pragmatism. We show that the ethical turn holds significant implications for training teachers, including self-reflection, responsibility towards the Other, historical and philosophical awareness, the role of mathematics in society, individual flexibility, cultural sensitivity, and courage to navigate the complex reality of today's mathematics classrooms. The article is designed to also serve as an introduction to ethics in mathematics education.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_23454
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Ethical Turn in Mathematics Education
Müller, Dennis
History and Overview
97D20, 97A40, 97B99, 00A30, 01A80
This article analyzes the emerging ethical turn in mathematics education, arguing that it is a nuanced extension of the sociopolitical turn. While sociopolitical studies of mathematics have highlighted systemic issues and group concerns (e.g., equity, diversity, exclusion), the newer scholarship on ethics in mathematics presents a sharpened focus on the individual responsibility of learners, teachers, and mathematicians by explicitly engaging with philosophical ethics. We analyze key themes of the discourse, including the tension between "doing good" and "preventing harm," and present various philosophical foundations from which scholars have engaged with ethics: Levinas, non-Western perspectives, and pragmatism. We show that the ethical turn holds significant implications for training teachers, including self-reflection, responsibility towards the Other, historical and philosophical awareness, the role of mathematics in society, individual flexibility, cultural sensitivity, and courage to navigate the complex reality of today's mathematics classrooms. The article is designed to also serve as an introduction to ethics in mathematics education.
title The Ethical Turn in Mathematics Education
topic History and Overview
97D20, 97A40, 97B99, 00A30, 01A80
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.23454