Research methodology in critical mathematics education

ABSTRACT

This article examines research methodologies for classroom-based research in light of the complementary ideas of Freire and Habermas. After reflecting on classroom-based participatory action research in a secondary mathematics classroom, I discuss the suitability of critical participatory action research in critical mathematics education. Critical participatory action research resonates with central concerns of critical mathematics education as it allows researchers to consider emancipatory alternatives to existing situations.

KEYWORDS:

• critical mathematics education
• critical theory
• critical participatory action research
• research methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 While Andersson and Valero (2016) and Wright (2017) draw on Skovsmose and Borba (2004), they seem to be unaware of important changes in Skovsmose’s (2014) perspective about research methodology in mathematics education.

2 This article is based on my PhD dissertation Critical Mathematics Education in Neoliberal Era (Avcı, 2017).

3 The ‘teacher-proof’ curriculum is a fully scripted and narrow curriculum that does not allow teachers to make adjustments.

4 All student names are anonymous.

5 Since 2014, there has been a civil movement for increasing minimum wage from $9 to $15 in Seattle, WA. This movement triggered a larger public debate in Seattle area and spread to other part of the U.S. Further information can be obtained at http://www.occupydemocrats.com/seattle-mayor-says-behind-living-wage/

6 It is important to emphasize that this subjectivity does not imply relativism as it does in postmodernism.