Mapping Complexity in an Elementary Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

To develop the mathematical discourse of an elementary classroom, I designed an action research project around an intervention of Open Space Technology (OST). Guided by the theoretical perspective of complexity thinking, OST principles created a ‘space’ or a new structure for learning, where participants self-organized according to interests and needs around a common purpose. I focused this article on the design of a mapping methodology I created for OST to provide teacher-researchers with a tool that may lead, in conjunction with a framework for discourse analysis, to a better understanding of how student movement and interactions promote productive math talk.