Conceptualising one mathematics teacher’s process of becoming in relation to teaching mathematics and climate justice: The story of Karl

Abstract

The story of Karl aims to show the complexity involved in navigating issues of climate justice as a mathematics teacher. We present a layered text as both the process and product of our analysis to demonstrate the way in which one secondary mathematics teacher, Karl, embraces contradictions and draws upon multiple forms of knowing during his process of becoming in relation to teaching mathematics and climate justice in the context of a small-scale professional development programme. We illustrate the different ways in which mathematics teaching and climate justice are conceptualised and enacted by Karl before presenting a framework that we call Teaching Mathematics 4 Climate Justice (TM4CJ), consisting of four dimensions. We show that TM4CJ is relevant to mathematics teaching beyond lessons where the content relates directly to issues of climate justice, towards a way of being a mathematics teacher. Implications for mathematics teacher education and professional development are discussed.