Emotionality in mathematics teacher education

Mark Boyland at Sheffield Hallam University (UK) has written an article about Engaging with issues of emotionality in mathematics teacher education for social justice. The article was recently published online in Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. In the article, Boyland reports on a study where student teachers are encouraged to reflect on relationships and practices in the classroom that can promote social justice. In the article he relates to affective issues like emotions, beliefs and values, and he refers to some interesting literature on this. The interventions that were used in the study are referred to as "creative action methods", and they were originally developed by psychotherapist Jacob Moreno. This is a very interesting approach to research on affective issues, and to me it is a new approach that I hadn't heard of before.

Here is the abstract of Boyland's article:

This article focuses on the relationship between social justice, emotionality and mathematics teaching in the context of the education of prospective teachers of mathematics. A relational approach to social justice calls for giving attention to enacting socially just relationships in mathematics classrooms. Emotionality and social justice in teaching mathematics variously intersect, interrelate or interweave. An intervention, using creative action methods, with a cohort of prospective teachers addressing these issues is described to illustrate the connection between emotionality and social justice in the context of mathematics teacher education. Creative action methods involve a variety of dramatic, interactive and experiential tools that can promote personal and group engagement and embodied reflection. The intervention aimed to engage the prospective teachers with some key issues for social justice in mathematics education through dialogue about the emotionality of teaching and learning mathematics. Some of the possibilities and limits of using such methods are considered.