Tracing Mastery Narratives and Recentering a Problem-Solving View of Mathematics

In this paper, we trace qualities of mastery (Singh, 2018) in mathematics education to unearth and work against taken-for-granted ways of being in elementary mathematics classrooms. In order to expose the networked tendrils of mastery thinking, we attend to two data sets. First, we analyze public mathematics narratives through artifacts of K12 schooling, asking, in what ways are qualities of mastery such as splitting, subordination, and the persistence of narratives over time evident (Singh, 2018)? Second, we turn to teachers’ reflections on what mathematics is and when they were seen as “good at math” and “bad at math.” In our analysis, we aligned their responses to Ernest’s (1989) views of mathematics, as reflecting more or less master(full) views of mathematics teaching and learning. We intentionally attune to teachers' narratives of being seen as “good” or “bad” at mathematics as their voices are often silenced or disregarded. We trace how particular and harmful storylines persist as to what counts as mathematics in K12 schooling and how these storylines encase students in hard-to-escape trajectories of failure. We end with proposed counter qualities that align with a problem-solving view of mathematics that centers curiosity, creativity, uncertainty, and joy.