Critical Conscience for Construction of Knowledge in Mathematics Education

Abstract

The process of constructing knowledge in mathematics education is critical in developing it as a discipline with an impact on the field of teaching, learning, and assessment based on theory and practice. How do mathematics educators perceive the processes of knowledge construction in mathematics education? It may have an implication in the methods of teaching, learning, and researching to enrich this discipline. In this context, the purpose of this study was to explore the Nepali mathematics educators’ perspectives on critical conscience for the construction of knowledge in mathematics education. The research participants were five university-level mathematics educators who participated in in-depth interviews on critical conscience in mathematics education. The qualitative thematic analysis of the interview data unveiled four major thematic groups in terms of four idiographic passes– culture, communication, collaboration, and context (4Cs); discourse, dedication, deliberation, and development (4Ds); equity, engagement, elaboration, and extension (4Es); and formation, fusion, frame of reference, and faculty of cognition (4Fs). The thematic interpretations of critical conscience may portray the paradigmatic assumptions of ontological, epistemological, and axiological primacy of mathematics education from the participants’ views. Policy and pedagogical implications of the themes have been discussed.