Mathematical Identity: An Investigation into the Learning Journeys of Adult Learners

This thesis explores the learning journeys of 21 adult learners as they return to formal education and re-engage with Mathematics in an adult education college in England. The participants of this research, most of them women, were studying on adult Mathematics courses and two third of them belonged to the BAME (Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic) group. The aim of this research was to understand how learners construct and narrate their mathematical identities (MI), and how these identities evolve and develop over time. It further investigated the different factors that influenced the formation of learners’ MIs at different stages of their lives.

This study was undertaken from an interpretive and sociocultural perspective and employed identity as a conceptual and analytical lens to examine learners’ relationship with Mathematics. To develop the conceptual framework for this research, I drew from the theory of social learning (Wenger, 1998), the concept of identity as recognition (Gee, 2000-2001), symbolic interactionism and the notion of I and me (Mead, 1974) and identity and agency (Cote and Levine, 2002). This study employed an ethnographic-narrative approach, and data was primarily collected through life story interviews. I worked with five different cohorts of learners studying on adult Mathematics courses over a period of 15 months and conducted 21 interviews. The life stories were analysed inductively using the holistic and categorical content and form approach (Lieblich et al., 1998).

The findings of this study indicate that a combination of personal and social factors influenced identity construction. However, learners’ negative educational experiences in the past had a profound impact on their relationship with Mathematics and most of them returned to education with bruised MIs. However, as adult learners, they displayed enhanced agency and resilience and re-authored their MIs to achieve their goals. The collaborative learning environment, supportive tutors and a learner-centred approach of teaching contributed to re-forming their MIs.