THE PRODUCTION OF TEACHING BODIES IN EARLY ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Abstract

This article analyzes how mathematics curricula operate as dispositifs of power that can both enhance and inhibit life within a situated context. Drawing on cartography as a research method and the philosophy of difference as a theoretical framework, the study followed the practices and narratives of early-years teachers participating in a continuing education course that articulated Mathematics Education, body, and art. This course was conceived and organized within a postdoctoral research project. For the analysis of the data produced, the concepts of molar, molecular, and line-of-flight segmentarities—grounded in the philosophy of difference—were mobilized, which made it possible to perceive how these lines traverse and compose curricula, at times producing control and normalization, and at others enabling escapes and inventions. These lines are not to be hierarchized or entirely disentangled, but rather approached with care, through a sensitive lens that favors less captured modes of existence. It is concluded that the experimentation with these lines—rather than their fixation—can contribute to curricular practices that open up to desire, creation, and the affirmation of life.