Math is beautifully intimidating: Analyzing the conflict between teacher affective disposition and observed positioning-by-others

Teacher productive disposition is considered as one of the key strands of mathematical proficiency. Teacher disposition and positioning (disposition in action) toward mathematics influence student learning. However, teachers’ productive disposition does not always translate into productive positioning in the mathematics classroom, and vice versa. In this study, we selected teacher dis/position as the unit of analysis to explore the phenomenon of two middle school mathematics teachers’ self-reported affective disposition and observed positioning-by-others. Grounded in positioning theory the relationship between teacher disposition and positioning-by-others was examined utilizing a cross-case analysis. Results of the study indicate that dispositional characteristics such as attitude, self-concept, and nature of mathematics were significantly different between the cases. The study findings also suggest that interconnectedness between teacher core disposition and positional situatedness could potentially contribute to understanding and addressing the complexity of teaching and learning in the mathematics classroom.