This ignite talk reports on two aspects of an ongoing mixed methods PhD project. The first and main part draws on a critical discourse analysis of the policy context within which mathematics teachers in Scotland are being asked to enact Learning for Sustainability in their classrooms. It suggests why they might be resistant to teaching for ‘global citizenship’. The second part reports on a small number of mathematics teachers who have sought out the opportunity to engage with development education centres. These teachers have worked with tasks that introduce global contexts in their mathematics classrooms.

The Scottish Government has responded to the United Nations sustainable development goals by enhancing its statutory national ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ to incorporate ‘Learning for Sustainability’ (LfS) as an entitlement of every pupil and the responsibility of every teacher (Scottish Government 2016). LfS is an uneasy collation of global citizenship education, sustainable development education and outdoor learning. The relative emphasis of the different aspects has shifted over time in response to the foregrounding of climate change and the increasingly recognised connection between strong mental health and activity in natural environments (e.g. O'Brien 2009).

Global citizenship, a highly contested construct, has received less emphasis and some of the initial government guidance which was critiqued for aligning itself with neo-liberalism (Gamal & Swanson 2017) is no longer available. A more emancipatory conception views education for global citizenship as emerging in response to changing global relationships (Pashby 2012) with the potential to contribute to decolonisation. There is a considerable literature which discusses the connection between education for global citizenship and the traditions of citizenship education and global education. Citizenship education, which has long been connected to building national identity (Richardson 2008) is interpreted and practiced in different ways but often as a deliberate government intervention in education. In Scotland ‘responsible citizen’ is one of four capacities that the curriculum is intended to develop. Global education by contrast has roots in development discourses (Hicks 2003) and is more likely to have been resourced and supported by NGOs who may be in a position to critique the state and offer a “more political” (Davies et al 2005 p.77) approach. The ongoing debate as to the nature of global citizenship is not an unimportant issue of curriculum labels because “the ambiguity of language serves a political function - it obscures different and possible social interests through the use of a slogan” Popkewitz (1980 p. 304) and “all three component parts - global, citizenship and education - are subject to negotiation and manipulation for political, social and cultural purposes” (Parmenter 2011p.370).

Mathematics is often claimed to be a unique and powerful language for describing the real world and yet many learners experience it as abstract and largely unconnected to their life experiences (Andersson & Valero 2016). Efforts to use authentic contexts are often unconvincing, inaccessible to some groups of students, and contrary to the assumptions of abstract school mathematics (Dowling 2001). Mathematics teachers might meet the new requirement of LfS by drawing on critical mathematics education (e.g. Skovsmose 1994) which has a long history of engagement with social justice issues (Wright 2016) and an emerging ecological voice (e.g. Barwell 2013). Scottish mathematics teachers could therefore be at the forefront of developing LfS in their classrooms. The experience of development education centres running EU funded projects who seek to engage with mathematics teachers suggests this is not happening. The research project will focus initially on the less usual mathematics teachers who do choose to find ways to develop their practice to use global contexts in their classrooms.

A mixed methods qualitative study is ongoing to explore the context, actions, and experiences of mathematics teachers in Scotland who have chosen to engage with development education centres. The study has been severely constrained by the covid-19 pandemic which has placed huge demands on teachers. Some online data collection has taken place but much of the fieldwork has been postponed. The Scottish policy context might be interpreted as not just permission but strong encouragement for mathematics teachers to adapt their teaching. A critical discourse analysis of Education policy in Scotland will focus on how the Global Citizenship aspect of ‘Learning for Sustainability’ is projected. The analysis will also explore how LfS is positioned with respect to other policy initiatives such as raising attainment of pupils from poor socioeconomic backgrounds. The uptake and success of pupils in mathematics qualifications are often used as accountability measures and teachers are aware of the role of the subject as a gatekeeper to many post school destinations. The teachers in the study have received training, classroom materials and support to use Global contexts in their classrooms. Interviews with development education centre staff will explore the challenges of recruiting mathematics teachers to funded projects. A critical narrative approach to analysis will seek to uncover the barriers to teaching for Global citizenship within mathematics lessons. This methodology invites the reader to engage with the text and encourages multiple interpretations and emphases. The exercise of imagination, that stories provoke has been conceptualised in many ways. Writing from a critical mathematics perspective Skovsmose and Borba (2004 p.215) describe pedagogic imagination as “the process of conceptualising that things could be done in a different way.” Nussbaum explains that our humanity requires a narrative imagination because “the artistic form makes its spectator perceive, for a time, the invisible people of their world – at least a beginning of social justice” (Nussbaum 1988 p. 94). This is an echo of Arendt’s “training one’s imagination to visiting” (Arendt lectures quoted in Disch 1993 p.686) as a means of inhabiting other people’s positions as if they were our own. Our engagement with story is our route to recognising that other people cannot be fully known, that we are not identical under our skins but rather our circumstances make us who we are.

The discourse analysis of policy is anticipated to reveal a number of inconsistencies and shifts over time. The contested term global citizenship is falling out of use and Learning for Sustainability is acquiring new meanings. There is conflicting evidence that the main focus of education policy is in line with a nationalist neo-liberal agenda of competitive advantage in a globalised world. The research with teachers is at a very early stage and the following themes have emerged from time spent in the field. They are yet to be explored through in-depth interviews. Mathematics teachers are not easy to engage in teaching in Global Contexts. At professional development conferences they do not attend workshops with this focus. Mathematics teachers are reluctant to take up opportunities are offered by development education centres even when these are bespoke. There are many constraints that mitigate against the use of Global contexts. Mathematics teachers are aware of the importance of e.g. climate change but concerned that their priority is to ensure that their learners gain the qualifications that will give them the best opportunities. Teachers are not able to commit time to designing new resources and materials available online do not always meet the requirements of their curriculum or their learners. Mathematics teachers feel unprepared to answer the questions, or manage the debate, that might arise if they use a controversial issue such as migration as a context. Teachers who are keen to adapt their practice and use Global contexts may have personal histories that have given them insights and an interest in issues such as climate change, migration, sustainable development. It is possible that a teacher’s conception of the discipline of mathematics and their commitment to an inclusive pedagogy may also be factors.

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