This paper discusses the role that new alternative masculinities (NAM) may play in the area of mathematics teaching and learning. NAM is a novel concept proposed by Flecha, Puigvert, and Rios in 2013. These authors define three types of masculinity: dominant traditional masculinity (DTM), oppressed traditional masculinity (OTM), and new alternative masculinities (NAM). According to these authors, “the first two types contribute to perpetuate gender violence, while the latter allows preventing it and, consequently, it leads to its overcoming” (Flecha, Puigvert, & Rios 2013, p. 88). At school, we can observe the reproduction of these gender roles. There are boys who, to take a "popular boy" role, choose to take up violent attitudes and behaviors, which are specific to DTM. On the contrary, we can also find boys who choose an attitude of submission, just like the OTM described by Flecha et al. (2013). Previous research suggests that rejecting mathematics, brag about "not knowing mathematics," or even “suspending mathematics” and manifesting an attitude of rejection towards teacher (and towards the school institution) may be related to the desire to occupy a position of popularity within the peer group (Díez-Palomar & Mara, 2020).

In line with studies which are placing the student as the focus of the research, efforts have been made to understand why students have difficulties in learning the different disciplinary contents of mathematics (Clements , Bishop, Keitel, Kilpatrick, & Leung, 2012; Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001; Kilpatrick, Martin, & Schiefter, 2003), and how to motivate students who do not seem to be interested in learning mathematics by making mathematics innovative and attractive (Hannula, 2019; Turner, Warzon, & Christensen, 2011).

In this paper, we propose to change the focus of student-centered research by incorporating the sociological analysis of Flecha et al. (2013) about NAM. The gender perspective in the didactics of mathematics has traditionally focused on studying the learning process of mathematics, showing that the variable "gender" is not explanatory of the differences in learning between boys and girls (Fennema & Sherman, 1976). The differences that the research has reported are of social origin (Hide et al., 1990; Wang & Degol, 2017). However, no study analyzed yet behaviors that the empirical experience associates with children who respond to the DTM model (such as the fact that there is a tendency among the so-called "lad boys" to get bad grades, especially in mathematics, as a way of defining their identity in front of the group). Previous research suggests that peer interactions are indirectly related to academic learning outcomes (Ryan, 2001; Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & McKay, 2006; Wentzel & Caldwell, 1997), and therefore, that violent boys increase their popularity as their grades get worse. The result is that mathematics, and its learning, lose their appeal within the group of peers. On the other hand, the data also suggests that children who obtain good learning results in mathematics tend to respond to the OTM model. For this reason, it is necessary to find alternatives to redefine the social identity (Moscovici, 1981) of mathematics since previous studies suggest that in many cases, poor learning outcomes respond more to social variables, potentially explained by theories of interaction than to those of cognitive or epistemological nature.

This paper presents the analysis of a qualitative case study (Creswell, 2002; Merriam, 1988), which is part of a study on the use of interactive groups in the mathematics classroom (Díez-Palomar, & Cabre, 2015). Problem-solving is analyzed in a class of students grouped into small groups (five or six students per group). Each group is boosted by an adult, which is a volunteer. The groups are formed in a heterogeneous way, according to the approach of the interactive groups (Díez-Palomar & Cabre, 2015). In order to collect the data, classroom recordings with a video camera and voice recorder were used. On each table, there was a voice recorder, and two cameras were placed in the classroom: one to capture the atmosphere in general, and another one focusing on one of the groups. The teacher prepared four different math activities. At the beginning of the class, the teacher explained to each volunteer what the activity was and what s/he should do to boost the groups. Every 15 minutes, the volunteer collects the work done by the students in his/her group and moves to the next group. A copy of the students' productions was also collected in different activities. To analyze the data, the discourse analysis approach was used based on communicative data analysis. The recordings made were viewed and clips were selected according with the two communicative data analysis dimensions: transformative and exclusionary. The transformative elements are those that contribute to children being able to learn mathematics. The exclusionary factors are those that make it difficult (and even prevent) this learning taking place successfully. The unit of analysis was the interaction episodes. The variable "masculinity" defined in terms of Flecha et al. (2013) was used transversally. The codes were defined as indicators of the three types of masculinity (DTM, OTM, and NAM), organized in a two-dimensional analysis matrix (transformative/ exclusionary). To guarantee the validity of the results, the Delphi method was used (Landeta, 2006). At the beginning of the work, a consent form was passed to inform the families of the children of the research, its risks, and asking for voluntary participation in it.

The analysis of the interactions that occur within the interactive groups suggests children reject violent attitudes that are contrary to learning. The boys who show boastful attitudes, despising their partners, and even using foul language, are reprimanded by the group. Instead of becoming popular boys, they end up being shamed by their peers when they use violent attitudes in their interactions with the rest of the group. Taking away the attraction from these types of attitudes and comments that do not focus on aspects of learning, but on attitudes of the DTM, makes conversations focus more on the learning process, solving doubts, sharing problem-solving strategies. All this contributes to the creation of a "learning environment," and that the interactions focus on the disciplinary and cognitive aspects of this environment. The analysis that has been carried out suggests that the dialogic interactions that appear in interactive groups can contribute to the generation of dialogic learning spaces where boys and girls spend more time talking about mathematics. For future research, the question that arises is whether this increase in dialogic learning spaces contributes to these children having greater opportunities to learn mathematics. Finally, the data also suggests that by generating these dialogic learning spaces, the dynamics of interactive groups contribute to taking away the attractiveness from violent attitudes, which are characterized by a rejection of mathematics and its learning. On the contrary, there are data that suggest that children who have played the role of "tough boy" (lad boys) end up either entering the dynamics of activities or they remain in a "peripheral" situation; but they do not play a leading role in the dynamics of the interactive group.

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