Beyond anxiety: A theoretical inquiry into shame in mathematics education

Year 2025, Volume: 15 Issue: ISRIS 2025, 795 - 801, 31.07.2025

Saniye Nur Ergan

https://doi.org/10.48146/odusobiad.1718731

Abstract

This paper explores the role of shame as a central yet often overlooked, emotion in mathematics education. Although anxiety dominates emotion-focused discourse in the field, this paper argues that shame, deeply embodied, relational, and entangled with identity, deserves closer attention. Drawing on cultural and sociological perspectives, this paper contends that shame in mathematics classrooms is not simply a personal reaction to failure but a socially produced affect rooted in normative discourses of ability and public performance. Practices, such as timed tests, ranking, and teacher-centered pedagogy, can transform mistakes into sources of public exposure, reinforcing a sense of inadequacy. The paper highlights how such experiences may lead students to internalize failure, adopt fixed negative identities (e.g., “not a math person”), and disengage from learning. Importantly, it emphasizes that shame emerges within power-laden classroom interactions and reflects broader cultural values in which mathematical success is equated with intelligence and personal worth. Therefore, understanding shame requires educators to interrogate the affective dimensions of pedagogy and the social hierarchies embedded in classroom life. The paper calls for teacher education programs to prepare future educators to deliver content and cultivate emotionally responsive classrooms—spaces where difficulty is met with support rather than humiliation, and where students’ emotional lives are recognized as integral to learning.

Keywords

mathematical identity , affect , emotion , Power , shame in mathematics , emotional literacy

Kaygının ötesinde: Matematik eğitiminde utanç üzerine kuramsal bir inceleme

Abstract

Bu makale, matematik eğitiminde merkezi fakat sıklıkla göz ardı edilen bir duygu olarak utancın rolünü incelemektedir. Duygu temelli tartışmalarda genellikle kaygı ön planda yer alırken, bu çalışma utancın—bedensel olarak derinlemesine hissedilen, ilişkisel ve kimlikle iç içe geçmiş bir duygu olarak—daha yakından ele alınması gerektiğini savunur. Kültürel ve sosyolojik bakış açılarına dayanarak, matematik sınıflarındaki utancın yalnızca bireysel bir başarısızlık tepkisi değil, yetkinlik ve kamusal performansla ilgili normatif söylemlere dayanan toplumsal bir duygu olduğunu öne sürer. Süreli sınavlar, sıralama ve öğretmen merkezli pedagojiler gibi uygulamalar, hataları kamusal teşhir kaynaklarına dönüştürerek yetersizlik duygusunu pekiştirebilir. Makale, bu tür deneyimlerin öğrencilerin başarısızlığı içselleştirmesine, sabit ve olumsuz kimlikler benimsemesine (örneğin "ben matematik insanı değilim") ve öğrenmeden uzaklaşmasına yol açabileceğini vurgular. Ayrıca, utancın güç ilişkileriyle yüklü sınıf etkileşimleri içinde ortaya çıktığını ve matematik başarısının zeka ve kişisel değerle özdeşleştirildiği daha geniş kültürel değerleri yansıttığını belirtir. Bu nedenle, utancı anlamak, öğretmenlerin pedagojinin duygusal boyutlarını ve sınıf yaşamına içkin toplumsal hiyerarşileri sorgulamasını gerektirir. Makale, öğretmen yetiştirme programlarının yalnızca içerik aktarımına değil, aynı zamanda zorlanmanın aşağılanmayla değil destekle karşılandığı ve öğrencilerin duygusal yaşantılarının öğrenmenin ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak kabul edildiği, duygusal açıdan duyarlı sınıf ortamları oluşturmaya da odaklanması gerektiğini savunur.

Keywords

güç , matematiksel kimlik , duygular , matematik eğitiminde utanç , duygusal okuryazarlık

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