SOCIOMATHEMATICAL NORMS, ARGUMENTATION, AND AUTONOMY IN MATHEMATICS

This paper sets forth a way of interpreting mathematics classrooms tha t aims to account for how students develop mathematical beliefs and va lues and, consequently, how they become intellectually autonomous in m athematics. To do so, we advance the notion of sociomathematical norms , that is, normative aspects of mathematical discussions that are spec ific to students' mathematical activity. The explication of sociomathe matical norms extends our previous work on general classroom social no rms that sustain inquiry-based discussion and argumentation. Episodes from a second-grade classroom where mathematics instruction generally followed an inquiry tradition are used to clarify the processes by whi ch sociomathematical norms are interactively constituted and to illust rate how these norms regulate mathematical argumentation and influence learning opportunities for both the students and the teacher, In doin g so, we both clarify how students develop a mathematical disposition and account for students' development of increasing intellectual auton omy in mathematics. In the process, the teacher's role as a representa tive of the mathematical community is elaborated.