| Dov Zazkis - Vol. 35 Num. 1 (2015) | ||
| Monsters, lovers and former friends: exploring relationships with mathematics via personification | 33-38 | |
| ABSTRACT: Personification is the attribution of human qualities to non-human entities. The method of eliciting personification, which requires participants to attribute human qualities to non-human entities, takes advantage of a naturally occurring means through which (some) people discuss the emotional relationship they have with those entities. Eliciting personification is discussed here as a method for examining pre-service teachers’ relationships with mathematics. I propose conceptual blending as a framework for analyzing personification data and demonstrate the utility of this tool. Additionally, personification is discussed as a method for getting pre-service teachers to reflect on how their relationship with mathematics may affect students. | ||