Understanding interruptions in the mathematics classroom: Implications for equity

The article is based on an extensive microethnographic study (Planas, 2001) that was focused on students aged 15-16 years who exhibited a high number of interruptions in their participation in the mathematics classroom. Our research points to the importance of considering how the students construe normative meanings for the classroom episodes, and how they value others and the knowledge construed. We argue that some interruptions in the students' participation can be understood as an active contestation to the classroom norms and to the perceived valorisations. Broadening the understanding of the learning opportunities for all the students requires studying further how the classroom sociocultural context and participants' valorisations mediate both the participation processes and the construction of mathematical knowledge.