International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME)

Proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education · Volume 1

Younger Children’s Enacting Ethics with Mathematics

Nagisa Nakawa, Yusuke Uegatani, Yuichiro Hattori, Nur Robiah Nofikusumawati Peni

Kanto Gakuin Univesity

49th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, PME 2026Helsinki27 July 2026 - 1 August 2026pp. 1059–1066ISSN 2790-36482026Scopus conference code 336559
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Abstract

This paper contributes to the ethical turn in mathematics education by illustrating the mutual development of mathematics and ethics in early childhood. Using a design research approach, we implemented an authentic mathematically involved activity in which six young children distributed ten oranges for actual consumption. The findings show that children’s ethics were enacted through embodied mathematical trial and error and were inseparable from mathematical activity. The study also indicates that questionable applications of mathematics already emerge in early childhood. Developing generalisable hypotheses remains a task for future research.

Keywords

Ethicslayers of ethical awarenessorange distribution

Recommended citation

Nakawa, N., Uegatani, Y., Hattori, Y., & Peni, N. (2026). Younger Children’s Enacting Ethics with Mathematics. In Krzywacki H., Hähkiöniemi M., Haataja E., Hannula M.S., Hästö P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Volume 1 (pp. 1059–1066). Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME). ISSN 2790-3648.

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