Thinking in movement and mathematics: A case study

This paper discusses recent theories in mathematics education that, while studying the role of the body in mathematics, reveal growing interest in the dynamic nature, or flow, of mathematical activity, rather than in what the activity allows to achieve and how. Pursuing the lines of flight offered by these studies on the visceral role of movement, we draw on the idea of “thinking in movement” by Sheets-Johnstone (2009, 2011) to elucidate the interconnection between moving and thinking. We use this perspective to analyse an interview in which a grade 4 student is engaged with spatio-temporal relationships, as a way to better study his encounter with graphical configurations.