Making sense of identities as sense-making devices

This commentary combines the insights offered by the contributors to this special issue into one consistent whole, a single story of identity and the learning of mathematics. Its somewhat unusual format—the story is told in an interview granted by the “Ideal Mathematics Education Researcher” to a journalist—signals that the author addresses the narrative not only to her fellow academics, but also to practitioners and the general public. As the story unfolds, the commentator reflects on the current state of research and invites her colleagues to harness their insights on identity and learning while taking a critical look at their own work.