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Introduction
Our identities represent negotiations between who we claim to be and how others
identify and label us (Aguirre et al., 2013, p.27). As developers of a new district curriculum for
struggling mathematics students (as identified by prior instructors), we must be aware of the
messages we are already communicating to our students before they walk through the doors of
our classroom. In fact, we must be aware that who each student is not only a representation of
their beliefs, but what they think we believe about them. This knowledge requires extra diligence
and unified instructional actions which can be supported by incorporating social justice into our
curriculum choices.
Although defining the meaning of teaching mathematics for social justice (TMfSJ) can
prove problematic, reaching a consensus on curriculum which advocates for our students
access to mathematical knowledge and positions them for success in future courses and
careers is a great place to start. Wager and Stinson refer to these educational practices as
critical pedagogy which builds on and values students and teachers background knowledge,
culture, and lived experiences while using social justice as a point of departure not only for
learning but also for action (Wager & Stinson, 2012, p.8). As we seek to prepare struggling
students for success in the regular curriculum classroom, we must formulate a plan which calls
to action the ideas being learned. Social justice not only provides a context to learn rigorous
mathematics, but also an avenue to promote student identities as holders of worthy educational
and communal power.
This program is designed to help illuminate the practices of teaching mathematics for
social justice and their usefulness, especially, in our new mathematics laboratory courses.
Below, you will find an overview for adopting these principles as guiding forces in our curriculum
as well as an outline for our first journey through unit and lesson development.
Currently, standardized assessment scores rank our students near the top of the state,
as well as nationally, however, the gap between our students and the lowest 30 percent has
grown in the previous two years. Armed with this data, I am confident in stating that we have an
inequality issue when it comes to mathematics education. Teaching mathematics for social
justice provides a way to explore mathematics organically, increasing the interest in and
retention of mathematical concepts. We offer varied instruction to our struggling students, but
social justice provides a new way to reach the unreachable students through their daily life.
The mathematics and the rationale for its usefulness become one and the same. In total, this is
a chance for us to dynamically alter learning experiences for those students who have been left
behind thus far a chance for us to advocate educational equality.
Program Overview
Establishing a Culture for Social Justice is structured to help us engage in discourse
centered on the meaning and purpose of TMfSJ, analysis of our community, and development
of our own unit based on our determined social justice issue. We will use our district provided
Collaboration Time (CT) as a space to shape the outcomes of this program. The vision of the
program is as follows:
The program will be divided into eight sessions one for each month in which CT has
been prearranged. Although flexibility exists, these eight sessions have been divided into the
following quarters: 1) teacher identity, 2) student identity, 3) mathematizing social issues, and 4)
unit development. Later in the document, these categories will be explored in more depth.
Each program session will follow a similar plan designed to foster collaboration and
engagement with the months concepts. In preparation to each session, articles, websites,
and/or other documents will be assigned to provide clarity and depth to the concepts being
discussed. As each session begins, we will work through an example of a mathematics lesson
built on social justice issues before progressing on to practicing developing our own materials
later in the program. After the lesson, we will engage in small group discussions about the pre-
session readings regarding the leading questions I have established. Finally, we will end each
session by setting mutually agreed upon checkpoints for the next session as well as extending
our thinking through new documents.
Program Goals
Although I believe we should collaboratively establish a set of guiding principles for the
program, I also believe it necessary to begin with a framework in mind. As we ponder the
intersection of identity and power in our laboratory course, the outcomes from this space must
be substantial, actionable, and affect change in our personal practices for the direct purpose of
supporting student learning and development. Based on our current departmental discussions,
we value professional development in which we can experience the connections to the
classroom clearly. At present, I will refrain from providing the research supporting each
established goal; however, the Program Outline to follow will provide summaries of invaluable
research supporting these pursuits.
First and foremost, this program must encourage development of positive mathematics
identities in our students, whom are already labeled has mathematically deficient, or we have
missed our mark as educators in the laboratory classroom. We are not simply providing support
for these students to pass, but we are taking on the heavier load of reversing some of the trends
we prorogate.
Secondly, this program must prepare teachers to reach underutilized and marginalized
spaces and students in the mathematics classroom. As a team, we will identify and expand
ideas or practices which promote the mathematical engagement of students who have
previously struggled to do so in the past. This requires the development of an instructional tool
belt filled with different tools that can be employed to reach all learners. The five equity-based
practices provide a perfect backdrop for this exploration.
Finally, this program must develop a meaningful, actionable unit which capitalizes on
personal and student interests to examine a social justice issue through mathematics. At the
conclusion of this program, our final step should be enacting a lesson or unit which draws on the
ideas we have discussed.
Program Outline
Pre-Session
Further Reading:
1. Stinson, W. David, and Anita A. Wager. A Sojourn into the Empowering Uncertainties of
Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Change. In Teaching Mathematics for Social
Justice: Conversations with Educators, edited by Anita A. Wager and David W. Stinson, p. 3-18.
Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2012.
3. Aguirre, Julia, Karen Mayfield-Ingram, and Danny B. Martin. What Mathematics? For Whom?
For What Purposes?. The Impact of Identity in K-8 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based
Practice, p. 5-11. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2013.
The pre-session confronts us with questions about the purpose(s) driving our
mathematics instruction. As high school-level teachers, we have expressed concerns about
preparing students to meet our future; however, this is a throw-away statement which must be
analyzed further. As we approach these readings, let us reflect on the actual outcomes of our
instruction not just our desired outcomes.
Aguirre, Mayfield-Ingram, and Martin state, We raise these [three] questions because
they strike at the core of equity concerns in mathematics education and serve as reminders that
school mathematics simultaneously serves as gateway and gatekeeper for various opportunities
in and out of school (Aguirre et al., p. 5). In reflection, I believe we should focus on what
opportunities we value as teachers of mathematics and, by our instructional routines, who we
deem worthy of these opportunities. Our methods convey numerous messages about the power
of each students identity and these readings are selected to help guide our introduction to
identifying these issues. Thinking transparently about what lasting messages our practice
conveys is not easy work, though it is very valuable, and the readings should help us find
common space to share. Interacting with the authors insights will orient our thinking so that we
can make lasting connections to our own academic environment.
Finally, the passage from Ole Skovsmove highlights the beginnings of critical
mathematics and its formulae. For added depth regarding the concept of critical education by
means of critical theory, Wager and Stinsons first chapter may clarify the differences in ideology
and practice between different terms. As a group, we will be discoursing over critical
mathematics and its connection our curriculum and students.
Homework: Write and post (to our Google Drive account) a mathematics autobiography and
respond to at least one colleague
1. Aguirre, Julia, Karen Mayfield-Ingram, and Danny B. Martin. Know Thyself: What Shapes
Mathematics Teacher Identities? The Impact of Identity in K-8 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-
Based Practice, p. 27-39. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2013.
2. Gutstein, Eric. Reflections on Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Justice in
Urban Schools. In Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice: Conversations with Educators,
edited by Anita A. Wager and David W. Stinson, p. 63-78. Reston, VA: National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics, 2012.
Through the pre-session, we have pondered the meaning of critical mathematics as well
as analyzed our own pedagogical beliefs. To begin session one, it will be valuable to share our
findings to build a foundation of shared knowledge and experiences before beginning our
program. This shared knowledge should include a group-written definition for teaching
mathematics for social justice which we can reference as our work progresses. In this way, we
will have a co-constructed benchmark, which we all pledge to in agreement, to measure our
success along the way.
I want to avoid pushing an agenda onto unwilling teachers so a part of session one will
be dedicated to communally establishing expectations. Earlier, I provided my own desires and
goals; however, we settle on a set of three to four ambitious outcomes or expectations. This
program should be a shared experience which is equally actionable to all teachers.
Finally, the readings provided this month should help illuminate the mathematics
autobiography idea. First the Aguirre et al section provides a framework for approaching this
task as well as selected samples from six other mathematics instructors. As you contemplate
this reading, it will be important to consider the ways in which gender, race, class, culture, and
language played in your own story. This will help establish connections to your own students
experiences and provide space to explore social justice and mathematics. The second reading
selection focuses on one instructors experiences with teaching mathematics for social justice.
As we reflect on our own experiences, I want us to consider what messages Gutstein conveys
to his students through the choice of his curriculum. Do these messages reflect our own
regarding identity and power as students or is there something more?
Guiding Question: How do our own identities, histories, and privilege affect what, who, and how
we teach?
Homework:
1. Handal, Boris. Teachers Mathematical Beliefs: A Review. The Mathematics Educator 13,
no. 2 (2003): 47-57.
3. Stinson, David W. Mathematics as Gate Keeper (?): Three Theoretical Perspectives that
Aim Toward Empowering All Children With a Key to the Gate. The Mathematics Educator 14,
no. 1 (2004): 8-18.
4. Frankenstein, Marilyn. Beyond Math Content and Process: Proposals for Underlying Aspects
of Social Justice Education. In Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice: Conversations with
Educators, edited by Anita A. Wager and David W. Stinson, p. 63-78. Reston, VA: National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2012.
The homework from the previous session is designed to provide a foundation for deep
discussions about our assumptions and beliefs as educators. With proper preparation, this time
can be efficiently used to highlight shared beliefs and increase our ability to function as a team.
Although we will have already developed a set of program goals from the first session, revisiting
or revising those goals based on what we discover during this time will be beneficial to the
remainder of the program.
The readings suggested as homework provide a window into understanding how our
passions could lead to little change in our students lives. Martin (2003), Stinson (2007), and
Frankenstein (2012) all highlight the political nature of education and its effects for students. I
am interested to hear how we respond when confronted with the claim that we are political
actors on a daily basis choosing who is worthy of knowledge and who is not (both intentionally
and unintentionally).
Lesson/Action Item: Home Buying While Black or Brown and How do You Live on 31 Cents
an Hour? from: Gutstein, Eric, and Bob Peterson (Eds.). Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching
Social Justice by the Numbers, p. 61-65 and 82-83. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools, 2005.
Guiding Question: How does viewing teaching mathematics as a political act change the way
we teach?
Summary of Session: After interacting with lessons with specific political implications, we will
discuss the hidden messages our choice of context communicate to our students; challenge our
own assumptions about what mathematics is valuable though lesson experiences; define
teachings as a political act and analyze its goals; center a discussion around whether our
notions of teacher and student roles support learning in this manner
Homework: Interview one student making sure to uncover their mathematics autobiography as
well as some key life experiences
1. Aguirre, Julia, Karen Mayfield-Ingram, and Danny B. Martin. Identities, Agency, and
Mathematical Proficiency: What Teachers Need to Know to Support Student Learning. The
Impact of Identity in K-8 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based Practice, p. 13-25. Reston, VA:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2013.
2. Anderson, Rick. Being a Mathematics Learner: The Four Faces of Identity. The
Mathematics Educator 17, no.1 (2007): 7-14.
While researching an introductory lesson for this session, I gravitated to the most
politically-centered topics so that the message from the readings last session would be clear. I
settled on a couple lessons from Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the
Numbers (Gutstein and Peterson, 2005). There is no deeper connection than to confront the
group with questions about power and identity from the beginning. In this way, I hope to
motivate an honest discussion about the way we see the political nature of teaching as
explained by the authors.
The message that teaching is a political act is the most salient message I have learned
from my current work at Michigan State University. Personally, my reaction was visceral and I
took weeks to grapple with whether I truly held the belief that teaching was politics. To deny that
truth, however, I found that I would need to deny that teaching should seek to empower. As a
result, social justice is a necessary piece of the mathematics classroom. The discussions this
session will provide the space for us to work through these questions and I am excited to hear
what truth each of us discovers. Although I cannot predict what goals we will choose for this
program, I am confident we will agree that developing positive mathematics learning identities is
of the upmost importance. As we reverse trends in students who have been systematically
labeled as at risk, I believe we are engaging in political activism.
Guiding Question: What issues/experiences are at the forefront of Troy School District
students? How can we identify marginalized spaces and position these to gain power in the
classroom?
Summary of Session: Lesson/Activity focuses of the distribution of wealth in the United States
along racial lines; watch four students give recorder mathematics autobiographies; discuss what
instruction and curriculum-based conclusions we can draw from the four unique voices;
exploring the beliefs we hold about our students and whether they align with reality; hypothesize
ways to help our beliefs and instructional practices match the reality of our community
Homework: For each class period, generate a list of student strengths that are present in group
settings
2. Aguirre, Julia, Karen Mayfield-Ingram, and Danny B. Martin. Building on Students Strengths:
The Case of Curry Green. The Impact of Identity in K-8 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based
Practice, p. 57-66. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2013.
In preparation for this session, I interviewed four students in June 2016 from a variety of
math courses. Two interviews featuring one student from an honors course and another from a
remedial course are more in depth and will serve as the bulk of our information for discussion.
As further preparation for this assignment, each member will conduct an interview of their own
so that a shared wealth of student experiences can be constructed. During our discussion,
Andersons framework will be used to analyze characteristics present in each student. Paying
specific attention to positive and negative expressions in identity will play an integral role in our
unit development later on.
Guiding Question: What shared student experiences or knowledge can we utilize to form the
backbone of our curriculum? What roles do teachers and students fulfilling in the TMfSJ
classroom?
Homework: Explore www.radicalmath.org and choose one lesson resource to work with the
TMfSJ guide
1. Osler, Jonathan. A Guide for Integrating Issues of Social and Economic Justice into
Mathematics Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.radicalmath.org (26 June 2016).
The introductory lesson suggested for this session does not feature any inherent
mathematics concepts and, in fact, is actually a lesson designed for the social studies
classroom. At this point in our program, exploring methods for introducing mathematics through
a social justice issue can help us combat the notion that the justice issue is simply a hook for
the mathematics to be set. It may be difficult for us at first to bring mathematics into the lesson,
but next session we will explore this skill more fully.
We must keep in mind that we are adapting these new protocols because our current
model has failed a tangible group of students. The bottom 30 percent of student standardized
tests have actually regressed in the last two years despite improvement overall. Successfully,
we have seen a shift in leveraging multiple mathematical competencies and going deep with
mathematics through the restructuring of our content-area teams (CAT) and our collaboration
time. Personally, I still have plenty of ground to make up in drawing on multiple resources of
knowledge specifically, culture and family and I am confident this team can help me grow in
this area. Likewise, I am anxious for all of us to grow in our ability to mobilize the community in
support of our students and to truly use students as sources of knowledge in the classroom.
Empowering the family through support has been proven to empower students and this is a
remedy that we desperately need for those students.
Finally, the preparation reading for Session 6 Mobilizing Social Justice Issues is the
most significant of the program. At this point, we make a change from discussing personal
practice and beliefs to the action stage of the program where we begin our true task of
developing a social justice unit. The reading from Osler provides succinct insights into this
process as well as a framework for completing out unit design. Most importantly, Oslers
document allows us to begin integrating these social justice issues we have been exploring into
our daily classroom routines.
Guiding Question: Having identified important, relevant issues to study, how can we explicitly
use mathematics to clarify the picture for each other and students?
Summary of Session: Revisit the lesson from last chapter to practice the process of
mathematizing an issue; explore the obstacles we will face with our curriculum using Oslers
bullet points; analyze the framework integrating social issues into the classroom and develop
our own steps for the creation of our unit; reflection time
Homework: The readings for this month are actually more of an exploration which will act as an
additional session due to our time crunch. We will be exploring methods for mobilizing the
community to help students develop positive learner identities.
1. Aguirre, Julia, Karen Mayfield-Ingram, and Danny B. Martin. Partnering with Families and
Communities to Support Childrens Equitable Mathematics Learning. The Impact of Identity in
K-8 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based Practice, p. 105-115. Reston, VA: National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics, 2013.
2. Explore the EQUALS and FAMILY MATH website:
(http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/equals/aboutfm.html)
Since Oslers article provides a checklist of sorts for mathematizing a social issue,
revisiting the social studies lesson from last session allows us to practice implementing his
steps. As a result, we will produce our very first co-constructed mathematics lesson for social
justice. Being a new process to everyone involved, we will lean heavily on our preparation (this
is the reason that A Guide for Integrating Issues of Social and Economic Justice into
Mathematics Curriculum may be the most important document in this program).
Instead of providing the group with another pre-packaged lesson, developing the
mathematics lesson cooperatively will help familiarize the process. We must discover what the
important questions are to answer because like Gutstein advises in a previous reading, we may
need to learn to read mathematics into our daily lives in ways that we are not comfortable with
yet (Wager & Stinson, 2012). Using questions provided by Osler, we will make our thinking as
transparent and obvious as possible to each other.
Since we are limited to only eight sessions, this months homework assignment will be
used to explore another method for capitalizing on student resources which we did not have
time for, mobilizing the community for support. The websites will provide context to the chapter
from Aguirre et al while also modeling the types of programs currently missing in our district.
Apart from the mathematics tutoring hour after school on Mondays and Wednesdays, we do not
have any programs designed to specifically provide support to marginalized students. In terms
of learning identities, we have a large vacancy in our support system which we can try to work
into our unit development. As we prepare to create our social justice unit, I believe these final
readings can help us steady our vision.
Lesson/Action Item: Chalk Talk reflecting on the websites provided in last sessions Further
Reading
Guiding Question: How can we mobilize the community to support each student?
Summary of Session: One at a time, discuss FAMILY MATH, MAPPS, and our own district-
provided programs; choose a social or economic justice issue to explore based on our shared
experiences and what we have learned from our students; identify the mathematics inherent in
the issue; design a unit which creates a mathematical storyline
Homework: Meet with the group to continue our lesson(s) development for the unit
Two sessions alone will not be enough for us to fully develop our unit so we may need to
organize smaller teams to meet regularly throughout the month. Each group could tackle a
lesson or focus on a single mathematics standard to make our work focused and lessen the
burden of our new work.
Guiding Question: What obstacles might we discover as we engage students with our social
justice unit study?
Summary of Session: Short presentations from each member highlighting the progress of their
lesson; reflection on the cohesiveness of our developed lessons; solidify the unit plan; discuss
and plan for possible obstacles which will arise from exploring our issue mathematically
Homework: Implement the unit (or themed lesson strand) and write a reflection which can be
shared at the conclusion of the year
Summary
Teaching mathematics for social justice is a missing ingredient for ensuring the lifelong
learning of all students (our districts motto). Although we successfully prepare the majority of
our students year-in and year-out, we have let other students flounder in the margins of our
classrooms. By taking time to explore mathematics genuinely relevant to issues those students
face, we become advocates of their mathematical abilities. Through conscious choice of content
and context, we validate their current situations and motivate future growth.
Educational equality is something that we have been proud of before and this program
can help give us the tools to improve our instructional practices even more. Through a
cooperative team, we will change the culture of the mathematics curriculum and provide
opportunities for all students to achieve in mathematics. As educators, we have always longed
for all students to reach their potential and these routines will propel us closer to that end. I am
excited to join hands with you, discover who we are, discover who are students are, and affect
change through the power of mathematics.
References
Aguirre, J., Mayfield-Ingram, K., & Martin, D. B. (Eds.). (2013). The Impact of Identity in K-8
Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based Practice. Reston, VA: National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics.
Anderson, Rick. Being a Mathematics Learner: The Four Faces of Identity. The Mathematics
Educator 17, no.1 (2007): 7-14.
Handal, Boris. Teachers Mathematical Beliefs: A Review. The Mathematics Educator 13, no.
2 (2003): 47-57.
Martin, Danny Bernard. Hidden Assumptions and Unaddressed Questions in Mathematics for
All Rhetoric. The Mathematics Educator 13, no. 2 (2003): 7-21.
Osler, Jonathan. A Guide for Integrating Issues of Social and Economic Justice into
Mathematics Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.radicalmath.org (26 June 2016).
Stinson, David W. Mathematics as Gate Keeper (?): Three Theoretical Perspectives that Aim
Toward Empowering All Children With a Key to the Gate. The Mathematics Educator
14, no. 1 (2004): 8-18.
Wager, A. A. & Stinson, D. W. (Eds.). (2012). Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice:
Conversations with Educators. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.