The Effects and Consequences of Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice

1. The Effects and Consequences of Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice James Strickland NCSU 2011

2. Background • Long standing issues that disadvantaged specific subgroups in our country are still prevalent today (Fennema& Sherman, 1978; Peterson, & Fennema, 1985; Armstrong, 1981; Secada, 1989; Johnston &Viadero, 2000; Scott, 2010; Nisbett, 2011) • The country has made strides in granting equity by allotting basic rights to these subgroups • However, the woeful mis-education of their young ensures that these groups stay marginalized (Woodson, 1933; Coleman, 1966; Freire, 1970)

3. Why is a social justice pedagogy important? • Research suggests that student perception of self and of their ability affect their ability to learn Mathematics (Brookover, Thomas, & Paterson 1964; Anderson 1970; House 1975; Fennema & Sherman 1978; Burchinal et. al. 2011; Wonnacott 2011) • Research also suggests that citizens need five components in order to be de-marginalized: Awareness, Access, Analysis, Advocacy, and Activism (Stevelos, Fowler & Nelson, 1999; Gau 2005) • Social Justice seeks to achieve these components and believes in doing so it will improve a students self concept and belief in their ability to do mathematics (Gau 2005)

4. What is a social justice pedagogy? • There are many definitions of social justice pedagogy. • The definition that most closely fits my understanding is Eric Gutstein’s (2003): • “An important principal of a social justice pedagogy is that students themselves are ultimately part of the solution to injustice, both as youth and as they grow into adulthood. To play this role, they need to understand more deeply the conditions of their lives and the sociopolitical dynamics of their world. Thus, the teacher could pose questions to students to help them address and understand these issues…As students begin to address questions that have meaning in their lives, they begin to understand the forces and institutions that shape their world and to pose their own questions. These processes of helping students understand, formulate, and address questions and develop analyses of their society are critical components of teaching for social justice and may be encapsulated as "developing sociopolitical consciousness" or conscientizagdo, as Freire (1992) called it. Without these tools, students cannot work for equity and social justice. Finally, teaching for social justice also includes helping students develop positive social and cultural identities by validating their language and culture and helping them uncover and understand their history (Murrell, 1997)” (pgs. 39-40).

5. What does a Mathematics Social Justice Pedagogy look like? A SJ classroom, typically, has: • A balanced power dynamic • Expects participation from all students • Has a culture of risk-taking • Open and free dialogue • Utilizes open-ended, real-world problemsthat encourages critical thinking and sociopolitical thinking • Community relevant • Content appropriate Gutstein (2003), Gau (2005), Gregson (2011)

6. Constraints, Benefits, and Consequences of implementing a Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice Pedagogy • National • Community • School • Teachers • Students

7. National The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics is credited with starting the war between reformers and traditionalist advocates in mathematics (Schoenfield, 2004). Economic Pressures (Schoenfield, 2004) Political Pressures (Guiterrez, 2010) Lack of reform evidence (Schoenfield, 2004) Errors in implementation (Schoenfield, 2004) The establishment (Skovsmose, 2004)

8. Community Research indicates that student’s knowledge and beliefs in how their community works is more important to a typical student than the knowledge a student gains in the classroom (Boaler, 1999; Powell, 2004; Quintos, B., Bratton, & Civil, 2005; Civil, 2007) • Therefore for a mathematical SJ pedagogy is to succeed it must be relevant to a student’s community life. • It also must invite participation and involvement from the community to increase dual by-in (Civil, 2007)

9. School • A school’s structure typically models white middle class values causing students and families from differing values to feel disconnected (Lareau, 1987) • Broaden the definition of current values (Lareau, 1987) • Accept and utilize that families are the master source of math knowledge (House, 1975) • Work with the community to develop a clear and consistent vision (Valero, 2001, 2008) • Teachers conform to the teaching mores that are established at their school (Shakman, 2009)

10. Teacher • Teachers must ensure the curriculum is relevant to the students’ and the teacher’s lives • Gutstein, 2003 • Teachers generally avoid topics for which their subgroup is blamed historically, e.g. males avoid sexism, white teachers avoid racism, etc. • Gau, 2005; Mitescu, Cochran-smith, & Pedulla, 2005 • Each lesson must be tailored to a specific class, for a specific teacher, for a specific situation that is dependent on the school and community environment (Gutstein 2003, Gau 2005, Gregson, 2011)

11. Student • Teaching mathematics for social justice requires active participation from the students • However there is debate as to how one should make students participate and whether making students participate is democratic • Supporters have tried multiple techniques with varying levels of success: • Guided Controversy (Lesser, 2007) • Engaging culturally relevant problem solving (Gutstein, 2003) • Limited Selection (Gau, 2005) • Studies have shown contradictory outcomes as to the effects on student performance on standardized test • Mitescu, Cochran-smith, & Pedulla, (2005) found that the greater the implementation of a SJ pedagogy resulted in greater student outcomes • Boaler (1999) found that schools that encouraged students to pursue topics relevant to their personal lives underperformed on exams when compared to their traditionally trained peers.

12. Discussion and Implications • Reform advocates advocate for an alien style (Gutstein, 2003; Schoenfield, 2004) • Teaching mathematics for social justice is not marketable for its successful implementation is dependent upon many variables that are regionally, locally, and societally unique. • Teaching mathematics for social justice is often viewed as supplementary and not a core approach • There appears to be an inherent contradiction between the aim of teaching mathematics for social justice and its beliefs

13. Future Research • Further research and/or narrowing of the definition of social justice pedagogy is needed to move research forward • Further research is needed onto the long-term effectiveness of implementing teaching mathematics for social justice pedagogy • Effectiveness should be measured in terms of both student academic achievement and teacher retention • More research techniques need to be employed as only 1 out of 32 studies after 1999 utilized a quantitative approach and the vast majority consists of research-participant studies • Further research is needed on determining if there are more commonly held beliefs in disparate communities than is currently supposed

14. Work Cited • Armstron, J. (1981). Achievement and participation of women in mathematics: Results of two national surveys. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 12(5), 356- 372. • Boaler, J. (1999). Participation, knowledge and beliefs: a community perspective on mathematics learning. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 40, 259-281. • Brookover, W., Thomas, S., & Paterson, A. (1964). Self-concept of ability and school achievement. Sociology of Education, 37(3), 271-278. • Burchinal, M., McCartney, K., Steinberg, L., Crosnoe, R., Friedman, S. L., McLoyd, V., Pianta, R. and NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2011), Examining the Black–White Achievement Gap Among Low-Income Children Using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 82: 1404–1420. • Civil, M. (2007). Building on community knowledge : An avenue to equity in mathematics education. In N. Nassir & P. Cobb (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas. (pp. 105-117). Teacher College Press. • Coleman, J. S. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Equity & Excellence in Education (Vol. 6, pp. 19-28). • Fennema, E. H., & Sherman, J. A. (1978). Sex-related differences in mathematics achievement and related factors: A further study. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 9(3), 189-203.

15. Work Cited • Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th ed., p. 183). New York: Continuum. • Gau, T. R. (2005). Learning to teach mathematics for social justice. University of Wisconsin. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305395176?accountid=12725 • Gregson, S. A. (2011). Negotiating social justice teaching: One full-time teacher’s practice viewed from the trenches. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Journals_and_Books/JRME/articles/JRME_Special_Equity_Issue/Gregson.pdf • Gutiérrez, R. (2010). The Sociopolitical turn in mathematics education. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 1-32. Retrieved from http://www.nctm.org/%0Aeresources/article_summary.asp?URI=JRME2010-06-1a&from=B • Gutstein, E. (2003). Teaching and learning mathematics for social justice in an urban, latino school. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 34(1), 37-73. • House, P. (1975). Learning environments, academic self-concepts, and achievement in mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 6(4), 244-252. • Johnston, R. C., & Viadero, D. (2000). Unmet promise: Raising minority achievement. The achivement gap. Education Week, 19(27), 1-23. • Klein, D. (1998, May). The state's invisible math standards [Op-ed]. Los Angeles Times.

16. Work Cited • Lareau, A. (1987). Social class differences in family-school relationships: The importance of cultural capital. Sociology of Education, 60, 73-85. • Lesser, L. M. (2007). Critical values and transforming data : Teaching statistics with social justice. Journal of Statistics Education, 15(1), 1-21. • Mitescu, E., Cochran-smith, M., & Pedulla, J. J. (2005). Measuring practices of teaching for social justice in elementary mathematics classrooms. Research Quarterly, 34, 15-40. • NisbettR. (2011). The achievement gap: Past, present, future. Daedalus, 140(2), 90-100Peterson, P. L., & Fennema, E. (1985). Effective teaching, student engagement in classroom activities, and sex-related differences in learning mathematics. American Educational Research Journal, 22(3), 309-335. • Peterson, P. L., & Fennema, E. (1985). Effective teaching, student engagement in classroom activities, and sex-related differences in learning mathematics. American Educational Research Journal, 22(3), 309-335. doi:10.3102/00028312022003309 • Powell, A. B. (2004). The diversity backlash and the mathematical agency of students of color. Proceedings of the 28th Conference for the International Group of the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. I, pp. 37-54). Bergen. • Quintos, B., Bratton, J., & Civil, M. (2005). Engaging with parents on a critical dialogue about mathematics education. The Fourth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. (pp. 1-11). • Schoenfeld, A. H. (2004). The math wars. Educational Policy, 18(1), 253-286.

17. Work Cited • Scott, S. (2010). Identity theft: Addressing the academic achievement gap. California State University, San Bernardino. • Secada, W. G. (1989). Agenda setting, enlightened self-interest, and equity in mathematics education. Peabody Journal of Education, 66(2), 22-56. • Shakman, K. (2009). Embracing the tensions: a qualitative case study of learning to teach in a social justice teacher education program. Learning. Boston College. • Skovsmose, O. (2004). Critical mathematics education for the future. 10th International Congress on Mathematical Education (pp. 1-19). Denmark: Lawrence Erlbaum. • Stevelos, J., Fowler, N., & Nelson, T. (1999). Media education foundation: Study Guide. Media Education Foundation: Challenging Media, 1, 1-11. • Valero, P. (2001). Social justice and mathematics education gender, class, ethnicity and the politics of schooling. ZDM The International Journal for Mathematics Education (33rd ed., Vol. 33, pp. 187-191). Copenhagen. • Valero, P. (2008). Discourses of power in mathematics education research: Concepts and possibilities for action. PNA, 2(2), 43-60. • Wonnacott, V. (2011). Teaching mathematics for social justice and its effects on affluent students. University of Toronto. • Woodson, C. (1933). The mis-education of the negro (p. 207). Washington: Associated Publishers. Retrieved from http://historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/misedne.html

18. Any Questions