Annotations

Bartell, T., & Meyer, M. (2008, April). Addressing the Equity Principle in the Mathematics Classroom. Mathematics Teacher, 101(8), 604-608.

Similar in lack of scope to the other Mathematics Teacher article (see below), this piece argues strongly for the inclusion and necessity of social justice and equity issues in the mathematics classroom, but fails to provide a methodology for implementing equity-based and social-justice-based mathematics. Using a teacher-education course as the impetus for this article, the authors explore the four major conceptions of equity — its relation to: (1) instruction, (2) environment, (3) equal opportunity, and (4) appropriate curriculum. The authors further argue that equity in a math classroom is the shared responsibility of the teacher, her students, their families and community, policymakers, and even university teacher academics. Generally, however, the authors feel that the first step towards providing better support of students lies with teachers and their journey in exploring equity, “their role and responsibilities in closing the achievement gap, and their knowledge of individual students.”

Assessment: In terms of an article on equity, this article provides a neat summary. In terms of an article that bridges equity and mathematics education, this article fails in illustrating the need of integrating equity (and social justice) in the mathematics classroom. The authors argue its necessity as a means to provide better support of students and in closing the achievement gap, however, as math education plays such a minor part in this article, one wonders if this article is specific to math, as its title and abstract suggest.

Christiansen, I. M. (2007). Some tensions in mathematics education for democracy. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1(2007), 49-62.

In this long (and perhaps poorly translated) article, Christiansen discusses the implications and tensions that are revealed by implementing social justice to teach mathematics. In his first narrative, Christiansen provides a math lesson which relates to the inequity of land distribution amongst blacks and whites in South Africa using circle graphs, percents, tables, inequalities, and nonstandard units of measure. In this lesson, social justice math was appreciated amongst Danish students who are well removed from the situation presented. In his second narrative, however, Christiansen witnessed the reverse: Presenting his lesson to Zulus and Indians in a South African school, students refused to participate, citing that they did not like being reminded of their own situation. Using this situation as a spring board, Christiansen asserts that social justice math must do more than merely presenting students with a study of situations. Developing a critical mentality is not enough; mathematics must be equated with power, while lessons should also explore how “the less privileged [can] improve their lives” (p. 54). In his third and fourth narratives, Christiansen argues that empowering students need not be accomplished merely through social justice math, but by cultivating “mathematical awareness” in students. To this end, teachers must be instruments of change and agents of personal authority in the classroom and in the world.

Assessment: While the lesson presented is perhaps one of the best I have read, the article fails to deliver clear solutions to tensions created by the integration of social justice in the mathematics classroom. Instead, it offers alternatives to teaching social justice math, but for teachers who wish to implement the pedagogy it offers no advice on how to prepare students for social justice in the class, or how to broach this subject with students who find offense with the lesson.

Frankenstein, M. (1983). Critical Mathematics Education: An Application of Paulo Freire's Epistemology. Journal of Education, 165(4), 315-339.

In this article, Frankenstein provides an introduction to Freire’s epistemology, while neglecting some of his more controversial political theories and their ties to education. In her literature review, Frankenstein examines how knowledge is not static, nor neutral, but is instead continually redefined and a part of the human consciousness. From here, she introduces Freire’s conscientiaçao, or development of critical consciousness, asserting that by nurturing this aspect of conscience, students might overcome “massification.” She concludes with a section on content and methods for education and critical thinking which argue for constructivist, problem-posing teaching which develops students into critical thinkers who co-investigate ideas with their teachers.

The rest of the paper explores the application of social justice in Frankenstein’s mathematics classroom. In this section, she explores the nature of statistics in terms of the methods that politicians and CEOs may use to prevaricate on the truth. She further explores the notion that math anxiety can lead to an avoidance of mathematics and thus disempowerment. This is also explored in terms of gender and the self-fulfilling prophesy under which society subjects females — they are told that as a gender, they cannot “do” math, and as a result they cannot. To counteract this massification and other related ideological hegemonies, Frankenstein urges for the implementation of critical mathematics education “by using statistics to reveal the contradictions (and lies) underneath the surface of these ideologies by providing learning experiences where students and teachers are ‘co-investigators’ and where math ‘anxious’ students overcome their fears” (p. 329).

As co-investigators, Frankenstein suggests using math journals as a way to probe students’ social interests for developing critical math exercises. Such journals also act as a way to empower students by causing them to realize that they are already more capable mathematically than a month previously. Frankenstein also suggests introducing students to different statistics-based organizations — such as the Coalition for Basic Human Needs, the International Association of Machinists, or Counter-Information Services (CIS) — and allowing students to work with these groups to further “challenge” students to reconsider their previously ‘take-for-granted’ beliefs,” (p. 331). Taken together, Frankenstein asserts that these Freirean-based concepts can provide for more capable classrooms of students who can overcome math anxiety, learn math, and understand that they can make a difference in the world.

Gutstein, E. (2003, January). Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Justice in an Urban, Latino School. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 34(1), 37-73

In this study, Gutstein shows that by implementing a social justice curriculum for a math classroom, that teachers can empower students to read the world (understand complex issues involving justice and equity) using math, write the world (have an impact upon these issues) and develop a sense of mathematical power. Using the Mathematics in Context (MiC) curriculum as a basis, Gutstein illustrates how he was able to introduce several “real-world projects [that incorporated] issues of economics and racial discrimination and inequality, immigrant status, gentrification, and other examples of injustice facing [students] and their families on a daily basis” (p. 47). In his study, Gutstein further illustrates that his program succeeded in developing both students’ critical mathematics literacy and mathematical power without sacrificing either skill.

Assessment: In terms of all the articles, this piece was the most successful in terms of its intersection between mathematics education and social justice — content discussed herein was neither math-lite nor overly social-justice-heavy. Instead, this article provided theoretical knowledge and practical applications of social justice math, as well as the positive implications of its use. Most importantly, Gutstein’s students’ math abilities increased, and came to see the power of math and its importance for understanding the world.

McCoy, L. (2008, February). POVERTY: Teaching Mathematics and Social Justice. Mathematics Teacher, 101(6), 456-461.

This article examines poverty, the poor, and the relation between poverty and school achievement using statistics as the lens by which to understand the each instance. Aimed at teachers who wish to implement social justice into their mathematics classrooms, two activity-ideas are provided. One activity requires students to create a budget of essentials and nonessentials and to compare the prices of each to the average, monthly income for n-person families; students are then to reflect upon how their life compares to a family living below or near the poverty line. A second activity provides a table that illustrates percents of the population that live below the poverty level by demographic (gender, age, race, and education). Using these figures, students construct bar graphs to compare data and discuss conclusions. A third activity requires that students collect data on the poverty level of students by school district in the country. Using spreadsheet software (or graphing calculators), students then create a scatter plot, calculate a correlation coefficient, and then a regression equation to relate the data. Students then discuss both the mathematical and societal implications of their findings.

Assessment: While this article provides very interesting and necessary ideas within the realm of social justice math, only the third activity truly merits use in a mathematics class (and at the level suggested: Algebra I, II, and Statistics). Should teachers consider bringing these activities to their classroom, further development of said activities are necessary.