Negotiating Tensions That Arise in Teaching From a Distance About Issues of Equity in Mathematics

• In Event: 72.041 - Researching the Design and Delivery of Equity Courses in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Objective
While the notion of reaching teachers from around the world is exciting, teaching about equity from a distance presents new challenges for educators who draw on the notion of culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994). How do we establish a classroom community and meaningful connections to students online? How do we facilitate difficult conversations at a distance? These questions framed much of my thinking as I developed an online course that aligned with principles of culturally relevant pedagogy.

Theoretical Position
I utilized Berry’s (2004) notion of tensions to conceptualize “the problematic nature of practice” (Loughran, 2005, p. 11) as I examined tensions that arose in developing and delivering a course that focused on equity and mathematics education from a distance. The following research questions guided this study: What design decisions did I enact in developing an online course aimed at broadening teachers’ understanding of issues of equity in mathematics education? and In what ways did these decisions help mitigate the tensions that arose?

Methods of Inquiry & Data Sources
I conducted a qualitative, self-study (Loughran, 2005) of my online, graduate-level course entitled Contemporary Issues of Equity and Diversity in Mathematics Education. The primary data sources include my course materials and weekly, audiorecorded course development meetings I conducted with a graduate teaching assistant. In addition to these data, I collected student work throughout the semester. To analyze the data I employed the constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). This entailed rounds of inductive coding to identify my design decisions and the ways in which they manifested through the structure and activities of the course and also the outcomes that arose from these decisions.

Results
In developing and delivering my course, several tensions arose. First, I had to find ways to emphasize mathematics when discussing issues of equity. Second, I had to consider that the teachers were located in extremely different contexts. Thus, different equity issues were more central to some contexts than others. Third, teachers perceived some of the strategies aimed at making their instruction more equitable in conflict with their perceived professional obligations (Nasir et al., 2008). Particular to the online context, I had to consider how to build relationships with students and broach potentially contentious issues from a distance.

Many of my design decisions were made in response to these challenges. For example, to align the teachers’ perceived professional obligations with my goal of increasing equity for students, I framed a number of the activities in terms of “differentiating instruction,” a term that held salience for many teachers. This allowed me to connect to practices with which they were already familiar while also foregrounding equity issues that arise in mathematics classrooms.

Significance of Work
By understanding how I approached the design of a course other teacher educators might be able to build on this design moving forward. By studying my own practice and making the results of that study public, needed discussions and further study can occur regarding best practices for preparing teachers to increase access and equity for students.

Author

• Zandra de Araujo, University of Missouri