Learning to Leverage Mathematical Resources of Elementary Latinx Children Through Community-Based Mathematical Modeling Tasks

• In Event: Foregrounding Cultural Ways of Being in Mathematics Teacher Education: Cases From Latinx and Pāsifika Communities

Abstract

Purpose: This study is part of a research and professional development project investigating how teachers in grades 3-5 learn to teach mathematical modeling by connecting to relevant community contexts. This paper examines how teachers planned mathematical modeling lessons that leveraged cultural / community-based funds of knowledge and experiences to engage Latinx children in mathematizing their world. Mathematical modeling engages learners in a cyclical process: (a) analyzing situations, (b) constructing models; (c) using models to perform operations, (d) reporting results (Anhalt & Cortez, 2015; NGA Center & CCSSO, 2010).

Theoretical Framework: This study connects two areas of work often underemphasized in mathematics teacher education: teaching mathematical modeling (Lesh & Doerr, 2003; Lesh & Zawojewski, 2007), and cultural and community-based funds of knowledge (Author, 2007; González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). An important premise is that connecting mathematical modeling to familiar contexts and practices leverages students’ lived experiences to support mathematical understanding.

Methods and Data Sources: Data for this qualitative study include instructional planning artifacts; teacher reflections; and audio/video records of teacher design work during a week-long professional development institute. The participating teachers work in schools that serve predominantly Latinx communities in the southwestern United States. Working in school-based teams, teachers identified salient community practices, visited community sites, interviewed parents and community members, and collected artifacts (documents, photographs). Next teachers developed mathematical modeling tasks that invited students to investigate these contexts. Using an iterative analysis (Bogdan & Biklen, 2006), codes were developed that delineated how teachers attended to mathematical reasoning, mathematical modeling competencies, and community-based knowledge and practices.

Results: Our findings suggest that professional learning opportunities to design mathematical modeling tasks grounded in children’s lived experiences deepened teachers’ mathematical and community understandings in ways that open spaces for meaningful engagement with mathematics. For example, teachers at one school interviewed mothers that buy and sell natural fruit paletas (popsicles) to raise money for field trips. The mothers shared their supply-chain process for the paletas including vendors, inventory selection and transportation issues. They also discussed pricing methods, considering factors such as profit margins, accessibility for families, and ease of transactions (i.e., $1/paleta works better than $1.10). Teachers used what they learned to develop a modeling task investigating the paleta sales that mirrored the mathematical considerations voiced by the mothers and required students to design a sales plan for the upcoming year. In another example, teachers brainstormed a GIS-supported mapping activity where students generate a map of the community surrounding their school. Students and families would locate and mark important community landmarks, including people, homes, social hubs, and informal play spaces. In this way the community mapping activity developed modeling competencies related to representing and analyzing data, and honored the richness and connectedness of students’ communities.

Significance: This study contributes important conceptual and practice-oriented understanding related to mathematics teacher education. Specifically, our findings show that a dual focus on mathematical modeling and cultural understandings can empower teachers to generate meaningful mathematical tasks that create spaces for students to see the power of mathematics in their lives

Authors

• Erin Turner, The University of Arizona

• Julia Maria Aguirre, University of Washington - Tacoma

• Mary Q. Foote, Research Foundation, CUNY

• Amy M. Roth McDuffie, Washington State University