Centering Students' Affective Needs With Social Justice Mathematics

• In Event: Redressing Health Inequities in Science and Mathematics Education

Abstract

Many students, of all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, have endured adverse life experiences including complex, chronic, and/or intergenerational trauma (Finkelhor et al., 2015; Ridgard et al., 2015). In addition, students may experience trauma in schools (Valenzuela, 2010), and mathematics class in particular may be a dehumanizing and traumatizing space for students (Gutiérrez, 2018). Attending to students’ affective needs and overall well-being is important for students of all backgrounds and school contexts (Ginwright, 2016). This paper explores how teacher and student backgrounds (focusing on race and socioeconomic status) and school contexts (Title I public versus elite independent) influenced two case study teachers’ affective goals for students. The two case study teachers used Social Justice Mathematics, or SJM (Author, 2015, 2019, 2020; Gutstein, 2009), also called Critical Mathematics (e.g., Gutiérrez, 2002; Frankenstein, 1983; Skovsmose, 1994) and Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice (e.g., Bartell, 2013; Gutstein, 2006, 2016; Stinson et al., 2012). One case was a sixth-grade mathematics classroom in a Title I public middle school, with all students of historically marginalized backgrounds with a Black teacher, Ms. Charles. The other case was a sixth-grade mathematics classroom in an independent K-8 school with predominantly affluent, white students, with a white teacher, Maggie. Analysis of student and teacher interview data, teacher-designed SJM tasks, and observation field notes indicate how teachers’ backgrounds and school contexts influenced their goals for students.

I present a three-dimensional SJM framework, building on Gutiérrez’s (2002) critical and dominant mathematics axes to add a third axis of affective mathematics. Critical mathematics investigates issues of power and identity, “squarely acknowledg[ing] the position of students as members of a society rife with issues of power and domination” (Gutiérrez, 2002, p. 151). Dominant mathematics refers to school mathematics as defined and valued by the status quo, e.g., Common Core State Standards, standardized test scores. Affective mathematics refers to attending to students’ affective responses, overall well-being, and emotions with respect to learning critical and dominant mathematics.

Interestingly, when teachers were asked about their primary learning goals in the three individual interviews conducted with each of them, both focused on affective goals. Ms. Charles discussed her primary goal of increasing students’ confidence in mathematics, and field notes indicated her use of trauma-informed care (Harvey, 1996) and radical healing (Ginwright, 2016) approaches. She often asked students to identify and process their emotions related to the SJM tasks she designed, e.g., struggling to make ends meet, poor access to healthy foods (Author, 2019). She believed the real-world contexts related to social issues of students’ lives helped students gain entry points to master the dominant mathematics. Maggie, on the other hand, consistently explained her goal of developing students’ empathy for others to “make the world a better place.” Students in fact expressed empathy for others in class discussions, in their written work, and in interviews (Author, 2020). Mathematics classrooms may be more humanizing spaces (Gutiérrez, 2018) when teachers prioritize students’ overall well-being to support students of all backgrounds.

Author

• Kari Kokka, University of Pittsburgh