Africa, Our Motherland; Mathematics Classrooms, Our Oppressive Space

• In Event: Examining Black Girls' Educational Experiences Across Three Differing Contexts

Abstract

Critical Mathematics Education (CME) aims to address social injustices in local and broader communities using mathematics (Gutstein, 2016; Kokka, 2018). Yet often in CME work, time is not spent understanding students prior mathematics experiences and interrogating the harm done by mathematics before proceeding to use mathematics to understand social issues. Thus, in this study, I discuss the ways three Black Sub-Saharan African female-identified youth experienced their mathematics classroom as oppressive; disparate from the narrative of Africa as our motherland.
I drew on decolonial theory and methodology from an African standpoint (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015, 2018). Additionally, I drew on three African frameworks (Ubuntu, Sankofa, and FAM) that pushed me theoretically and methodologically. According to Tutu (1999), Ubuntu is a humanist perspective rooted in African thought that allows us to shift from I to we. Sankofa comes from the Twi people of Ghana and roughly means “going back to retrieve what was lost” (Dei, 2012; Watson & Knight-Manuel, 2017). The Fela Anikulapo-Kuti Music (FAM) methodology comes from an analysis of Fela’s (Anikulapo-Kuti, 1986) song, Teacher don’t teach me nonsense. FAM consists of three tenets: co-learning, disruption, and making space for joy in research.
In this presentation, I draw on data from a larger study with a focus on three Black Sub-Saharan African female-identified youth over the course of the spring 2019 semester. I focus on data across two initial sessions. In the first, we each presented a picture to represent what Africa means to us and in the second session, we reflected on our prior mathematics learning. In analyzing this discussion, I draw on Willis’s (2019) composite narratives.” Composite narratives are a way to combine individual stories into one to show their interconnectedness which aligns with the ethos of Ubuntu.
In the first session, two of three young women chose pictures that represented a Black African woman. In their narrative, they spoke of the strength and resilience of this woman and the history and knowledge she holds similar to the view of Africa as our motherland which was in large contrast to their mathematics experiences. In one composite narrative they shared, “and this was far worse in mathematics and other STEM classes. Maths class was certainly never one of those reasons for me to stay in school. Maths class, in my view, was a space totally colonized by boys in terms of how to do well in it. I think I found myself in the most social science courses when I was in the lower grades like grades five or six. I was attracted to subject areas that allowed me to talk and express myself. Those subjects also helped me overcome the social pressure related to girls and how our smartness was perceived.”
In many ways, they were “mourning their loss of self” in their mathematics spaces (Chilisa, 2011; Laenui, 2000). While a focus on social issues is paramount and essential especially in today’s world, we must interrogate the tension in using mathematics to understand social issues considering the harm done with mathematics.

Author

• Molade Osibodu, York University