Investigating Prospective Mathematics Teachers' Identities in a Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice–Focused Quantitative Reasoning Course

• In Event: Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice: Supporting Critical Mathematics Instruction Amid Racial Justice Protests

Abstract

Objectives
In order to model and shape a more socially just world, students should engage in “critical mathematics literacy” (Discussant et al., 2013). Critical mathematics literacy is the specific understandings about how mathematics can be used to determine whose knowledge is valued (Frankenstein, 1990; Freire, 1970/2018; Discussant, 2006). Discussant et al. (2013) encouraged teachers and teacher educators to connect liberatory education to the lived experiences of students and to trends in society beyond the classroom. Recognizing that all mathematics teaching is political, Gutiérrez (2017) emphasized the need to develop prospective mathematics teachers’ (PMT) political conocimiento (Freire, 1970/2018) to examine “how we are connected to each other today and how we might envision a different, more humane connection for the future” (p. 20). Aligned with these calls to action, we worked to support PMTs’ mathematical learning as they explored local and global phenomena in Knowing the World Through Mathematics (KWM; Author D et al., in press), a three-credit quantitative reasoning course framed by Discussant’s (2006) Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice (TMSJ) Framework and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN, 2015). To better understand how mathematics courses can be utilized to support PMTs’ critical mathematics development, we investigated how KWM connected to PMTs’ mathematics identities (Anderson, 2007; Martin, 2006). Our research question was: How does participation in a TMSJ-focused quantitative reasoning course (i.e., KWM) support PMTs’ mathematics identity development?

Methods and Data Sources
We utilized a holistic case study with an embedded multiple case design (Yin, 2017) to investigate eight PMTs’ mathematics identities, or their beliefs about themselves and their ability to participate in the mathematics community (Martin, 2006) throughout their involvement in KWM. Given the nature of individuals’ identities conceptualized as stories (Confrey, 1995; Gresalfi & Cobb, 2011; Sfard & Prusak, 2005), we explored PMTs’ mathematics identities through observations and narratives of their lived experiences as told through reflection prompts, individual interviews, and questionnaire responses. Using Anderson’s (2007) analytic framework for mathematics identity (i.e., alignment; engagement; imagination; nature) and case study analyses (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), we coded all qualitative data sources through two rounds of initial and axial coding (Saldaña, 2016).

Conclusions
Throughout KWM, PMTs (a) demonstrated understandings of the interconnectedness of mathematics education spaces and the political landscape through examples connected to the UN 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015); (b) investigated their beliefs in relation to critical mathematical knowledge and their positions as educators in the mathematics community; (c) discussed and reflected on novel approaches to teaching and communicating about mathematics (i.e., engagement and alignment); and (d) examined the socially constructed traits of “typical mathematicians” (i.e., nature). PMTs shared concerns for incorporating TMSJ-focused tasks due to resistance from administrators, family members, and students for straying from traditional mathematics.

Scholarly Significance
This course and research study contribute to resources for mathematics teacher educators and further investigates how to effectively support PMTs to develop positive mathematics identities and become more involved in the larger mathematics community.

Authors

• Michael R Lolkus, Purdue University

• Jill Annette Newton, Purdue University