Critiquing Discourses of Power in a College Algebra Class: Utilizing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

• In Event: Reclaiming Educational Spaces for K–16 Black Students: Critical Race Theory as a Best Practice

Abstract

Purpose

College algebra continues to be a barrier for college students to graduate (Van Dyken, 2016). The rigid teaching methods for developmental mathematics courses continues to exacerbate this issue causing failure rates among students. With innovative teaching strategies, this study sought to address this problem. The purpose of study was to investigate the effects of a sequence of lessons grounded in the principles of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) on students enrolled in a college algebra course at an HBCU (Author 4, 2021A, 2021B).

Theoretical Framework

Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995) created a model and theoretical framework of teaching, CRP, that places cultural respect and appreciation at the center. She states that CRP “addresses student achievement [and] also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate” (p. 469). Studies show that students take a higher interest in mathematics when they can connect with their lives (Brown, Boda, Lemmi, & Monroe, 2019; Hubert, 2014). Through the third tenet of CRP, sociopolitical consciousness, a clear connection with CRT is seen. This study sought to allow students the opportunity to use the content (mathematics) with two tenets of CRT, the pervasiveness of racism and a critique of liberalism (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004). To this end, the research question that motivated this work was: How are college algebra students able to critique discourses of power using mathematics as a tool?

Methods and Data Sources

Interviews were conducted with eight students in the studied course that received four lessons during the second half of a course that utilized CRP. The interviews took place during the Fall 2018 semester at a large HBCU. Theory-driven codes and data-driven codes (DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall, & McCulloch, 2011) generated several themes that explained students’ thinking and reasoning about the relationships about concepts learned in class and how they translate to the real-world.

Findings

In the interview, students explored different scenarios where they were asked how they would use mathematics to create an argument for their position. These topics included their views on minimum wage and interactions between police and Black-Americans. Argumentation from students centered around themes of recognizing and justifying that a problem exists and empathizing. Discussion also included critiquing discourses of power using mathematics. Students were able to explain how they could use the mathematics they had learned in this math course to help them explain and help show others how they saw these issues. The mathematics students used included several functions that were discussed in class, along with statistics and graphical representations.

Significance

The ability to utilize mathematics in such a way that students find it useful and see its applicability in their day-to-day lives is a strong benefit for the advocation of such critical mathematics pedagogy (Tate, 1995). This study shows the potential benefits of utilizing CRT within the higher education contexts by showing that students are able to leverage their experiences within the College Algebra course to discuss current sociopolitical issues post course.

Author

• Gregory A Downing, North Carolina Central University
  Presenting Author