Discourses About Race, Ability, and Mathematical Identity in a Middle School Mathematics Classroom

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research in Progress Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Achievement, Identity, and Social Justice in Mathematics Education (Table 1)

Abstract

This study aims to reveal power dynamics inherent in mathematics classroom Discourse and how it relates to mathematics identity construction for marginalized students with disabilities. Society positions specific identities to have advantages or disadvantages. Though social identities may appear fixed, they are fluid and established through Discourse (i.e., ways of thinking, acting, doing, and being). In mathematics spaces, members of the learning community may maintain dominant, deficit Discourse that upholds social positionings and power differentials. These Discourses can inhibit and or cultivate the mathematics identity of students. An interrogation of the relationship between power and mathematics identity construction may supply insight into how to develop strength-based pedagogy. In this study, intersectional qualitative research methods, Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) and Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) will guide data collection and analysis. We aim to uncover hidden messages, highlight power differentials, and reveal how students reinforce and resist deficit thinking in a middle school mathematics classroom. In honor of the knowledge, community cultural wealth, and social identities of Black students with disabilities, this study will center the how these students use Discourse in becoming doers and thinkers of mathematics.

Author

• Camille Griffin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author