The Culture of Exclusion in Teaching Practices for Inclusion in Mathematics Education

• In Event: A Conversation Around Challenging the Exclusionary Forces at Work in Mathematics and Science Classrooms

Abstract

Purpose. It is widely assumed that there exists a set of teaching practices which if properly adopted will lead to effective and equitable outcomes (e.g., Ball & Forzani, 2009). While advancing “best practices” has the potential to provide educators with concrete guidance, some scholars have cautioned that such practice-based approaches may reinforce long-standing assumptions that have functioned to exclude (e.g., Philip et al., 2019). Drawing on observational data of a fourth-grade classroom, this paper shows how "the culture of exclusion" (Louie, 2017) in mathematics education can operate through teaching practices that have been named to be inclusive for all students.

Methods and Data Sources. I adopted a critical ethnographic stance (Madison, 2005), observing mathematics lessons in a fourth-grade classroom (9- and 10-year-olds) of 15 students (7 African Americans, 6 Asians, and 2 Whites) located in the United States Midwest. Slightly more than half of students were identified as economically disadvantaged.

Data Analysis. The fieldnotes were analyzed through “microgenetic analyses of interaction” (Walkoe & Luna, 2020). I identified episodes that involve interactions that are consistent with the extant studies that suggest “best practices” (e.g., eliciting and interpreting individual students’ thinking, specifying and reinforcing productive student behavior). Second, I generated codes to characterize inclusive frames (e.g., valuing the process of making sense of numbers, acknowledging mathematical thinking beyond correctness) as well as exclusionary frames (e.g., valuing speed and accuracy, positioning some students as helpers and others as in need of help).

Findings. A routine that the teacher constantly performed was that she elicited each student’s mathematical thinking when she worked with student groups (usually four students). When she asked a mathematics question (e.g., showing a box of 8 x 3 crayons), she allowed each student to come up with different strategies (e.g., counting by 8, counting by 3) and built on that to learn another mathematical strategy. She also managed to equalize the turn-taking to make sure that each student got the opportunity to share and constantly communicated that she valued their thinking more than correctness—that is, consistent with prevalent narratives of “good teaching practices.” Yet, some students were intellectually empowered much more frequently than others. These were often students who fit in with a set of conventional and exclusionary frames of good-at-mathematics (e.g., fast, accurate, good at asserting ideas). That is, they were positioned as capable knowers, yet their inclusion was built upon exclusionary frames that reinforce ability hierarchies and narrow definitions of good-at-mathematics.

Significance. This study attempted to problematize an intensive tendency in mathematics education that promotes “best practices.” I argue that the culture of exclusion may operate through educational discourses that underline what desired teaching practices look like by directing attention to “what to do” rather than reflect upon the very assumptions that have functioned to demote student populations in the name of inclusion. This study informs the importance of constantly and critically reflecting on potential double effects of “good practices” and assumptions that are reinscribed.

Author

• Wan-Yue Zhan, National Taiwan Normal University