Disrupting the Cycle: Strategies for Rehumanizing Mathematics in Teacher Education

• In Event: Social Justice and Mathematics Education

Abstract

This paper presents a design-based approach to exploring the transformations of teacher candidates’ beliefs about mathematics and themselves through a mathematics methods course that takes a rehumanizing approach. The approach is guided by four dimensions of Gutiérrez’s (2018) framework for rehumanizing mathematics and uses three interrelated strategies: 1) narrative identity work to prompt reflection on past experiences with mathematics; 2) collaborative problem solving to offer new encounters with mathematics; and 3) designing cross-disciplinary curricula that highlight how mathematics can be used to frame social justice issues for students. In addition to detailing our approach, the paper shares insights from interviews and written reflections that illustrate how these activities collectively supported transformations in candidates’ relationships with mathematics and informed subsequent redesigns.

Authors

• Janine Remillard, University of Pennsylvania

• Lara Condon, University of Memphis