Strength-Based Strategies that Black and Latina/o Students Utilize to Navigate Barriers for Math Engagement

• In Event: Revolutionizing Math Engagement: Culturally Sustaining Measures for Black and Latina/o Students

Abstract

Objectives & Perspectives
Racial disparities in math can largely be attributed to the structural and systemic barriers Black and Latina/o students disproportionately face. For example, Black and Latina/o students face inequitable access to high-quality math learning opportunities, both covert and overt biases in math classrooms, and curriculum that reinforces White supremacy or color-blindness in math, to name a few barriers (Collins, 2018; Davis et al., 2019; Mulvey et al., 2022). Despite the structural and systemic barriers they disproportionately face, Black and Latina/o students continue to demonstrate resilience in math. For example, they bring with them invaluable funds of knowledge as well as cultural and community wealth that support their math learning (Denton et al., 2020). Taken together, the goal of the current study is to understand: 1) What are the barriers to math engagement from the perspective of Black and Latina/o students, as well as the math teachers who serve them? 2) What asset/strength-based strategies are Black and Latina/o students utilizing to navigate the barriers?

Data Sources and Methods
Data for this paper came from focus groups with 50 Black and Latina/o students conducted in Spring 2023, interviews with 8 math teachers conducted in Spring 2023, and focus groups with 57 Black and Latina/o students conducted in Spring 2024. We conducted thematic analyses to capture both the negative correlates to address research question 1 and positive correlates to address research question 2 of math engagement.

Results
Black and Latina/o students, as well as their math teachers, shared various barriers to math engagement that span across the micro-system (teacher-student relationships; classroom management and structure; peers as a distraction; lack of basic resources; family obligations), exo-system (irresponsible use of technology; school schedule), and macro-system (lack of representation; racial stereotypes). To navigate those barriers, Black and Latina/o students utilized various asset/strength-based strategies such as collaborative learning, community support and encouragement, and maintaining an authentic identity that balance academic excellent with who they are.

Significance
In presenting both the barriers Black and Latina/o students face for their math engagement, as well as the strength-based strategies they utilize to navigate such barriers, we present a holistic view of Black and Latina/o students’ math engagement (Lawson & Lawson, 2013). This contributes to our understanding of the grander educational inequities Black and Latina/o students currently face.

Author

• Ta-yang Hsieh, Search Institute