Storythinking with Other People’s Perspectives (Poster 2)

• In Event: Decolonizing Mathematics Education Through Storytelling: A Tool for Exploring Identity, Justice, and Community

Abstract

Storytelling pedagogy values students’ local knowledge, ingenuity, and commitments to justice (Krone 2019; Torres 2022) as they draw on their everyday interests, identities, and experiences.

We present two case studies of ten-year-old children (white male, Black immigrant female) who participated in a seven-day ‘storythinking’ curriculum that introduced and supported children’s applications of three key narrative features: 1) world-building, 2) perspective-taking and shifting, and 3) problem-solving or action-generating, all of which involve asking ‘why’ a problem matters and ‘what if’ a solution might be more or less useful to someone seeking a solution (Fletcher & Benveniste 2022). By organizing perspectives and events into ‘what if’ scenarios, we can search the problem-world for clues and anticipate consequences, with a concern for our shared humanity.

We argue that when mathematical problem-solving is grounded in narrative practices (Fletcher 2021) and culturally relevant tenets (Ladson-Billings 2014) of rigorous and joyful learning, cultural consciousness, and equity, children learn to build on one another’s mathematical ideas, especially those whose perspectives were previously marginalized.

Our qualitative data set illustrates two students’ pathways through ‘storythinking’ experiences and the narrative and mathematical features of their multimodal plans for a ‘cinematic bicycle drone’ and a ‘swimming pool art gallery.’ Twenty-eight third, fourth, and fifth graders participated in a two-week summer camp in June 2022. Students joined the camp at no cost and were drawn from the district’s economically and racially diverse schools.

Descriptive case studies (Dyson & Genishi 2005) were constructed for two fifth-grade students, Ilana (East African) and Mark (white), who were initially reserved (Ilana) or outspoken (Mark) but became more actively engaged with others’ ideas by the end of camp. One key practice informed all activities: generating the qualities and interests of a ‘creative friend’ whose perspective could be ‘borrowed’ to help solve problems. Ilana identified her mother, who was generous, faithful, and kind but afraid of water (and Ilana wanted to go swimming). Mark identified his brother, who was adventurous, an avid bike rider, and loved to make movies.

On the last day of the sessions, children were asked to think of their creative friend’s need or problem and propose a plan—a blueprint—that would surprise them and maybe solve a deeper problem (their ‘why’). Ilana first drew a swimming pool but needed something more to entice her mother to water. Listening to her peers and considering what her mother enjoyed (art), she envisioned a swimming pool that doubled as an art gallery so her mother would be more relaxed and willing to learn to swim. Her pool design benefited from peers’ enthusiasm about angles and reflections and how the art might change underwater. Mark realized that a drone could follow his brother as he rode his bike—so he drew an elaborate plan for a drone that could move through multiple angles, heights, and speeds. He demonstrated the drone’s capabilities with his body, using his own joints as proxies for the drone’s movements.

Authors

• Patricia Enciso, The Ohio State University

• Fuyi Feng, The Ohio State University