Tensions in teaching mathematics through sociopolitical issues

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Constructing New Understandings of Learning in Mathematics and Science Education

Abstract

Dominant narratives of mathematics as objective knowledge along with local educational standards restrict the kind of mathematics being taught at the school and the pedagogies employed. Building on critical mathematics education scholarship, this work recognizes the socio-political nature of mathematics. This presentation will share observations from a secondary mathematics methods course to illustrate the tensions faced by the preservice teachers while designing their lessons. Particularly, I demonstrate a contrast in their teaching approach by comparing two lesson plans designed by them during the span of the course – a procedural lesson for their ongoing student placement; and another lesson designed for a hypothetical classroom that blurs the disciplinary boundaries of mathematics to attend to complex socio-political issues.

Author

• Mahati Kopparla, University of Pittsburgh