Resisting Deficit Discourses: A Narrative Inquiry into the Mathematics Learning Experiences of African American Community College Students

• In Event: A Collective of Diverse Narrative Explorations: A Generative Space for Sharing Approaches to Storying, Identity, Equity, and Inquiry

Abstract

This qualitative narrative inquiry examines the mathematics learning experiences of African American community college students who have completed both developmental and credit-bearing mathematics courses. Grounded in anti-deficit and anti-Blackness frameworks, the study explores how deficit-oriented discourses—especially racialized narratives of academic inferiority—shape students' identities and learning. It centers students' personal narratives to highlight how they interpret, resist, or reframe harmful assumptions. Success is redefined as resilience, resourcefulness, and adaptability—not products of adversity, but strengths drawn upon amid racialized violence in mathematics education. The study addresses a gap by focusing on internal responses to dominant narratives. Through narrative inquiry, it seeks to illuminate student agency and affirm the brilliance and lived expertise of African American mathematics learners.

Author

• Antoinette Brooks, Morgan State University