Statistical Literacy: A Tool to Upend Racism in Brazilian Public Schools

• In Event: Cultivating Equitable and Racially Just Teaching and Learning: An Imperative in Brazilian Public Schools

Abstract

Statistical literacy is a way to use statistics as a tool for understanding the world; as such, it can serve as a tool to document, problematize, and ultimately upend the racism of Brazilian public schools’ curriculum and teaching. Because statistical literacy is not typically taught in Brazilian teacher education programs, we designed a formative intervention whereby Brazilian public school teachers could understand the power and potential of statistical literacy to students’ learning of mathematical concepts and of inequities within and across contexts. Our formative intervention research study was conducted in the context of university-school partnerships through professional learning communities (DuFour, 2004) involving public school teachers and researchers from public universities in three states in Northeastern Brazil. Learning from and with each other, we analyzed statistical content knowledge and documented teachers’ perceptions of their teaching practices and student learning through the lens of equity literacy (Gorski, 2017). Data included videorecordings of professional learning community meetings and field journals documenting professional learning community (PLC) meetings and teachers’ practices. Data analysis engaged quantitative and qualitative methods. In the PLC, teachers designed lessons based on the investigative cycle (MacGillivray & Pereira-Mendoza, 2011) and then implemented them in their classrooms. After each implementation, teachers and researchers collaboratively reflected and planned new lessons. We focused on teachers' explanations and interpretations of their practices and on students’ responses to their lessons through the lens of equity literacy. Quantitative data included a comparison of students’ performance via pre- and post-diagnostic instruments. Qualitative data analysis documented the development of teachers’ statistical knowledge, teaching practices, and understanding of equitable student learning. Findings shed light on this kind of professional development as fertile grounds for cultivating equity in the teaching of mathematical concepts via statistical literacy.

Authors

• Jose Aires De Castro Filho, Universidade Federal do Ceara

• Eurivalda Ribeiro dos Santos Santana, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz