Relational Capital as a Cultural Resource for Solving Mathematics Problems

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Social Justice for What? Race, (In)Equity, Teaching, and Just (Teacher) Education

Abstract

In this paper, we describe how an HBCU research-practice partnership elevated middle school mathematics teachers’ relational capital when tasking students with community-based design problems. We explain 1) how empathy uses aspirational capital to demonstrate teachers support for students’ lived experiences and academic goals, 2) how experiential praxes in design thinking connect familial and linguistic capitals to assist teachers in leveraging positive relationships with students, and 3) how generative praxes link navigational, social, and resistant capitals, allowing teachers to empower students to maneuver through educational spaces. This would be a significant contribution to the literature on how teachers seek to humanize mathematics learning by attending to minoritized learners’ affect and experiences when problem-solving is sparse.

Author

• Deena Khalil, Howard University