When It Comes to the Mathematics Experiences of Black Preservice Teachers . . . Race Matters

• In Event: Roundtable Session 73
  In Roundtable Session: Contextual and Psychological Factors Influencing STEM Success for Black Students

Abstract

Using narrative analysis, the author explores the mathematics experiences of 13 Black college students who were elementary education majors. The participants’ narratives encompass their experiences as students of mathematics and their reflections as future teachers. Their narratives detailed Black male guardians being their first mathematics teachers and culturally relevant mathematical games (e.g., card playing and dominoes). More recent experiences included accounts of their academic struggles and successes in school mathematics, often emanating from racial stereotypes and non-affirming teachers. In short, the author’s analysis of the participants’ narratives supports and extends an emerging body of research that conceptualizes mathematics as racialized forms of experience; that is, learning structured, in part, by larger negative and unjust race relations existing in US culture.

Author

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College