Gendering Whiteness in Mathematics Education

• In Event: 44.070 - Interrogating Whiteness in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Whiteness, to the extent it enters into the discursive space, is generally asserted as a genderless construction. In this presentation, I outline the mediational effects of White feminisms/femininities (and androcentrisms/masculinities), both theoretically and empirically. In particular, I theorize about the implications of predominantly White women teaching a White, masculinized subject matter, such as mathematics (Hottinger, 2016). Given white women’s general “racial social geography” (Frankenberg, 1993) and what I argue to be the protected status of White womanhood, coupled with the prestige of a white male disciplinary subject, like mathematics, I question the apparatus of preparation for young White women to competently “see” and teach mathematics to children of color. How do we get young White women to see and problematize their own privilege and status, in addition to the status of a White, male mathematics?
Using intersectionality within a Black feminist stance, I investigate how pre-service secondary mathematics teaching interns narrate their social identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability-status, etc.) in a required race and ethnicity course and how those narrations mediate their development as equity-oriented teachers. The journals, pre- and post- assessments, and end-of-course projects of four, White women are analyzed for a required, 14-week, multicultural education course. Preliminary findings point to various discursive markers for maintaining a sense of self as an equity-oriented person and teacher. That is, all the interns' accounts point to a conceptualization of self as fair and justice-oriented, despite indices of race and class bias within explanations and descriptions of teaching and learning contexts.
This work importantly contributes to our understanding of mathematics teaching as a White, woman space. Further, this work outlines and names the discursive moves of White, women pre-service teachers developmental trajectory as equity-oriented.

Author

• Maisie L. Gholson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor