Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice When the World Is on Fire

• In Event: Wide-Ranging Topics in Mathematics Education

Abstract

This presentation reports on a study of a critical inquiry group of urban school teachers committed to teaching mathematics for social justice. Specifically examining data from a focus group conducted in early May 2020, amidst the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, I explore how teachers are: striving to engage youth (as students and human beings) in distance learning, teaching relevant mathematics about the social and political world, witnessing inequities intensifying in education more broadly and mathematics education specifically in this time, coping as educators, and dreaming differently about mathematics education with justice at the center. This research reveals how urban mathematics teachers, teaching in marginalized communities strive to do work in solidarity with students, families, and communities.

Author

• Mary Candace Raygoza, Saint Mary's College of California