Within the Story Lines of History: Need for Richer Contextual Considerations in Mathematics Education Research

• In Event: Wide-Ranging Topics in Mathematics Education

Abstract

We problematize the idea of the context of a study by complicating the place in which a study is being conducted. We argue mathematics education researchers need to contextualize their investigations within the storylines of history. The history of a place, or the collection of storylines about a context of learning and the people who have occupied the space, can add a richness and depth of understanding to our work. We demonstrate this by focusing on the history of the Latinx population of Texas and how that history can inform the reading of mathematics education literature. We focus specifically on two historical storylines: 1) Construction of racial stereotypes about Spanish-speaking students and 2) Americanization of the Spanish-speaking students.

Authors

• Carlos Nicolas Gomez, The University of Texas at Austin

• Stacy Jones, The University of Texas