Exploring Black Girls’ Reasoning Behind Their Mathematics Instructional Preferences

• In Event: Agency and Voice in the Math Classroom

Abstract

This study reports on Black girls’ (n=34) reasoning behind their instructional strategy preferences in their urban middle-school mathematics classrooms. Black feminist epistemologies and intersectionality framed the data since Black girls suffer from scholarly neglect in mathematics education research. Themes that emerged during focus group and interview discussions of why they liked particular instructional strategies were that a strategy helped them learn, built their confidence, increased their enjoyment, enabled them to receive support or to support others, or allowed independence. Common instructional strategies middle school Black girls report liking go beyond the status quo of traditional teacher-directed instruction. These strategies often allow space for Black girls to engage in positive social interaction with their teacher and peers around the mathematics.

Authors

• Samantha Akridge, University of Delaware

• Marlena Eanes Snowden, Vanderbilt University

• Nicole M. Joseph, Vanderbilt University