I am doing my community inquiry project with Mark Perry and Jin Lee. Our topic question is:
Can social justice math be an effective teaching method in urban school districts?
Some of our subtopics include:
1. Using actual data or statistics, what can educators infer from sjm's implementation in the classroom?
2. Is sjm an effective form of teaching?
3. To gauge its effectiveness:
Does it raise student motivation and achievement?
What data illustrates/refutes this claim?
Which school districts employ sjm in the classroom?
4. Why do some districts choose not to employ sjm?
5. How do teachers feel toward using sjm in the classroom?
6. Can it help students deal with standardized testing?
Some of our qualitative date include interviews with professors and school teachers:
Eliza Leszczynski
Brian Miller
Rick Mcnamee (tentatively)
Teachers at Harvey Milk HS (East Village), New York City Algebra Project (Brooklyn), Acorn High School for Social Justice (Brooklyn), Bushwick School for Social Justice (Brooklyn)
Additionally, we will survey students through Brian Miller, Rick Mcnamee, Harvey Milk HS (tentatively), New York City Algebra Project.
QUESTIONS (for students):
1. What does the term "social justice math" mean to you?
2. Do you feel that math should incorporate social,political and economic issues into its instruction, such as with a social justice math curriculum? Why/why not?
3. Is it important for students to have an understanding of social, political and economic issues locally and around the world?
4. Should developing a "social consciousness" be an important part of your educational experiences?
4. Can math empower students to analyze and potentially change the world?
5. Do you think higher-level thinking about the larger mathematical ideas is important? Why/why not?
6. Could incorporating social justice math motivate more students to learn math?
7. Do you think math would be more engaging if it was "real world" rather than "theory"?
8. If you were given the opportunity, would you choose to participate in actual community problem-solving projects?
QUESTIONS (for teachers):
1. Do you currently use social justice math in your classes?
2. How would you summarize its basic purpose?
3. What do you feel are the positive outcomes of using sjm in a classroom?
4. What do you feel are the negative aspects to using sjm in a classroom?
5. Can you describe your personal experiences using sjm in the classroom?
6. Can you give examples of lessons you have brought to the classroom incorporating sjm?
7. Rate the following on a scale of 1 (least likely) to 5 (most likely):
- Sjm can help me differentiate the curriculum more easily.
- Sjm can help me create interdisciplinary and thematic units.
- Smj can help me learn about my students' families and their communities.
- Sjm can help me assess learning within a meaningful context.
Some of our qualitative research includes:
The real World as We Have Seen It: Latino/a Parents' Voices on Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice
a qualitative study of Latino/a parents who supported social justic math in their children's 7th grade classroom in the Chicago public schools
http://www.radicalmath/
a chart of possible topics for sjm classroom use; how to implement sjm into the
classroom; advantages and disadvantages to using sjm in the classroom
Integrating social justice with mathematics and science: an analysis of student
teacher lessons
Barbara Garii, Audrey C. Rule
a qualitative analysis of how student teachers incorporate social justice into math and science classes
Some of our quantitative data includes:
Infusing Mathematics with Culture: Teaching Technical Subjects for Social Justice
Dale Winter
a quantitative study that provides statistical data demonstrating that social and cultural learning can be infused into technical courses without negatively affecting content area learning
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Annotated Bibliography
D’Ambrosio. (2007). Peace, Social Justice, and Ethnomathematics. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1(2007), 25-34.
The authors believe in two universal ideas: that survival with dignity is the most universal problem facing mankind, and that mathematics is the most universal mode of thought. As mathematicians and math educators explore connections between these two ideas, they must pursue a civilization that values equality for all and pathways to world peace. The program Ethnomathematics is a set of tools for such a pursuit, incorporating literacy, the capacity to process information, including our modern literacies; matheracy, the capacity to infer, propose hypotheses and draw conclusions from data and to reflect about man and society; and technoracy, the critical familiarity with technology, particularly regarding the ethics and values related to technological progress. This program demystifies math, gives access to all, and demonstrates the intellectual achievement of civilizations, cultures and peoples around the world.
This article takes a very global position, viewing the connection between sociocultural issues and mathematics as a path to equality and world peace.
Garii, B., & Rule, A. (2009, April). Integrating social justice with mathematics and science: An analysis of student teacher lessons. Teaching & Teacher Education, 25(3), 490-499.
Today’s teachers are likely to teach students with different backgrounds than themselves. While most teachers are trained to foster a sense of community in their classrooms, they have little exposure to the pedagogy of social justice. Social justice is considered difficult to incorporate into math and science, and is mostly embraced by humanities teachers. This study is a qualitative analysis of the mathematics and science lessons of primary and secondary student teachers. The author concluded that preservice teachers need more knowledge of content areas, training in the integration of social justice into academic planning, and opportunities in the classroom to incorporate social justice.
It’s a great idea to look at social justice math from a starting point such as the preservice teacher’s experiences. I liked that the author emphasized the difficulty in bringing social justice into math and science classes. It takes knowledge and planning. It can’t just be applied like a band aid to a curriculum.
Sriraman, B. (2007). On the Origins of Social Justice: Darwin, Freire, Marx and Vivekananda. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1(2007), 1-6.
The author ponders the question of why we need social justice by examining the philosophies of Charles Darwin, Paolo Freire, Karl Marx and Vedanta. A strictly Darwinian explanation is that inequity is a natural mechanism in our society, and that it is natural that certain groups will perish because they cannot cope with changes in the environment. Freire believed the key to liberation is through political movements and political struggle. Karl Marx’s writings addressed issues such as exploitation of workers within a capitalistic economic system. Hindu philosopher Vivekananda belonged to a branch of Hindu philosophy called Vedana, which believes no individual could be free unless all are free.
This article was an interesting summary of the evolution of social justice philosophy. I’m not sure how useful this article is to me, but I’m fascinated by Freire, who believed pedagogies that pose problems are crucial if the goal of education is to challenge inequality.
Gutstein, E. (2006, July). The Real World As We Have Seen It: Latino/a Parents' Voices On Teaching Mathematics For Social Justice. Mathematical Thinking & Learning, 8(3), 331-358.
The author examines Latino parents’ views toward a social justice mathematics curriculum in their children’s 7th grade Chicago public school classroom. Two sets of overlapping pedagogical goals when teaching mathematics are: social justice goals such as developing sociopolitical consciousness and a sense of social agency; and mathematics goals, which include developing mathematical power to read and write the world. Recurring themes in parent interviews are: oppression and resistance are related and a part of life; and mathematics is a central part of life, utilitarian and critical views. The author emphasized that more parent-teacher collaboration is needed in the development of any social justice curriculum.
I think this article will be useful to me because it directly addresses an urban classroom’s experiences with a social justice math curriculum. I liked that the parents supported social justice math because they knew from their own experiences facing oppression and that education prepares children to face and fight social injustice.
Winter, D. (2007, Fall 2007). Infusing mathematics with culture: Teaching technical subjects for social justice. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 97-106.
Although math tools of logic, reasoning and quantitative analysis make it possible to make sound judgments in everyday situations, social and cultural issues have not generally tackled in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, over the past 20 years the pedagogies of introductory math courses have begun to change, incorporating the use of math techniques to solve problems in the world outside the classroom. The author created a model of instruction based on the principles of Marilyn Frankenstein, who pioneered the use of math education through the study of sociocultural phenomena. The model intertwines technical learning characteristics of STEM disciplines with experiences and information to help students understand problems facing other peoples and cultures.
Some criticisms of social justice math are the trivialization of social content by merely attaching the issue to a math lesson in a superficial manner; the interaction with too much controversial material in the classroom; and an increased amount of class time devoted to cultural and social issues less time devoted to mathematical tasks. The author’s classroom experiment revealed that technical courses can indeed be infused with social and cultural learning without sacrificing STEM learning. Results showed significant gains in cognitive learning. Additionally, more female students and students of minority groups participated in the experiment, possibly because the model made the math class more appealing or more accessible to those who would have otherwise stayed away from such a class or failed it.
Not being a “math person,” I operate on a fairly basic mathematical level. So I was naturally unsure of how math and social problems would connect. After reading about Winter’s model, I could actually visualize how social justice math could be incorporated into the curriculum. This model is clear cut, almost an instruction manual for how to put social justice into play in a math class.
The authors believe in two universal ideas: that survival with dignity is the most universal problem facing mankind, and that mathematics is the most universal mode of thought. As mathematicians and math educators explore connections between these two ideas, they must pursue a civilization that values equality for all and pathways to world peace. The program Ethnomathematics is a set of tools for such a pursuit, incorporating literacy, the capacity to process information, including our modern literacies; matheracy, the capacity to infer, propose hypotheses and draw conclusions from data and to reflect about man and society; and technoracy, the critical familiarity with technology, particularly regarding the ethics and values related to technological progress. This program demystifies math, gives access to all, and demonstrates the intellectual achievement of civilizations, cultures and peoples around the world.
This article takes a very global position, viewing the connection between sociocultural issues and mathematics as a path to equality and world peace.
Garii, B., & Rule, A. (2009, April). Integrating social justice with mathematics and science: An analysis of student teacher lessons. Teaching & Teacher Education, 25(3), 490-499.
Today’s teachers are likely to teach students with different backgrounds than themselves. While most teachers are trained to foster a sense of community in their classrooms, they have little exposure to the pedagogy of social justice. Social justice is considered difficult to incorporate into math and science, and is mostly embraced by humanities teachers. This study is a qualitative analysis of the mathematics and science lessons of primary and secondary student teachers. The author concluded that preservice teachers need more knowledge of content areas, training in the integration of social justice into academic planning, and opportunities in the classroom to incorporate social justice.
It’s a great idea to look at social justice math from a starting point such as the preservice teacher’s experiences. I liked that the author emphasized the difficulty in bringing social justice into math and science classes. It takes knowledge and planning. It can’t just be applied like a band aid to a curriculum.
Sriraman, B. (2007). On the Origins of Social Justice: Darwin, Freire, Marx and Vivekananda. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1(2007), 1-6.
The author ponders the question of why we need social justice by examining the philosophies of Charles Darwin, Paolo Freire, Karl Marx and Vedanta. A strictly Darwinian explanation is that inequity is a natural mechanism in our society, and that it is natural that certain groups will perish because they cannot cope with changes in the environment. Freire believed the key to liberation is through political movements and political struggle. Karl Marx’s writings addressed issues such as exploitation of workers within a capitalistic economic system. Hindu philosopher Vivekananda belonged to a branch of Hindu philosophy called Vedana, which believes no individual could be free unless all are free.
This article was an interesting summary of the evolution of social justice philosophy. I’m not sure how useful this article is to me, but I’m fascinated by Freire, who believed pedagogies that pose problems are crucial if the goal of education is to challenge inequality.
Gutstein, E. (2006, July). The Real World As We Have Seen It: Latino/a Parents' Voices On Teaching Mathematics For Social Justice. Mathematical Thinking & Learning, 8(3), 331-358.
The author examines Latino parents’ views toward a social justice mathematics curriculum in their children’s 7th grade Chicago public school classroom. Two sets of overlapping pedagogical goals when teaching mathematics are: social justice goals such as developing sociopolitical consciousness and a sense of social agency; and mathematics goals, which include developing mathematical power to read and write the world. Recurring themes in parent interviews are: oppression and resistance are related and a part of life; and mathematics is a central part of life, utilitarian and critical views. The author emphasized that more parent-teacher collaboration is needed in the development of any social justice curriculum.
I think this article will be useful to me because it directly addresses an urban classroom’s experiences with a social justice math curriculum. I liked that the parents supported social justice math because they knew from their own experiences facing oppression and that education prepares children to face and fight social injustice.
Winter, D. (2007, Fall 2007). Infusing mathematics with culture: Teaching technical subjects for social justice. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 97-106.
Although math tools of logic, reasoning and quantitative analysis make it possible to make sound judgments in everyday situations, social and cultural issues have not generally tackled in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, over the past 20 years the pedagogies of introductory math courses have begun to change, incorporating the use of math techniques to solve problems in the world outside the classroom. The author created a model of instruction based on the principles of Marilyn Frankenstein, who pioneered the use of math education through the study of sociocultural phenomena. The model intertwines technical learning characteristics of STEM disciplines with experiences and information to help students understand problems facing other peoples and cultures.
Some criticisms of social justice math are the trivialization of social content by merely attaching the issue to a math lesson in a superficial manner; the interaction with too much controversial material in the classroom; and an increased amount of class time devoted to cultural and social issues less time devoted to mathematical tasks. The author’s classroom experiment revealed that technical courses can indeed be infused with social and cultural learning without sacrificing STEM learning. Results showed significant gains in cognitive learning. Additionally, more female students and students of minority groups participated in the experiment, possibly because the model made the math class more appealing or more accessible to those who would have otherwise stayed away from such a class or failed it.
Not being a “math person,” I operate on a fairly basic mathematical level. So I was naturally unsure of how math and social problems would connect. After reading about Winter’s model, I could actually visualize how social justice math could be incorporated into the curriculum. This model is clear cut, almost an instruction manual for how to put social justice into play in a math class.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Culture of Self
To me, culture is everything I am, everything I think and everything I feel. It is physical, psychological and emotional. It’s like the old argument of “Nature vs. Nurture” – which has the greatest influence on who we are? The physical element of your culture is like the DNA, the genetic makeup of who you are. I am Caucasian, and a combination of Greek and Turkish Jews on my mother’s side, and Polish and Russian Jews on my father’s side. I am also female and heterosexual. The psychological and emotional elements are my primary discourse, my first “language,” my home culture. I was raised in baby-boomer suburbia in a close-knit two-parent household with two loving parents and two brothers. As children of immigrant parents, my own parents pushed education. College was mandatory, not optional. Religion was more culturally present than formally observed. All of these factors continuously shape my culture and mold me into who I am. It is the eternal tug-of-war.
Who I am naturally shapes how I view the world. Even if I attempt to be objective or nonjudgmental about certain issues or events, which I do, I am always viewing the world through the lens of my culture. It’s not possible to view and interpret outside of your frame of reference. Now, I believe you can train yourself, educate yourself and change yourself, to be different than how you are ingrained by your culture, but I really think your first glimpse, your first impressions and thoughts on everything, are shaped by your culture.
In my culture, what I was born into and how I was brought up, esteem-building was huge. A strong sense of self was a priority in my parents’ handbook for how to bring up baby. The environment in which I grew up molded my sense of self. My brothers and I were raised as individuals who shared a strong cultural connection to religion and “the old country.” My parents had one foot in the old world and one foot in the new, kind of like part Flintstone and part Jetson. They imparted an old-world sense of pride in family, family name and background. My grandmother on my mother’s side lived with us, and we loved and revered her. She was a model hard-working immigrant who came to the new world to build a better life for herself and her family. It was a great example to me of how you need to love, respect and sometimes take care of your parents. That’s the stage I’m at now, helping to take care of my mother.
But on the other hand, my parents were very modern. They were extremely liberal, very involved in local politics, especially my father. For their generation, and the times, they were lefty. My father was a true “women’s libber” who believed in equality for all. I love thinking back to when he cast his vote for Shirley Chisholm in the 1972 presidential primary. As I was going to cast my first vote that November, this was a monumental moment. My father told me, and showed me, that you vote for the person, regardless of race, gender, religion... From this lesson, I took away the idea that nothing is impossible, that the world is filled with promise and I can do anything I set my mind to, as long as I am willing to work for it. I am strong because of the culture of my home.
Because of the emphasis on education in my household, and a sort of drive that was apparently hardwired into my family tree, I grew up believing in the importance of being a lifelong learner. My grandmother came to the new world as a teenager, and went from her factory job to night school, where she learned English and prepped for the citizenship test (which she passed). She was so proud of her accomplishments in this country, and always tried to learn more. At the kitchen table, I had to share my math and spelling lessons with her so that she could learn through me. My mother is a college graduate who flew through the school system and graduated high school at 16, college at 19. My father chose not to go to college, but was very intent, even more so than my mother, on putting his kids through college.
As a teacher I believe we are shaped by our culture but not limited by it. Culture is our lens into the world. I think it’s vital to learn about and honor my students’ individual and unique backgrounds and cultures. There is so much we can learn from each other in the classroom. By making those connections with my students, and letting them see that I have true interest in and respect for their cultural perspectives on the world, I continue to learn and grow. I let them into my world, and am honored to be given a glimpse, if not a long look, into their world. To me, teaching is not only about being an imparter of information. It’s so much more than that. It’s about community-building. I try to build a learning community in which all are welcome and share in the learning process. I am both a teacher and student in my classroom. It’s the only way.
Who I am naturally shapes how I view the world. Even if I attempt to be objective or nonjudgmental about certain issues or events, which I do, I am always viewing the world through the lens of my culture. It’s not possible to view and interpret outside of your frame of reference. Now, I believe you can train yourself, educate yourself and change yourself, to be different than how you are ingrained by your culture, but I really think your first glimpse, your first impressions and thoughts on everything, are shaped by your culture.
In my culture, what I was born into and how I was brought up, esteem-building was huge. A strong sense of self was a priority in my parents’ handbook for how to bring up baby. The environment in which I grew up molded my sense of self. My brothers and I were raised as individuals who shared a strong cultural connection to religion and “the old country.” My parents had one foot in the old world and one foot in the new, kind of like part Flintstone and part Jetson. They imparted an old-world sense of pride in family, family name and background. My grandmother on my mother’s side lived with us, and we loved and revered her. She was a model hard-working immigrant who came to the new world to build a better life for herself and her family. It was a great example to me of how you need to love, respect and sometimes take care of your parents. That’s the stage I’m at now, helping to take care of my mother.
But on the other hand, my parents were very modern. They were extremely liberal, very involved in local politics, especially my father. For their generation, and the times, they were lefty. My father was a true “women’s libber” who believed in equality for all. I love thinking back to when he cast his vote for Shirley Chisholm in the 1972 presidential primary. As I was going to cast my first vote that November, this was a monumental moment. My father told me, and showed me, that you vote for the person, regardless of race, gender, religion... From this lesson, I took away the idea that nothing is impossible, that the world is filled with promise and I can do anything I set my mind to, as long as I am willing to work for it. I am strong because of the culture of my home.
Because of the emphasis on education in my household, and a sort of drive that was apparently hardwired into my family tree, I grew up believing in the importance of being a lifelong learner. My grandmother came to the new world as a teenager, and went from her factory job to night school, where she learned English and prepped for the citizenship test (which she passed). She was so proud of her accomplishments in this country, and always tried to learn more. At the kitchen table, I had to share my math and spelling lessons with her so that she could learn through me. My mother is a college graduate who flew through the school system and graduated high school at 16, college at 19. My father chose not to go to college, but was very intent, even more so than my mother, on putting his kids through college.
As a teacher I believe we are shaped by our culture but not limited by it. Culture is our lens into the world. I think it’s vital to learn about and honor my students’ individual and unique backgrounds and cultures. There is so much we can learn from each other in the classroom. By making those connections with my students, and letting them see that I have true interest in and respect for their cultural perspectives on the world, I continue to learn and grow. I let them into my world, and am honored to be given a glimpse, if not a long look, into their world. To me, teaching is not only about being an imparter of information. It’s so much more than that. It’s about community-building. I try to build a learning community in which all are welcome and share in the learning process. I am both a teacher and student in my classroom. It’s the only way.
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