2nd Edition

Culturally Specific Pedagogy in the Mathematics Classroom Strategies for Teachers and Students

By Jacqueline Leonard Copyright 2019
    306 Pages 24 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    306 Pages 24 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Advocating for the use of culturally specific pedagogy to enhance the mathematics instruction of diverse students, this revised second edition offers a wide variety of conceptual and curricular resources for teaching mathematics in a way that combats and confronts the forms of oppression that students face today. Addressing stratification based on race, class, and gender, Leonard offers lesson templates that teachers can use with ethnically and culturally diverse students and makes the link between research and practice. Connecting cutting-edge and emerging technologies to culturally specific pedagogy, the second edition features new chapters on mathematics and social justice, robotics, and spatial visualization. Applying a more expansive focus, the new edition discusses current movements such as Black Lives Matter and incorporates examples of rural and tribal students to paint a broader picture of what culturally rich mathematics classrooms actually look like. The text builds on sociocultural theory and research on culture and mathematics cognition to extend the literature and better understand minority students’ goals and learning needs. Including new discussion questions and new examples, lessons, and vignettes of integrating culture in the mathematics classroom, this book employs pedagogical research to field-test new instructional methods for culturally diverse and female students.

    Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

    FOREWORD

    PREFACE

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

    LIST OF TABLES
    LIST OF FIGURES

    CHAPTER 1: CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND MATHEMATICS

    ACHIEVEMENT

    Introduction

    Theoretical Framework

    Critical Race Theory

    Black Feminist Thought

    Culturally Specific Pedagogy

    Prior Research on Culturally-Based Education

    Early Culturally-Based Studies

    Teachers’ Beliefs About Culture and Learning Mathematics

    Mathematics Identity and Mathematics Socialization

    Chapter One Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 2: COGNITION AND CULTURAL PEDAGOGY

    Culture, Cultural Transmission, and Cultural Capital

    Theories about Cognition and Culture

    Cognitive Theory

    The Saxe Model of Cognition

    Children’s Cognition and Learning in Mathematics

    Culture and Children’s Mathematical Reasoning

    Reform-based Mathematics Education and Opportunities to Learn

    Summary

    Chapter Two Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 3: CULTURAL PEDAGOGY

    The Need for Cultural Pedagogy

    Studies on Verve and Communal Learning

    Types on Cultural Pedagogy

    Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

    Culturally Congruent Instruction

    Culturally Responsive Teaching

    Culturally Specific Pedagogy

    Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy

    Culturally Responsive Instruction

    Funds of Knowledge

    Summary

    Chapter Three Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 4: COMPUTATIONAL THINKING, COMPUTER SCAFFOLDING, AND GAME DESIGN

    Computational Thinking

    Simulations and Game Design

    Microworlds EX

    Scratch

    Scalable Game Design

    Teaching with Emerging Technology

    Learning for Use

    Universal Learning Design

    The ITEST Study

    The Purpose of the Study

    Participants and Setting

    Methodology

    Instrumentation

    Year 1 Highlights

    Year 2 Highlights

    Year 3 Highlights

    From Research to Practice

    Summary

    Chapter Four Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 5: ROBOTICS, SPATIAL ABILITY, AND COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

    Spatial Abilities

    Computational Thinking and Learning Progression

    Cultural Brokering

    Theoretical Framework

    The Study Context

    Research Questions

    Participants and Setting

    Methodology

    Data Sources

    Instrumentation

    Results

    Spatial Orientation

    Spatial Reasoning, Computational Thinking, and Cultural Brokering

    Teacher Reflections on Robotics Lessons

    Limitations

    Summary

    Chapter Five Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 6: WOMEN IN AVIATION AND SPACE: THE

    IMPORTANCE OF GENDER ROLE MODELS IN MATHEMATICS

    AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

    Gender Equity in Mathematics and Science

    Gender and Academic Achievement in Mathematics

    Gender and Teacher Preparation

    Single-Sex Education

    The Bessie Coleman Project

    Using Zoom Earth and Photoshop

    Flight Simulation

    Computer Modeling

    Space Links: Integrating Space Science and Mathematics

    Methodology

    Participants and Setting

    Results

    Discussion

    Implications

    Chapter Six Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 7: LEARNING MATHEMATICS FOR

    EMPOWERMENT IN LINGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY

    DIVERSE CLASSROOMS

    Language Diversity and Professional Development

    Teacher Expectations

    Understanding Language Acquisition

    Developing Additive Perspectives Fostering Language Literacy in the Mathematics Classroom

    Teaching Mathematics for Cultural Relevance and Social Justice

    Reflections on Classroom Practices

    Culture in the Mathematics Classroom Project

    Summary

    Chapter Seven Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 8: BLACK LIVES MATTER: A CONTEXT FOR TEACHING MATHEMATICS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

    The Educational Debt

    Voting Rights

    Black Lives Matter

    Racial Profiling

    "I Can’t Breathe!"

    Flint Water Crisis

    Housing Inequality

    Black Firsts in Science and Mathematics

    St. Elmo Brady

    Martha Euphemia Lofton Haynes

    Bessie Blount

    Ed Dwight

    Jessie Eugene Russell

    Aprille Ericsson-Jackson

    Summary

    Chapter Eight Discussion Questions

    CHAPTER 9: RACE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS: A HISTORICAL PRESPECTIVE

    The Clinton 12

    Resegregation

    Perspectives on the Achievement Gap

    Mathematics Socialization and Identity among African-American

    Students

    Links to Everyday Mathematics

    Conclusions and Recommendations

    Chapter Nine Discussion Questions

    APPENDIX A: Computational Thinking Rubric

    APPENDIX B: Dance Scratch Party

    APPENDIX C: Knex Data Collection Sheet

    APPENDIX D: Sculptris Bison Tutorial

    REFERENCES

     

    Biography

    Jacqueline Leonard is a professor of mathematics education and former director of the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center (2012–2016) at the University of Wyoming, USA.

    "Many teachers are aware that they do not adequately address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students in their mathematics classrooms but are unaware of how to start correcting this issue. This book provides an excellent entry point for mathematics teachers to consider how culture and pedagogy intersect the concrete research-based examples."

    --Erika Bullock, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

    This new edition will certainly be welcomed by those mathematics educators, mathematics teachers, and teachers of mathematics who seek new ways of reaching students in their classrooms. Leonard’s concept of culturally specific pedagogy is based on the foundations of Critical Race Theory and Black Feminist Thought… A main tenet is that all students should know that mathematics is a part their history."

    --From the Foreword by Martin L. Johnson, University of Maryland, USA

    "In this updated and expanded edition, Leonard not only strengthens her argument for inextricably linking mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning to culture but also connects culturally specific mathematics to some of the most ‘talked about’ issues of the day. I am confident that this updated and expanded edition will become an invaluable resource for those mathematics educators who possess the will to ensure that every child has access to meaningful culturally specific learning experiences in mathematics classrooms."

     --David W. Stinson, Georgia State University, USA, and Editor of the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education

    "This book provides pedagogical and theoretical frameworks that respond to traditional mathematics teaching practices by empowering teachers and learners to see the multiple purposes for learning mathematics, helping learners appreciate why mathematics is important in their lives, and allowing teachers to see that their practices are highly correlated with students’ understanding the relevance of mathematics to their lives. "

    --Robert Berry, University of Virginia, USA