2nd Edition
Culturally Specific Pedagogy in the Mathematics Classroom Strategies for Teachers and Students
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