Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice: Conversations with Educators – A Symposium

Using Marilyn Frankenstein’s germinal 1983 article “Critical Mathematics Education: An Application of Paulo Freire’s Epistemology” and Ole Skovsmose’s 1985 germinal article “Mathematics Education Versus Critical Education” as credible “start points”, critical mathematics or more broadly, social justice mathematics, is marking three decades of empowering yet uncertain possibilities. Nonetheless, there are two recurring questions: What is it? and What does it “look like”? Drawing on the collective stories (and wisdom) of critical mathematics educators, this symposium aims to offer some open, non-definitive answers to these two questions

Imagining a Future in PreK: How Professional Identity Shapes Notions of Early Mathematics

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110548/1/aeq12086.pd

Imagining a Future in PreK: How Professional Identity Shapes Notions of Early Mathematics

This article describes how early childhood teachers engaged in a public preK professional development program. We examine how developing teacher identities mediated engagement with the discourses of developmentally appropriate practice, early mathematics, and funds of knowledge and how they connected present practice to an imagined future. We found that helping them to connect practice experience and new mathematical content knowledge through play allowed them to envision a meaningful place for math with young children

Dorsal premammillary projection to periaqueductal gray controls escape vigor from innate and conditioned threats

Escape from threats has paramount importance for survival. However, it is unknown if a single circuit controls escape vigor from innate and conditioned threats. Cholecystokinin (cck)-expressing cells in the hypothalamic dorsal premammillary nucleus (PMd) are necessary for initiating escape from innate threats via a projection to the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG). We now show that in mice PMd-cck cells are activated during escape, but not other defensive behaviors. PMd-cck ensemble activity can also predict future escape. Furthermore, PMd inhibition decreases escape speed from both innate and conditioned threats. Inhibition of the PMd-cck projection to the dlPAG also decreased escape speed. Intriguingly, PMd-cck and dlPAG activity in mice showed higher mutual information during exposure to innate and conditioned threats. In parallel, human functional magnetic resonance imaging data show that a posterior hypothalamic-to-dlPAG pathway increased activity during exposure to aversive images, indicating that a similar pathway may possibly have a related role in humans. Our data identify the PMd-dlPAG circuit as a central node, controlling escape vigor elicited by both innate and conditioned threats

Conflicting Narratives About What Counts As Mathematics in Early Childhood

Godkänd; 2015; 20151113 (marijo

Stories Neglected About Children's Mathematics Learning in Play

In this paper we describe stories of mathematics learning in play that are often neglected in this era of schoolification and discussions of what counts as learning in early childhood. Drawing on theories of early childhood teaching and learning that emphasize the importance of teachers' (a) content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and knowledge of children's development, (b) action competencies, and (c) attitudes and beliefs, we explore three stories of child-teacher interaction in play. We found that, despite different political and public perceptions of what counts as learning in three countries, preschool teachers evidenced competencies in similar ways - each illustrating s neglected story of children's mathematical learning