Becoming Critical Mathematics Pedagogues: A Journey

This session will report the findings of a study that explored the beginning transformations in the pedagogical philosophies and practices of three mathematics teachers (middle, high school, and 2-year college) who completed a graduate-level mathematics education course that focused on critical theory and teaching for social justice, and how these transformations are compatible (or not) with reform mathematics education as suggested by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and in turn, the new Georgia Performance Standards (GPS). The study employed Freirian participatory research methodology; in fact, the participants were not only co- researchers, but also co-authors of the study. Data collection included reflective essays, journals, and “storytelling”; data analysis was a combination of textual analysis and autoethnography. The findings report that the teachers believed that the course provided not only a new language but also a legitimization to transform their pedagogical philosophies and practices away from the “traditional” and toward a mathematics for social justice—a mathematics that is, indeed, compatible with the reform movements of the NCTM and GPS

The Proliferation of Theoretical Paradigms Quandary: How One Novice Researcher Used Eclecticism as a Solution

When a doctoral student plans to conduct qualitative education research, the aspect of the dissertation that often becomes problematic is determining which theoretical paradigm(s) might frame the study. In this article, the author discusses how he resolved the quandary through eclecticism. The author begins by describing briefly the purpose of his dissertation study, providing a justification for eclecticism in the selection of theories. He follows with a description of the three theories-poststructural theory, critical race theory, and critical theory-that framed his study and discusses briefly the methodology employed. The author concludes with a discussion of likely objections of his study and with an explanation of why his study was positioned within a critical postmodern paradigm

Philosophical Considerations Always Already Entangled in Mathematics Education Research

In this paper, I explore how mathematics education research is always already entangled with and in ontological, epistemological, and ethical considerations—that is, philosophical considerations—of the researcher (or research team) from beginning to end. The danger in too much of the existing mathematics education research, however, is limited acknowledgement of how philosophical considerations drive both knowledge production and knowledge dissemination in the field. Illustrating how the concepts ontology, epistemology, and ethics are made sense of across the research paradigm spectrum—predict, understand, emancipate, and deconstruct—sheds light on not only the possible divergences in approaches to research (mathematics education or otherwise) but also the interrelatedness of the concepts

An English Only Fountain: A Response to Tamsin Meaney’s Critique of English Privilege in Mathematics Education Research

In this brief written reaction to Tamsin Meaney’s essay “The Privileging of English in Mathematics Education Research, Just a Necessary Evil?”, the author’s explicit purpose is to provoke an emotional response to Meaney’s plenary address with the juxtaposition of two visuals: (1) Table 1 – a list of English Only mathematics education conferences; (2) Figure 1 – a picture of a Whites Only water fountain. While intentionally aiming for an emotional response, however, it is important to note that the author is not suggesting that the injustices of Jim Crow and Apartheid were (are) one in the same nor that the injustices of English Only is somehow equivalent to the injustices of Jim Crow or Apartheid. But rather to note, borrowing from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963/1998): “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (p. 189)

“Race” in Mathematics Education: Are We a Community of Cowards?

In this editorial, the author revisits Attorney General Eric Holder\u27s well-known 2009 statement that, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards, examining the ways in which racial cowardice continues to impact urban mathematical education

Practicing the \u3cem\u3escience\u3c/em\u3e of culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy: Indeed, it \u3cem\u3eis\u3c/em\u3e just good mathematics teaching!

In this paper, the author provides counter-narratives of academically and mathematically successful male African Americans as they recount specific pedagogical practices of teachers that were influential to their achievement in mathematics, and to their academic success in general. The author connects the counternarratives to the propositions of culturally relevant pedagogy to demonstrate that practicing the science of culturally relevant pedagogy is indeed just good mathematics teaching

How Is It That One Particular Statement Appeared Rather Than Another?: Opening a Different Space for Different Statements About Urban Mathematics Education

In this editorial, the author applies Michel Foucault\u27s concept of discursive formations to examine fictions, fantasies, and power relationships in mathematics education research