A Critical Introduction to Mathematics Education: Human Diversity and Equitable Instruction

156 Pages·2023·8.433 MB·English

by  Mark Wolfmeyer

A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO
MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
The second edition of Mark Wolfmeyer’s award-winning primer offers future
and current math teachers an introduction to the connections that exist between
mathematics and a critical orientation to education, one that accounts for race,
social class, gender, sexuality, language diversity, and ability.
Expanded and updated from the first edition, this book demonstrates how
elements of human diversity and intersectionality have real effects in the mathe-
matics classroom, and prepares teachers with a more critical math education that
increases accessibility and equity for all students. By refocusing math learning
toward the goals of democracy and social and environmental crises, the book also
introduces readers to broader contemporary school policy and reform debates
and struggles, especially in light of Covid-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial
equity.
Featuring concrete strategies and examples in both formal and informal edu-
cational settings, as well as discussion questions for teachers and students, text
boxes with examples of critical education in practice, a glossary, and suggestions
for further reading, Mark Wolfmeyer shows how critical mathematics education
can be put into practice, relevant for undergraduate and graduate students in
education, current teachers, and teacher educators.
Mark Wolfmeyer is an associate professor in the College of Education at
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
Critical Introductions in Education Series
Series Editor: Kenneth J. Saltman
The Politics of Education: A Critical Introduction, 2e
Kenneth J. Saltman
Mathematics Education: A Critical Introduction
Mark Wolfmeyer
English Language Arts: A Critical Introduction
Julie Gorlewski
A Critical Introduction to Mathematics Education: Human Diversity
and Equitable Instruction
Mark Wolfmeyer
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Critical-Introductions-in-Education/book-series/CRITEDU
A CRITICAL
INTRODUCTION
TO MATHEMATICS
EDUCATION
Human Diversity and Equitable
Instruction
Second Edition
Mark Wolfmeyer
Designed cover image: © GettyImages /PeterPencil
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Mark Wolfmeyer
The right of Mark Wolfmeyer to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2017
ISBN: 978-1-032-34518-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-34507-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-32256-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003322566
Typeset in Bembo
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
For mathematics teachers everywhere

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xii
1 What is mathematics? Answers from mathematicians,
historians, philosophers, and anthropologists 1
2 Reform mathematics teaching: The student-centered
approach 19
3 Why identity, human diversity, and intersectional
identities matter to mathematics education 30
4 A white institutional space: Race and mathematics education 44
5 Social class hierarchies and mathematics education:
To reproduce or interrupt? 60
6 Gender trouble: Rationalism vs. masculinity
in mathematics education 73
7 LGBTQ+ work: Outing mathematics for
heteronormativity and homophobia 88
8 Dissolving ability binaries in mathematics education:
From special education law to disability studies 101
viii Contents
9 Language diversity as an asset: Emergent bilinguals in the
mathematics classroom 114
10 Putting it all together: Intersectionality revisited,
current mathematics education policy, and further
avenues for exploration 127
Index 139
PREFACE
This book is for mathematics teachers who want to teach for all learners in their
classrooms. Many typically think that mathematics is objective and so straight-
forward that teaching it should be universal; what works for one will work for
anyone. However, we have such stark differences in student performance in
mathematics, and these patterns in the data fall along distinct lines among our
various identities. For example, why does the data indicate that white students
always outperform students of color in our classrooms? This simply cannot con-
tinue. Together we will realize that our teaching approaches are in part to blame.
We cannot continue to teach our students with a one-size-fits-all approach. To
perform better in the classroom, we’ll need to understand more deeply about
human diversity and how it relates to mathematics instruction.
We start in Chapter 1 by unsettling the notion that mathematics is objec-
tive and clearly defined. Philosophers, anthropologists, and historians all paint a
messy picture of the mathematical world. It is far from simple and beautiful in its
complexities and varieties. Mathematics has been developed by a broad range of
people across human diversity and throughout history; mathematics comes in a
variety of forms from mathematical practices embedded in cultural life to math-
ematical modeling that can solve challenging real-world problems to the pure
mathematical inquiries full of deduction and reasoning. Mathematics is varied
and diverse and as its teachers we reflect this diversity by widening what we offer
students; we also approach mathematics instruction uniquely for each student to
reflect their multiple identities.
In Chapters 2 and 3, we continue to frame a mathematics instruction across
the facets of human diversity. First, we review the dominant perspective in math-
ematics education research today, typically referred to as the reform approach.
Prioritizing student-centered instruction that emphasizes the “thinking” and