Math class can and should be a place where racial equity is advanced. Racial inequity is a problem in the United States, and it is not one that can be left at the classroom door. Teachers and students all experience the effects of systemic racism, and those effects find ways into our interactions with and expectations of each other. While it might seem that math class is removed from social issues like race and racism, it turns out that math teachers can promote racial equity in powerful ways! In this two-part series, we will explore what we as teachers can do in our classrooms to create safe and equitable spaces, and how we can empower students to use math to think critically and make sense of the world.
- All adult education math practitioners
This professional development activity/course is designed for:
This is a two-part series that explores what math teachers can do in their classrooms in terms of a) practice and b) content to promote equity.
- In Part 1, through engaging in a rich math task and digging into the impact of that experience on ourselves as learners, we will explore how the expectations we hold and communicate to our students affect their ideas about themselves as mathematical learners and thinkers. Teachers will reflect on our own cultural lenses and how they affect our teaching.
- In Part 2, we will explore how to prepare students to use math to think critically about the world. We’ll use the routine of slow reveal graphs as an example of how to prepare students to recognize injustice and reckon with misinformation through proportional reasoning and statistical literacy.
Please note: About a week before the event, registrants will receive a separate email from the SABES Math team at TERC (sherry_soares@terc.edu) with instructions on how to access the Zoom session.
- Identify practices that create a safe, equitable classroom
- Reflect critically on your own cultural lenses
- Explain how inquiry-based teaching is anti-racist
- Facilitate an Open Question routine in math
- Facilitate a Slow Reveal Graph routine
Upon completion of this professional development activity/course, you will be able to:
United States
