Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks, K-5: Fostering Hope in the Elementary Classroom

by Lou E Matthews, Shelly M. Jones, Yolanda A. Parker

Overview

Empower your students as they reimagine the world around them through mathematics

Culturally relevant mathematics teaching engages and empowers students, helping them learn and understand math more deeply and make connections to themselves, their communities, and the world around them. The mathematics task provides opportunities for a direct pathway to this goal; however, how can you find, adapt, and implement math tasks that build powerful learners?

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks helps teachers to design and refine inspiring mathematics learning experiences driven by the kind of high-quality and culturally relevant mathematics tasks that connect students to their world. With the goal of inspiring all students to see themselves as doers of mathematics, this book provides intensive, in-the-moment guidance and practical classroom tools that empower educators to shape culturally relevant experiences while systematically building tasks that are standards-based. It includes

• A pathway for moving through the process of asking, imagining, planning, creating, and improving culturally relevant math tasks.
• Tools and strategies for designing culturally relevant math tasks that preservice, novice, and veteran teachers can use to grow their practice day by day.
• Research-based teaching practices seen through the lens of culturally relevant instruction that help students develop deep conceptual understanding, procedural knowledge, fluency, and application in all K-5 mathematical content.

Examples, milestones, opportunities for reflection, and discussion questions guide educators to strengthen their classroom practices, and to reimagine math instruction in response. This book is for any educator who wants to teach mathematics in a more authentic, inclusive, and meaningful way, and it is especially beneficial for teachers whose students are culturally different from them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071841716
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/28/2022
Series:	Corwin Mathematics Series
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	1,103,834
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dr. Lou Edward Mathews is a global mathematics creative and founder of Inspire Math committed to building inspiring, sustainable mathematics platforms and culturally relevant education experiences in communities around the world. As Director of Mathematics and Science at Urban Teachers, a national teacher residency program with Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Lou supports the recruitment, coaching and deployment of culturally competent mathematics teachers in Baltimore, Washington DC and Dallas.

In response to the global crisis of racial injustice and COVID19 pandemic, Dr. Lou created Pi Before Dinner, a virtual space and media channel for amplifying and illuminating the voices and images of Black children, families and community in mathematics. The podcast is in its second season on Facebook Live and Youtube and has spawned a website media page and online network of educators and allies.

Dr. Lou has served the mathematics community as a leading equity and racial justice advocate, speaker and scholar. As a mathematics scholar, he has authored studies, book chapters, blogs and videos on culturally relevant mathematics teaching in mathematics. Dr. Matthews led the creation of the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education in 2008. The journal was established to increase the presence and voice of scholars in urban mathematics.

Born in Bermuda, Dr. Lou is currently based in the DC area and has been actively involved in national and international initiatives in the United States, Caribbean, and Africa for the past two decades. He has recently established the Inspire Math Foundation and is a past president of the Benjamin Banneker Association and former acting Commission of Education of Bermuda Public Schools

Dr. Lou is an avid mountain biker and committed to various community and social issues such as ADHD, anti-racism, gentrification and affordable housing.

Dr. Shelly M. Jones is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Central Connecticut State University. She teaches undergraduate mathematics content and methods courses for pre-service teachers as well as graduate level mathematics content, curriculum and STEM courses for in-service teachers. Before joining the CCSU faculty, Dr. Jones was a middle school Mathematics Teacher and a K-12 Mathematics Administrator. She provides mathematics professional development nationally and internationally. She has been an educator for 30 years.

Dr. Jones serves her community by working with various professional and community organizations. You can see her CCSU TEDx talk on You Tube where she talks about culturally relevant mathematics. She is a contributing author for the book entitled, The Brilliance of Black Children in Mathematics: Beyond the Numbers and Toward a New Discourse and the author of Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians.

Dr. Yolanda A. Parker has been an educator for over 25 years and has been full-time faculty at Tarrant County College-South Campus for over 10 years in the Mathematics Department where she primarily teaches Statistics and Math for Teachers courses. She has a B.S. in Applied Math from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX; M.A. in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH; and Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Illinois State University in Normal, IL.

She was honored as one of the 2017 “Hidden Figures of Dallas: Top Women of Color in S.T.E.M.” by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Dallas/Fort Worth Professionals chapter and has been featured in Women Who Count: Honoring African American Women Mathematicians. She was also recognized as the campus recipient of the 2017 Tarrant County College “Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Teaching”, the highest award a TCC faculty can receive. Her research interests include the effectiveness of mathematics manipulatives with adult learners, algebra teacher self-efficacy and culturally relevant cognitively demanding mathematics tasks.

Table of Contents

Preface xii

What This Book Is About xii

Who This Book Is For xiii

How This Book Works xiii

Acknowledgments xvi

About the Authors xvii

Part I Understanding Culturally Relevant Mathematics Teaching 1

1 What Is Culturally Relevant Mathematics Teaching? 2

Modern Expectations for Mathematics 2

Driver 1 Shifts in Mathematics Learning 3

Driver 2 Shifts in Teacher Roles 5

Driver 3 Shifts in Making Mathematics Meaningful 7

Culturally Relevant Teaching 9

Fundamentals of Culturally Relevant Teaching of Mathematics 10

Rigor as a Floor for Intellectual and Cultural Mathematics Experiences 12

Culture and Community as a Central Source of Mathematics Activity 12

Mathematics as a Practice of Critical Agency and Action 15

Summary and Discussion Questions 16

2 Imagining Culturally Relevant Teaching through Mathematics Practices and Tasks 17

Expanding the Definition of Mathematics Tasks 18

Mathematical Inquiry Prompt 18

Mathematics Constraint/Conditions 19

Cultural Context 19

Socialcultural Inquiry Prompt 20

When Children Thrive: Culturally Relevant Mathematics Practices 20

Center Complex Identities 22

Expand Understandings 23

Engage Human Experience 24

Fight for Justice 25

Leverage Voice 25

Tasks as Opportunities to Build Mathematical Thinking 26

Not Just Any Task: Complexity Matters 28

Tasks as Opportunities to Practice Culturally Relevant Teaching 29

Features of Culturally Relevant Mathematics Tasks 31

Summary and Discussion Questions 33

3 Creating and Assessing Culturally Relevant Mathematics Tasks 34

Task-Building Actions 34

Establish Demand and Access 36

Center Cultural and Community Inquiry 37

Target Agency and Action 40

Rubric for Creating and Assessing Crmtasks 41

Emerging Dimension 43

Developing Dimension 43

Exemplary Dimension 44

Summary and Discussion Questions 46

Part II Practical Approaches for Planning and Creating Culturally Relevant Mathematics Tasks 47

4 Planning with Intention and Hope 48

Unpacking Standards for Crmtask-Building Opportunities 49

Planning Tasks that Foster Hope 55

Responding Beyond Bloom 55

Responding With Hope 56

Summary And Discussion Questions 62

5 Creating Contexts for Cultural Inquiry 63

Emphasizing We Care/We Belong to Create Cultural Inquiry 64

Conducting Student Interviews to Build from Student Culture 67

Conducting Community Walks to Build Community Knowledge 71

Using Children's Literature to Build Crmtasks 75

Using Cultural Artifacts as a Source of Mathematical Knowledge 77

Summary and Discussion Questions 79

6 Creating Contexts for Agency and Action 80

When We Say Agency 81

Using Social Justice Standards to Guide Task Creation 82

Promoting Individual and Personal Empowerment 84

Standing in Solidarity with Community Aspirations 85

Targeting Agency through Children's Literature 86

Creating Prompts from Current Justice Issues 87

Summary and Discussion Questions 91

Part III Refining Our Notions and Experiences 93

7 The Journey: Improving Culturally Relevant Mathematics Teaching 94

Teachers' and Leaders' Notions of Culturally Relevant Teaching 95

Culturally Relevant Teaching as Making Meaningful Connections 95

Culturally Relevant Teaching as Working with Culture Only 96

Culturally Relevant Teaching as Inclusive and Antiracist 98

Confronting "Difference" in Culturally Relevant Teaching 99

Lesson Planning with Agency 100

Using Culturally Relevant Mathematics Tasks within Units 102

Summary and Discussion Questions 104

8 The Flow: Implementing and Refining Culturally Relevant Tasks, Lessons, and Units 105

Working with a Mathematics Task Template 106

The Three-Part Lesson 108

Launch 109

Explore 113

Culminate/Congress 114

Culturally Relevant Mathematics Curriculum Unit 116

Summary and Discussion Questions 121

9 Continuing the Journey 122

Reflecting on Key Elements 122

Keys to Continuing the Journey: Hope by Design 124

One Task at a Time 124

Open Up Your Practice 125

Jump in at the Deep End 125

Prepare to Engage Young Children in Social Justice 126

Round and Round: Seeing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as Circular 127

Discussion Questions 128

Resources 129

Appendices 131

Appendix A Revising a Math Task to Be Culturally Relevant Template 131

Appendix B List of Tasks and Math Content Standards With Grade 132

Glossary 136

References 138

Index 141

Editorial Reviews

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks is a foundational resource for any educator seeking to engage their students in a culturally relevant math experience. In this resource educators will find practical tools, tips, and strategies that can be implemented immediately within their educational environment.

Kristopher J. Childs

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks is brilliant, bold, and absolutely beautiful! The authors remind us that equity and excellence draw on the brilliance of the students and communities we serve, and on the mathematics already present in students’ racial and cultural identities, communities, and history. The concepts and ideas shared here are a game-change in mathematics education! Both practical and inspirational, this book offers the perfect blueprint with in-the-moment guidance and practical classroom tools to make culturally responsive instruction attainable

Cathery Yeh

Since the emergence of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as a pedagogical theory, teachers have been asking, ‘Yes, but how do we do it?’ Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks is the volume we need to answer that question. It belongs on every teacher’s bookshelf.

Gloria Ladson-Billings

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks is a powerful, practical resource for teachers wherever they might be on their teaching journey. It offers insightful guidance in developing and implementing CRMTasks that give students voice, empowers students, connects mathematics to family and community, and provides an approach where students see themselves in the mathematics—all while pushing mathematical complexity, relevance, and high expectations for all students. I found the focus on intentionality energizing in supporting students as they understand and critique their world. Thank you to the authors for sharing your vision and experience!

Trena Wilkerson

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Mathematics Tasks is a much-needed book for socially and culturally conscious teachers of mathematics. Drawing inspiration from the tasks will give teachers the opportunity to engage their elementary learners in becoming critical mathematical thinkers of the world around them. The treasures found in this book should be highly
cherished by all.

Michelle D. Mc Knight

Engaging in Culturally Relevant Math Tasks provides the rationale, practices, task design tools, and beautiful examples to learn how to engage children in culturally relevant math tasks. It is the first book that connects culturally relevant teaching and mathematics in an authentic way to help math educators, coaches, and leaders bring out the brilliance in all of their students!

Georgina Rivera