Social Justice Mathematics: Pedagogy of the Oppressed or Pedagogy of the Privileged? A Comparative Case Study of Students of Historically Marginalized and Privileged Backgrounds

Abstract

Social Justice Mathematics, or SJM, is a mathematics-specific form of Social Justice Pedagogy (Frankenstein, 1983; Gutiérrez, 2002), that aims to teach mathematics content while developing conscientização (Freire, 1970), or sociopolitical consciousness (Gutstein, 2006). Research on SJM has generally focused on teachers’ implementation of SJM, finding that teachers struggle to meet the dual goals of teaching mathematics content while developing students’ sociopolitical consciousness (e.g. Bartell, 2013; Gregson, 2013). The literature that explores students’ experiences with SJM yields conflicting findings, where some studies indicate student resistance (Brantlinger, 2007, 2014; Frankenstein, 1990) and other studies indicate students feeling empowered by SJM (Gutstein, 2006; Yang, 2009). In addition, students’ reactions to Social Justice Pedagogy (of any subject area) appear to differ substantially depending on students’ level of privilege and/or marginalization (e.g. Camagnian, 2009; Seider, 2008; Swalwell, 2013). This comparative case study focuses on two sixth grade mathematics classrooms, one in an elite private school and the other in a Title I public school. The present study investigates how teachers’ and students’ backgrounds and their experiences with privilege and/or marginalization influence how they make sense of SJM, with consideration of the fluid and context-dependent nature of privilege and marginalization (Hulko, 2009). Findings indicate the two case study teachers’ SJM goals were influenced by their own lived experiences and by the populations they teach. Similarly, students’ takeaways of SJM differed by background, where students of privilege learned to empathize with others, gaining a more theoretical understanding of social justice as relevant to the lives of others. On the other hand, students of historically marginalized backgrounds responded to SJM activities with strong emotional reactions (e.g. anger, sadness) because the social issues explored in the activities were intimately related to their own lives. These results suggest different supports are appropriate for different students for SJM to be successful. For students of historically marginalized backgrounds, the teacher’s sociopolitical consciousness is fundamental to his or her ability to develop meaningful SJM activities relevant and sensitive to students’ backgrounds. For students of privileged backgrounds, SJM work is supported with a school-wide social justice focus.