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Un-bordering Early Mathematics Pedagogy: Culture, Content, and Identity in Critical Professional Development

Year 2010, Volume: 27 Issue: 1, 1 - 21, 03.09.2015

Abstract

On the whole, primary grade teachers present s light content knowledge backgrounds in mathematics, and
this bodes poorly for their preparedness to provide learning experiences that promote deep understanding for
the children they teach. For many of these teachers calls for equity in mathematics instruction, in the context
of contemporary culturally diverse U.S. schools, can constitute an overwhelming professional and personal
challenge. For others, however, juxtaposing the issues of high-quality mathematics instruction, cultural
diversity, and equity can represent a welcomed impetus to challenge themselves to examine critically the
substance of their pedagogy. This paper describes one such teacher and how she was affected by the
experience of participating in a multi-year professional development research project.

References

  • Apple, M. W., & Jungck, S. (1990). “You don’t have to be a teacher to teach this unit”: Teaching, technology, and gender in the classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 27(2), 227-51.
  • Ball, D. L. (2000). Bridging practices: Interweaving content and pedagogy in teaching and learning to teach. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 241-247.
  • Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complementary research designs. Thousand Oaks.
  • Cross, C. T., Woods, T. A., & Schweingruber, H. (Eds.). (2009). Mathematics learning in early childhood: Paths toward excellence and equity. National Research Council: Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
  • DeCuir-Gunby, J. T., Marshall, P. L., & McCulloch, A. W. (in press). Developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: An example from a professional development research project. Field Methods.
  • Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.
  • Haberman, M. (1991). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 290-294.
  • Hooks, B. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.
  • Irvine, J. J. (1991). Black students and school failure. New York: Praeger.
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers’ understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Marshall, P. L. (2002). Cultural diversity in our schools. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
  • McAllister, G., & Irvine, J. J. (2000). Cross cultural competency and multicultural teacher education. Review of Educational Research, 70 (1), 3-24.
  • Moses, R.., & Cobb, C. E. J. (2001). Radical equations: mathematics literacy and civil rights. Boston: Beacon.
  • Nasir, N. S., Hand, V., & Taylor, E. V. (2008). Culture and mathematics in school: Boundaries between ‘cultural’ and ‘domain’ knowledge in the mathematics classroom and beyond. In J. Green, G. J. Kelly & A. Luke (Eds.), Review of research in education (Vol. 32:1 pp. 187-240). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. NCTM: Reston, VA.
  • Noguera, P. (2001). Racial politics and the elusive quest for excellence and equity in education. Education and Urban Society, 34:1, 18-41.
  • Orfield, G., & Lee, C. (2006). Racial transformation and the changing nature of segregation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Civil Rights Project.
  • Palincsar, A. S. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 345-375.
  • Paulos, J. A. (1988). Innumeracy: Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. New York: Hill and Wang.
  • Simon, M.A. (2000). Research on the development of mathematics teachers: The teacher development experiment. In A. E. Kelly and R. A. Lesh (Ed.), Handbook of research design in mathematics and science education. (pp. 335-359). Laurence Erlbaum: Mahwah, NJ.
  • Simon, M.A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., & Kinzel, M. (2004). Explicating a mechanism for conceptual learning: Elaborating the construct of reflective abstraction. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35(5), 305-329.
  • Simon, M.A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., Kinzel, M., &Smith, M.S. (2000). Characterizing a perspective underlying the practice of mathematics teachers in transition. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31(5), 579-601.
  • Tatum, B. D. (1992). Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 1-24.
  • Tzur, R. (2002). From theory to practice: Explaining successful and unsuccessful teaching activities (case of fractions). In A.D. Cockburn & E. Nardi (Ed.), Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 297-304. Norwich, UK.

Un-bordering Early Mathematics Pedagogy: Culture, Content, and Identity in Critical Professional Development

Year 2010, Volume: 27 Issue: 1, 1 - 21, 03.09.2015

Abstract

On the whole, primary grade teachers present s light content knowledge backgrounds in mathematics, and this bodes poorly for their preparedness to provide learning experiences that promote deep understanding for the children they teach. For many of these teachers calls for equity in mathematics instruction, in the context of contemporary culturally diverse U.S. schools, can constitute an overwhelming professional and personal challenge. For others, however, juxtaposing the issues of high-quality mathematics instruction, cultural diversity, and equity can represent a welcomed impetus to challenge themselves to examine critically the substance of their pedagogy. This paper describes one such teacher and how she was affected by the experience of participating in a multi-year professional development research project.

References

  • Apple, M. W., & Jungck, S. (1990). “You don’t have to be a teacher to teach this unit”: Teaching, technology, and gender in the classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 27(2), 227-51.
  • Ball, D. L. (2000). Bridging practices: Interweaving content and pedagogy in teaching and learning to teach. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 241-247.
  • Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complementary research designs. Thousand Oaks.
  • Cross, C. T., Woods, T. A., & Schweingruber, H. (Eds.). (2009). Mathematics learning in early childhood: Paths toward excellence and equity. National Research Council: Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
  • DeCuir-Gunby, J. T., Marshall, P. L., & McCulloch, A. W. (in press). Developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: An example from a professional development research project. Field Methods.
  • Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.
  • Haberman, M. (1991). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 290-294.
  • Hooks, B. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.
  • Irvine, J. J. (1991). Black students and school failure. New York: Praeger.
  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers’ understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Marshall, P. L. (2002). Cultural diversity in our schools. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
  • McAllister, G., & Irvine, J. J. (2000). Cross cultural competency and multicultural teacher education. Review of Educational Research, 70 (1), 3-24.
  • Moses, R.., & Cobb, C. E. J. (2001). Radical equations: mathematics literacy and civil rights. Boston: Beacon.
  • Nasir, N. S., Hand, V., & Taylor, E. V. (2008). Culture and mathematics in school: Boundaries between ‘cultural’ and ‘domain’ knowledge in the mathematics classroom and beyond. In J. Green, G. J. Kelly & A. Luke (Eds.), Review of research in education (Vol. 32:1 pp. 187-240). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. NCTM: Reston, VA.
  • Noguera, P. (2001). Racial politics and the elusive quest for excellence and equity in education. Education and Urban Society, 34:1, 18-41.
  • Orfield, G., & Lee, C. (2006). Racial transformation and the changing nature of segregation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Civil Rights Project.
  • Palincsar, A. S. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 345-375.
  • Paulos, J. A. (1988). Innumeracy: Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. New York: Hill and Wang.
  • Simon, M.A. (2000). Research on the development of mathematics teachers: The teacher development experiment. In A. E. Kelly and R. A. Lesh (Ed.), Handbook of research design in mathematics and science education. (pp. 335-359). Laurence Erlbaum: Mahwah, NJ.
  • Simon, M.A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., & Kinzel, M. (2004). Explicating a mechanism for conceptual learning: Elaborating the construct of reflective abstraction. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35(5), 305-329.
  • Simon, M.A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., Kinzel, M., &Smith, M.S. (2000). Characterizing a perspective underlying the practice of mathematics teachers in transition. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31(5), 579-601.
  • Tatum, B. D. (1992). Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 1-24.
  • Tzur, R. (2002). From theory to practice: Explaining successful and unsuccessful teaching activities (case of fractions). In A.D. Cockburn & E. Nardi (Ed.), Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 297-304. Norwich, UK.
There are 25 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Original Articles
Authors

Patricia Marshal This is me

Allison Mcculloch This is me

Publication Date September 3, 2015
Published in Issue Year 2010 Volume: 27 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Marshal, P., & Mcculloch, A. (2015). Un-bordering Early Mathematics Pedagogy: Culture, Content, and Identity in Critical Professional Development. Bogazici University Journal of Education, 27(1), 1-21.