Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics: Toward a Pedagogy for Social Justice

by Eric Gutstein

Overview

Mathematics education in the United States can reproduce social inequalities whether schools use either "basic-skills" curricula to prepare mainly low-income students of color for low-skilled service jobs or "standards-based" curricula to ready students for knowledge-intensive positions. And working for fundamental social change and rectifying injustice are rarely included in any mathematics curriculum. Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics argues that mathematics education should prepare students to investigate and critique injustice, and to challenge, in words and actions, oppressive structures and acts. Based on teacher-research, the book provides a theoretical framework and practical examples for how mathematics educators can connect schooling to a larger sociopolitical context and concretely teach mathematics for social justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415950848
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/06/2005
Series:	Critical Social Thought
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Eric Gutstein is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Illinois-Chicago. For the past seven years, he has also been a middle-school math teacher at a Chicago public school. He is a frequent contributor to Rethinking Schools and has written on issues of math equity for numerous academic publications.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Introduction to Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics Acknowledgments 1. Social Justice, Equity, and Mathematics Education 2. Education for Liberation: A Framework for Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice 3. Reading the World with Mathematics: Developing Sociopolitical Consciousness 4. Writing the World with Mathematics: Developing a Sense of Social Agency 5. The Relationship of Teaching for Social Justice and Mathematics in Context 6. Co-creating a Classroom for Social Justice: Possibilities and Challenges 7. Lucha is What My Life is About: Students' Voices on Social Justice Mathematics 8. Real Life As We Have Seen It: Parents' Voices on Social Justice Mathematics 9. Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Notes References

Editorial Reviews

"This book makes a fine contribution and should provoke teachers (and not just those in the United States) to consider the political work that is teaching mathematics." —Andrew Noyes, University of Nottingham, England, Mathematical Thinking and Learning

From the Publisher