Author(s): Naheed A. Abdulrahim, Michael J. Orosco,
Published: April 2019 in The Urban Review
URL to article
Research Focus Area: Asset-based best practices for serving Black and Latinx teens
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to synthesize empirical research conducted on culturally responsive mathematics teaching (CRMT) with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners. Thirty-fve published studies between 1993 and 2018 met the criteria for inclusion in this review. Criteria included: (a) the study was published in a peer-reviewed journal, (b) the study was conducted within a K-12 U.S. public school context with practicing teachers, (c) culturally responsive teaching or culturally relevant pedagogy was part of the study’s theoretical framework, and (d) information about methods was reported. Findings reveal the value of CRMT in fostering equitable and inclusive mathematics learning environments. More research on CRMT with CLD students in school settings is warranted. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.
Research Question(s):
What is the current implementation of CRMT with CLD students?
Methods:
Literature Review
Setting:
Literature review of research articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 1993 and 2018. A total of 35 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the synthesis.
Key Findings:
- Cultural Identity
- Mathematics identity is closely connected to cultural identity. Mathematics instruction that connects to students’ cultural backgrounds shapes students’ mathematics identities, ie., their sociocultural-context-informed beliefs about their ability to perform mathematically.
- The teachers in many studies facilitated learning activities that valorized their students’ cultural values and practices while contributing to the development of positive mathematics identities. These practices validated the importance of cultural identity in performing inquiry-based problem-solving tasks.
- Instructional Engagement
- Instructional engagement is associated with students’ reactions to and their interactions within learning environments and is linked to several positive student outcomes, such as academic achievement and school persistence.
- Studies describing instructional engagement reported a variety of student reactions to their teachers’ emphasis on cultural connectedness. These reactions included an increased interest and enjoyment in mathematics, a persistence in problem solving, and enhanced confidence in mathematics.
- High Expectations
- Teachers who set high expectations for student learning have a positive impact on their learners’ academic achievement.
- Maintaining high expectations for student learning and behavior is important to CRMT because students are more likely to achieve mathematics success when their teachers believe in their abilities.
- In addition to communicating high expectations to students, CRMT teachers provided support to students in meeting those expectations. They demonstrated their support in different ways, including
- Committing themselves to providing tutorial support
- Sharing power with students in the classroom
- Complimenting students’ strengths
- Student Critical Thinking
- Critical thinking skills are higher-order thinking processes (e.g., analysis, evaluation, inference) that are important to everyday decision-making and problem-solving.
- CRMT practices that promote student critical thinking skills are important because they prepare students to become resourceful problem-solvers.
- CRMT teachers in the studies reviewed prepared students to pose problems to solve, collect and analyze data to formulate persuasive arguments, and propose multiple solutions based on their findings.
- In eight studies, teachers expected students to use multiple paths or strategies to solve problems and justify their solutions.
- In two other studies, teachers fostered opportunities for students to use their critical thinking skills to address issues that affected their realities and those of others within their communities.
- In three other studies, teachers prepared students to apply their mathematics reasoning and analytical skills to interpret and evaluate data situated in real-world contexts which served to enhance their understanding of societal issues.
- Educator Reflection
- CRMT teachers critically examine their beliefs, values, and perceptions about race, ethnicity, and culture and how these concepts intertwine to shape their students’ learning experiences.
- Critical refection is crucial for teachers because it can demonstrate their commitment to students’ emotional well-being and academic success.
- Reflective practices allowed the teachers to readily apply their knowledge about their learners’ backgrounds and experiences in instruction thus recognizing them as valued mathematics resources.
- The findings of one study revealed that the teacher participants changed their perceptions about mathematics teaching most notably by expressing the importance of knowing students on a “personal” level, not essentializing learners, and recognizing the contextual basis of mathematics problems.
- Social Justice
- Teaching for social justice involves recognizing that racial disparities (e.g., educational opportunities, resources, achievement) exist in society and committing oneself to act upon and challenge these injustices.
- Social justice is important for CRMT because it helps students critique social inequities and the structural forces that perpetuate them.
- In several studies, teachers raised student awareness of social injustice and empowered them to become activists to counter inequalities in society. Students were empowered to use mathematics as a tool to analyze issues, such as power relations, societal oppression, and global poverty.
- Collaboration
- Researchers in many studies described collectivist approaches to learning and collaboration between students, teachers, family members, and the community as a means to enhance mathematical understanding.
- Collaboration is important to CRMT because it empowers students, teachers and their partners in mathematics education to become agents of successful learning.
- Collectivist approaches are important in some cultures (i.e., African American, Latino/a) because they reinforce values of interdependence and shared problem-solving learned at home and in the community over independence and competition.
- Through collaborative efforts (e.g., curricula development, instructional planning), teachers can strategically incorporate “funds of knowledge” into instruction by drawing on the cultural and cognitive resources that students and household members bring to the classroom.
- In many studies, teachers integrated collaborative learning experiences (e.g., pair work, group work) into instruction.
- In five studies, teachers created collaborative learning opportunities for students in which they were encouraged to enact responsibility for each other’s learning. Students were taught to ensure that group members were on-task and understood the material.
- In another study, a teacher facilitated deliberations among groups of sixth-grade students by using narrative structure, discourse, and questions to help students formulate a research question for their statistics project. The ongoing negotiation helped the students reach a consensus on a topic that was both relevant and meaningful to their lives and aligned with project expectations.
- Students acknowledge how group work encourages their active participation in learning mathematics content that incorporates topics from their everyday lives.
- Teachers and administrators can collaborate to capitalize on students’ everyday knowledge and experiences to help them achieve success in mathematics.
- In several studies, teachers purposely built relationships with families and the community and incorporated this knowledge into instruction.
Implications:
To support a more equitable educational environment, policymakers, teacher educators, professional development facilitators, and researchers should aim to develop culturally competent teachers who can meet the mathematics learning needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Teachers who realize how culture and mathematics are inextricably linked and apply this understanding in their classrooms are creating accessible opportunities for students from CLD backgrounds. Mathematics teachers who bridge the divide between home and school with CRMT practices can provide an instructional context for students that is supportive, engaging, and challenging. Culturally responsive mathematics teachers:
- can foster student engagement and ownership in learning by creating a learning context that responds to students’ social, emotional, and cognitive needs.
- actively seek out opportunities to capitalize on students’ cultural and linguistic resources in the classroom
- apply culturally and linguistically affirming practices to cultivate learning environments where learners are empowered to achieve mathematics excellence
- can build positive student identities with culturally responsive curricula (e.g., storybooks, real-world projects) and interaction styles (e.g., story-telling, native language) while maintaining high expectations (e.g., sharing power, being caring).
- Must have cultural dispositions that embrace diversity
- engage in critical refection about race and culture which informs their mathematics teaching and supports the sustainable development of culturally responsive practices
- endeavor to maximize student learning potential by using families and community members as knowledgeable mathematics resources.
- provide mathematics instruction that challenges students to think critically
- prepare students to use mathematics as an analytical tool and apply higher-level mathematics skills to address local, national, or global issues.
- empower students to become agents of social change by allowing them to take ownership in creating and implementing action plans that align with learning expectations. Policymakers:
- must develop policy that provides school personnel (i.e., educators, administrators) with the culturally responsive tools to implement across learning environments
- ensure that mathematics teachers are provided with culturally responsive preservice training and professional development. School leaders:
- should direct teachers to culturally responsive theory in order to promote an understanding of how sociocultural experiences provides context to learning. When teachers understand the sociocultural context of mathematics education, they may be more likely to realize the benefits of CRMT and design learning environments that align with this instructional approach.
Limitations:
- relevant studies may have been missed from the review as a hand search of journal articles was not conducted.
- although this synthesis includes several quantitative and mixed methods studies, it does not report quantitative findings which may have provided further insight into the effects of CRMT on various indicators of student achievement
- This review excluded unpublished studies, which may have contained rich description on the topic.