“Everything is Math in the Whole World”: Integrating Critical and Community Knowledge in Authentic Mathematical Investigations with Elementary Latina/o Students

Abstract

This critical ethnographic study of an after-school mathematics club for elementary-aged Latina/o youth focuses on connecting critical, community, and mathematical knowledge in the context of authentic, community-based investigations. We present cases of two extended projects to highlight tensions and dilemmas that emerged, particularly tensions related to ensuring rich mathematics in the contexts of projects that were personally and socially meaningful to the students. Our analysis offers insights into critical mathematics education with elementary aged students, and has the potential to counter dominant deficit perspectives of Latina/o youth. Additionally, the findings of this study inform critical approaches to teaching mathematics in schools attended by marginalized students in order to reverse prevalent trends of our educational system failing these students.

This research was supported by a National Science Foundation award to CEMELA, The Center for Mathematics Education of Latino/as (grant number ESI-0424983). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this manuscript are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The authors would like to thank Dr. Rochelle Gutiérrez for her insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Notes

¹We choose to use the term non-dominant to describe students whose socially constructed racial classification is not white, in order to emphasize the contrast with middle and upper class white students who are positioned as dominant in United States society.

²All names of students and of the school are pseudonyms.

³See CNN news (www.cnn.com) or www.democracynow.org for more information about the protests.

⁴Survey questions were: (1) Do you want the immigrant law to pass? (2) Are you an immigrant? (3) Do you think the law will pass? (4) Are you going to be a part of the strike? and (5) Why or why not?