Toward inclusive mathematics education: a metatheoretical reflection about countering ableism in mathematics standards and curriculum

Abstract

This article documents efforts to advance inclusive mathematics education practices involving the introduction of equity-oriented resources in state-level mathematics standards guidance documents in a Midwestern United States jurisdiction. We adopt a critical stance by looking at ways to interrogate available metatheories for these kinds of change-making processes. The guiding resources documented in the present article center on issues of difference. These issues are related to dis/ability in mathematics education standards and curriculum to not only raise teachers' awareness of constructions of difference in order to foster inclusive education, but also to promote critical self-reflections around ableism. Guiding resources are a means to support recognition of dis/ability difference as a source of multiple mathematical knowledge bases from which to learn and advance mathematics thinking. Yet, we also recognize the need to be vigilant about the complex interpretative contours and the relational dynamics at work throughout their various layers of implementation, assessment, and anti-ableist realignment. Accordingly, we reflect metatheoretically about three questions: How might concepts of access, achievement, identity, and power support teachers of mathematics in advancing inclusive practices? How do word choices in mathematics standards, curriculum, and practices dis/able students in classroom practices? What may we learn from the mathematics education experiences of individuals with dis/abilities and their families in the broad configuration of change-making dynamics of educational policies and teaching practices?

Keywords:

• Disability
• inclusivity
• mathematics education
• curriculum
• educational
• standards

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We use the term dis/ability to forefront power imbalances inherent in constructing and identifying dis/ability. This problematizes the concept of dis/ability as socially constructed in research and offers an entryway to reconstructing what education researchers mean when they use the term “disability” and addressing inequities for individuals identified with this label face.

2 In schools these labels may refer to the 13 disability categories as defined by the IDEA (2004), the federal regulation in the U.S.

3 The focus on teachers was determined by whether they were a major unit of analysis in the study. The inclusion of teachers in studies signified to us a broad, but not necessarily a direct connection to teacher education. However, there are likely implications of such studies to inform teacher education.

4 Ableism encompasses social prejudices and constructions of and against individuals with dis/abilities as inferior and incapable (Hehir, 2002).

5 Ableist language is not contained to the Youcubed (2018) website as it is pervasive in societies that privileges able-bodiedness (Herir, 2002). Thus, our aim here is not to single out one particular website but to convey that this is representative of systemic issues.

6 While the acronym IEP has designation specific to the U.S. context, we take a much broader conception of this acronym to include similar educational planning practices for students with dis/abilities across the world.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexis Padilla

Alexis Padilla, PhD, is a dis/abled Latino activist/advocate, sociologist, lawyer and a recent education PhD graduate from the University of New Mexico’s Department of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies. His teaching experience expands for more than two decades and his current research interests center on radical agency possibilities at the intersection of race and dis/ability in global north contexts of social exclusion.

Paulo Tan

Paulo Tan, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of mathematics education at the University of Hawaii, Manoa in the Master of Education in Teaching program. His research focuses on building inclusive mathematics education, with an emphasis on students with dis/abilities. Prior to this, he served as a public-school secondary mathematics teacher for ten years. He is a parent of a child with an identified dis/ability and an advocate for justice in and out of schools.