Lessons in “Letting Go”: Exploring Constraints on the Culturally Relevant Teaching of Mathematics in Bermuda

Abstract

Culturally relevant pedagogy has been highly regarded in its ability to impact the mathematics education outcomes of Black children as it is framed from the “wisdom-of-practice” of exemplary teachers, and recasts teaching as an intellectual, cultural, political, and social endeavor. This study illuminates the challenges in drawing potential by examining the personal and systemic challenges faced by four primary teachers in Bermuda as they endeavored to utilize perspectives of culturally relevant pedagogy to frame mathematics instruction. Through the lens of reconceptualized critical theory and a model for the culturally relevant teaching of mathematics, a collective case study was organized. Two major challenges to instruction emerged: (1) teachers' conceptions concerning the authority of the mathematics text as the “official” curriculum, and the sole legitimate source of mathematical knowledge; and (2) teachers' conceptions regarding institutional authority and assessment demands. The findings are explored and discussed.

Notes

Matthews, L. E. (2001). A selected analysis of mathematics assessment data in Bermuda public schools, 1992–2000. Unpublished report prepared for the Ministry of Education.