Education Commons^™

Buying A Better World: Students As Conscious Consumers, Sean Murray

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Conscious consumer movements have given people opportunities to “vote with their dollars” – that is, buy from companies with values matching their own, and forgo products from businesses with questionable policies and practices. After providing brief context about consumerism and conscious consumption, I focus on a Conscious Consumer Project that I teach in my First Year Writing courses at St. John’s University. Excerpts of student writing emphasizing labor issues, as well as student reflections on the project, are shared as I discuss possibilities for revising and improving the assignment. The possibilities discussed include increasing opportunities for students to do academic …

Pre-Service Teachers' Implicit Bias: Impacts Of Confrontation, Reflection, And Discussion, Katherine E. Batchelor, Kendra Dewater, Kennedy Thompson

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Abstract: Although there is much research regarding implicit bias in numerous fields, such as criminal justice, psychology, and health, little research has examined pre-service teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding implicit biases they carry, especially when it comes to race. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to fill the gap in qualitative research regarding how pre-service teachers address, confront, and talk about biases. We begin by defining implicit bias. Next, we situate our research within sociocultural theory with an emphasis on critical literacy practices. Then, we share our findings, which centered on the course environment, students’ reactions to their results …

Neoliberal Reading Interventions And Student Needs, Mahbuba Hammad

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This article discusses reading programs within the context of Neoliberalism and the extent to which they address student needs. The rise of such reading programs in the market economy has come at the expense of placing the burden of reading development solely on the shoulders of students after restricting their academic and personal growth. The article explores how this has been done without any consideration regarding the needs of ethnically and culturally diverse students; and without taking into account the relationship between poverty and educational outcomes. Without a doubt, this has affected the ability of students to think critically about …

Critical Mathematical Inquiry

Occasional Paper Series

Welcome to Issue 41 of Bank Street’s Occasional Paper Series. The issue features a collection of papers by authors with a shared affinity for the work of critical mathematical inquiry (CMI). In what follows, we present our framing of mathematics education as a participatory venue for CMI and situate it in the context of another, perhaps more familiar approach to teaching mathematics for social justice (TMfSJ).

The “Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations” And Its Role In Maintaining White Supremacy Through Mathematics Education, Laurie Rubel, Andrea V. Mccloskey

Occasional Paper Series

In this study, we offer an analysis of the phrase the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and considers its role in rhetoric about U.S. mathematics education policy and practice, especially in regards to Critical Mathematical Inquiry. From the phrase’s origins in a speech given by President George W. Bush in 2000, to its current use on social media, this phrase offers a lens into white supremacy and "tools of whiteness" (Picower, 2009), and their persistence in U.S. schooling paradigms, especially about mathematics. We analyze specific, recent instantiations of the phrase on blogrolls and Twitter, in addition to more implicit …

Collaboration And Critical Mathematical Inquiry: Negotiating Mathematics Engagement, Identity, And Agency, Frances K. Harper

Occasional Paper Series

When faced with the challenge of supporting students to do the “messy” mathematical work necessary for exploring social justice problems through critical mathematical inquiry, teachers might rely on more procedural or direct instruction. Because how students learn matters as much as what they learn, this can inadvertently limit students’ engagement with mathematics. Instructional strategies designed to foster equitable collaboration can support critical mathematical inquiry by promoting norms for equitable student engagement and mathematics identity development. As teachers and students negotiate what counts as mathematics engagement and who has access to mathematics, students’ authority over mathematics and social justice issues increases.

Cultivating A Space For Critical Mathematical Inquiry Through Knowledge-Eliciting Mathematical Activity, Debasmita Basu, Steven Greenstein

Occasional Paper Series

Learning mathematics becomes more effective when teachers leverage their students' mathematical and everyday knowledge as resources for instruction. Thus, tasks that reveal these forms of knowledge would be especially useful to teachers. Unfortunately, such tasks are hard to find and even harder to create. Consequently, we developed a collection of mathematical tasks that we hoped would elicit “children’s multiple mathematical knowledge bases (i.e., the understandings and experiences that have the potential to shape and support children’s mathematics learning—including children’s mathematical thinking, and children’s cultural, home, and community-based knowledge)” (Turner et al., 2012, p. 68). These tasks proved to be productive …

Learning To Listen: Engaging Students In Critical Reflection And Courageous Conversations, Christen H. Clougherty

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

How do we teach democracy when participation was historically limited, and when people are still disenfranchised by the system put in place to give them voice? A challenging part of service-learning is exposing students to the world’s imperfections and then guiding them to be change agents. Learn how to navigate this throughexamples you can take back to your classroom.

Social Justice, Debbie Sonu

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Numeracy And Social Justice: A Wide, Deep, And Longstanding Intersection, Kira Hamman, Victor Piercey, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

We discuss the connection between the numeracy and social justice movements both in historical context and in its modern incarnation. The intersection between numeracy and social justice encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and quantitative topics, but within that variety there are important commonalities. We examine the importance of sound quantitative measures for understanding social issues and the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration in this work. Particular reference is made to the papers in the first part of the Numeracy special collection on social justice, which appear in this issue.

On "Icky" Data, The Political Classroom, And Towards Equity And Social Justice In Mathematics Education: A Conversation With Tonya Bartell, Samuel L. Tunstall, Oyemolade Osibodu, Tonya Gau Bartell

Numeracy

Tonya G. Bartell, ed. 2018. Towards Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing) 341 pp. ISBN 978-3319929064.

This brief interview with Tonya Bartell introduces Towards Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education to the Numeracy audience. The interviewers also discuss with Tonya connections between quantitative literacy and mathematics for social justice, particularly in the context of US K-12 schooling. Tonya shares her perspective on topics ranging from the placement of quantitative literacy in K-12 mathematics education and how one might get started in incorporating a social justice lens into their teaching to paradigms for research …

Cybernetics, Cyborgs, And Bionics, Oh My!!: Counterstories Of The Intersection Of Disability + Technology And Its Impact On Identities Of Adults With Disabilities, Ellen M. Hotchkiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation inquiry, I explore the counternarratives of adults with disabilities relating to their identities and how their identities intersect and change with regards to technology and assistive technology. Theoretically building upon critical disability studies (Goodley, 2017; Davis, 2013, 2017; Erevelles, 2011) and posthumanism (Haraway, 1985/2016; Snaza & Weaver, 2015; Weaver, 2010) and methodologically drawing upon counternarrative or counterstories (Bamberg & Andrews, 2004; Carmona & Luschen, 2014; Delgado, 1989; Glenn, 2012; He & Phillion, 2008; He & Ross, 2012; Sandoval & Davis, 2008; Smith, 2006; Solazano & Yosso, 2002; Tuck, 2009), I explore the stories of seven participants with …