Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
- Basil M. Conway IV - Columbus State University, Columbus, GA
- Lateefah Id-Deen - Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
- Mary Candace Raygoza - Saint Mary's College of California, USA
- Amanda Ruiz - University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- John W. Staley - Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland
- Eva Thanheiser - Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
Foreword by Julia M. Aguirre, Brian R. Lawler, Series Editor
Corwin Mathematics Series
"If you teach middle school math and have wanted to promote social justice, but haven’t been sure how to get started, you need to check out this book. It incorporates lessons you can use immediately as well as how to foster the kind of classroom community where students will thrive. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to have alongside you to support you throughout your journey."
Robert Kaplinsky
Author and Consultant
Long Beach, CA
Empower young adolescents to be the change—join the teaching mathematics for social justice movement!
Students of all ages and intersecting identities—through media and their lived experiences— bear witness to and experience social injustices and movements around the world for greater justice. However, when people think of social justice, mathematics rarely comes to mind. With a user-friendly design, this book brings middle school mathematics content to life by connecting it to issues students see or experience.
Developed for use by Grades 6-8 educators, the contributed model lessons in this book walk teachers through the process of applying critical frameworks to instruction, using standards-based mathematics to explore, understand, and respond to social injustices. Learn to plan daily instruction that engages young adolescents in mathematics explorations through age-appropriate, culturally relevant topics such as health and economic inequality, human and civil rights, environmental justice, and accessibility. Features include:
- Content cross-referenced by mathematical concept and social issues
- Connection to Learning for Justice’s social justice standards
- Downloadable teacher materials and lesson resources
- Guidance for lessons driven by young adolescents’ unique passions and challenges
- Connections between research and practice
Written for teachers committed to developing equitable and empowering practices through the lens of mathematics content and practice standards as well as social justice standards, this book will help connect content to young adolescents’ daily lives, strengthen their mathematical understanding, and expose them to issues that will support them in becoming active agents of change and responsible leaders.
Free resources
Lesson 7.2: The True Cost of that $24 T-Shirt in the Store Window
This lesson uses a launch–explore–summarize instructional model and is intended to take approximately 120 minutes to complete across two class periods.
A wonderful collection of lessons, submitted by teachers, to help students of all ages see topics they care about, and use mathematics as a tool for progress in the world.
Conway et al. have done it again! In this volume, not only do the authors share rich, standards- based, grade-level appropriate mathematical tasks with social justice contexts, they also share specific strategies and tools to engage the middle school mathematics student.
Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice is a must-have resource for any middle school educator seeking to incorporate teaching mathematics for social justice in their educational environment. This book provides practical lessons that will truly enhance a child’s educational experience through engaging them in relevant applications of mathematics.
If you teach middle school mathematics and have wanted to promote social justice but haven’t been sure how to get started, you need to check out this book. It incorporates lessons you can use immediately as well as how to foster the kind of classroom community where students will thrive. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to have alongside you to support you throughout your journey.
Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice is an outstanding addition to the growing number of texts and projects that weave the teaching of mathematics and social justice together. The authors go deep and broad to show how, why, and when this combination of curricular topics improves our students’ mathematical understandings while honing their abilities and dispositions to promote social and environmental justice in their own lives and communities.
A very compelling set of fresh ideas are offered that prepare educators to turn the corner on advocating for social justice in the mathematics classroom. Each book is full of engaging activities, frameworks, and standards that center instruction on community, worldview, and the developmental needs of all students—a much-needed resource to reboot our commitment to the next generation.
I imagine many people will purchase this book for the sample lesson plans. And you should; they’re fabulous. But just as fabulous, and equally important, is the framework the authors lay out for a comprehensive, holistic, transformative approach to mathematics teaching, with social justice at its core.
As a teacher educator for social justice, I am familiar with the near-constant refrain of “this isn’t something you can do in math!” This book illustrates just the opposite. Indeed, not only is it possible to engage in social justice mathematics, but it is an educational imperative to do so. This much-needed and valuable collection provides practitioners with clear and compelling lessons that are grounded in theories of justice and equity. Especially timely in this text is the clear evidence that not only can middle school young adolescents engage in critical conversations, problem solving, and sociocultural analysis in their mathematics classes, but they must. The editors and contributors to this volume have curated a powerful resource that is a must-read for all mathematics educators and those who care about social justice teaching and learning.
Middle School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice is a book written for the teacher of mathematics. This diverse group of authors and educators provides everything a teacher needs to transform their practice from critical theory to teachable lesson plans! A must-read for educators who seek to transform mathematics back to its humanistic roots.
The diversity of authors. The focus on social justice. The attention towards class ecology. The framework around math equity and not math deficit.
