About the Book
"This book is a must-read for all elementary educators. A call to action, the guide for teachers offers incredible resources, including powerful lesson plans, to engage readers in the practice of teaching mathematics for social justice in early childhood settings. An immense contribution to the conversation around social justice and mathematics in elementary education."
Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath
Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Empower children to be the change—join the teaching mathematics for social justice movement!
We live in an era in which students of all ages have—through media and their lived experiences— a more visceral experience of social injustices. However, when people think of social justice, mathematics rarely comes to mind. With a teacher-friendly design, this book brings early elementary mathematics content to life by connecting it to the natural curiosity and empathy young children bring with them and the issues they experience.
Tested in PK-2 classrooms, the model lessons contributed 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 justice issues. Learn to plan instruction that engages children in mathematics explorations through age-appropriate, culturally relevant topics such as fairness, valuing diversity and difference, representation and inequality, and environmental justice. Features include:
Content cross-referenced by mathematical concept and social issues
Connection to Learning for Justice’s social justice standards
Downloadable instructional materials and lesson resources
Guidance for lessons driven by children’s unique passions and challenges
Connections between research and practice
Written for teachers committed to developing equitable and just practices through the lens of mathematics content and practice standards as well as social justice standards, this book will help connect content to children’s daily lives, fortify their mathematical understanding, and expose them to issues that will support them in becoming active citizens and leaders.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: What Is Social Justice and Why Does It Matter in Teaching Mathematics?
Chapter 2: Fostering a Classroom Community for Social Justice
Chapter 3: Instructional Tools for a Social Justice Mathematics Lesson
Chapter 4: Teaching Social Justice Mathematics Lessons
Chapter 5: Social Justice Mathematics Lessons
Lesson 5.1 Exploring Fairness Through Data and Numbers
Lesson 5.2 Addressing Food Insecurity
Lesson 5.3 Same and Different: An Exploration of Identity through Geometry Shapes
Lesson 5.4 Examining Air Quality
Lesson 5.5 Family Counts! Mathematics, Family, and the Diversity Across Our Homes
Lesson 5.6 Learning From Our Animal Friends: Mathematizing With the Artwork of Ricardo Levins Morales
Lesson 5.7 Activism Through Art
Lesson 5.8 Seeing the Colors of Ourselves and Others
Lesson 5.9 Human Diversity and Disability: Do We All Have 10 Fingers?
Lesson 5.10 Feeding Ourselves and Others
Lesson 5.11 Representation Matters in Mathematics Class
Lesson 5.12 Respecting Our House: Protecting Our Salmon Neighbors
Lesson 5.13 Early Elementary Mathematics to Explore People Represented in Our World and Community
Lesson 5.14 Journey for Justice: The Farmworkers’ Movement
Chapter 6: Advice From the Field
Chapter 7: Creating Social Justice Lessons for Your Own Classroom
Appendix A: Additional Resources
Appendix B Lesson Resources
Appendix C: Education of Young Children Learning Paths (2010)
Appendix D: Social Justice Standards
Appendix E: Social Justice Topics and Mathematics Domains
Appendix F: Social Justice Mathematics Lesson Planner
References
About the Author :
Courtney Koestler is currently the Director of the OHIO Center for Equity in Mathematics and Science (OCEMS) and an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University. Courtney earned a BS in Elementary Education with a concentration in mathematics at Ohio University, an MA in Teaching at George Mason University, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin. Courtney began teaching in public elementary and middle schools as a classroom teacher in 1998, went on to serve as a K-5 math coach, and then started working as a university-based teacher educator and researcher.
In addition to now teaching diversity and mathematics methods courses in an early childhood-elementary education program and graduate action research courses, Courtney spends time in classrooms alongside teacher colleagues teaching children and out in communities working with families. These experiences continue to guide Courtney in understanding teaching and learning as a equity- and justice-oriented endeavor.
Jennifer Ward is currently an Assistant Professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Mathematics Education and Elementary Undergraduate Program Coordinator at Kennesaw State University. Jennifer earned a BS in Elementary and Special Education and a MA in Early Childhood Education from the State University of New York at Geneseo. During her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction (with a dual focus in Early Childhood and Mathematics Education) at the University of South Florida, she became interested in social justice mathematics for young children. Her work centered around her experience as an early childhood teacher designing and teaching MfSJ lessons with children ages 3-8. Jennifer has been a teacher in classrooms from Prekindergarten to high school, with the majority of her work in Kindergarten and First grade classrooms.
As an instructor of P-2 methods, university supervisor, and mother of two young girls Jennifer sees the ways issues of social justice and mathematics are taken up (or fail to be) in school spaces. These experiences help Jennifer to conceptualize ways that early childhood (mathematics) teachers can bring authentic, real world issues and mathematics into classrooms where children can unpack them and use their voice and power to call for change.
Maria del Rosario Zavala is an American-born daughter of Peruvian immigrants, a mother, and an Associate Professor of Elementary Education at San Francisco State University. She studied mathematics at the University of California, Santa Cruz almost(!) became a high school math teacher, before working in elementary education. Across her 20+ career in education, she has worked in classrooms across the K-12 spectrum, and supported teachers’ professional learning in a variety of contexts. During her PhD in Education with a focus on Learning Sciences at the University of Washington, she became interested in ethnomathematics and social justice mathematics, and in particular how topics like these can make mathematics classrooms welcoming spaces for Latinx students and other historically marginalized populations. In addition to work on the role of racial and other socially constructed identities in learning mathematics, a large part of her research agenda includes defining, expanding, and evolving ideas of culturally responsive mathematics teaching (CRMT) – in particular the impact of CRMT on both teachers and students. Maria believes mathematics teaching and learning are creative endeavors. She has unequivocal faith in teachers, and the power of teachers, parents, and community members working together to make schools places worthy of our children. Tonya Gau Bartell is currently an associate professor of mathematics education in the College of Education at Michigan State University and serves as the associate director of elementary programs. Tonya earned a BS in mathematics from St. Cloud State University, an MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD. in curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tonya began teaching 25 years ago as a high school mathematics teacher, including 3 years as a founding teacher in an alternative high school to support students labeled as not succeeding by the system. For the last 15 years, she has volunteered in elementary mathematics classrooms and studies elementary mathematics education.
Tonya is passionate about learning about and supporting teachers in developing equitable mathematics instructional practices that recognize and transgress systemic inequity. She understands that issues of culture, race, ethnicity, identity, and power influence students’ opportunities to learn and teachers’ opportunities to teach mathematics and that these factors must be explicitly discussed and addressed if we hope to fully support equitable mathematics teaching and learning. Tonya is honored to have participated in the writing of this book and in continued efforts supporting mathematics education that explores, understands, and responds to social injustice and supports students’ learning of mathematics.
Review :
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.
This is the book so many of us in early childhood mathematics have been waiting for. It’s practical, justice oriented, and, maybe most importantly, child centered. From lessons about representation in cartoons to differences in family structures to living through a pandemic, the book provides many detailed lessons that take up social justice concerns in ways that are real and relevant to young children while also providing ways to productively engage in grade-level mathematics.
Finally, a bold and beautiful mathematics resource for the early elementary educator that guides us to fully connect children’s natural mathematical curiosity with their intimate sense of justice and humanity. In reading this book, I wanted to try out every single lesson immediately, just to see that look of joy when children truly read and write their own world with mathematics!
This book is a gift for early childhood educators, whether they are newly curious to social justice and mathematics or seasoned experts at implementing socially-conscious, mathematically rich experiences for their young learners. The authors invite readers in with their conversational and respectful tone, their attention to the specific contexts of the early childhood educator (such as discourses around "developmentally appropriate practice"), and their use of contemporary, research-based frameworks.
Koestler and colleagues have curated a diverse set of lessons that invite children to "make sense of themselves and the world" through the lens of social justice mathematics. A particular strength of this book is the voices and experiences of the lesson authors, encouraging the reader to "trust in children" and allow the power of children’s voices to guide this important and challenging work.
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 early elementary–aged children 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.
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—social justice at its core
This book is a must-read for all elementary educators. A call to action, the guide for teachers offers incredible resources, including powerful lesson plans, to engage readers in the practice of teaching mathematics for social justice in early childhood settings. This is an immense contribution to the conversation around social justice and mathematics in elementary education.
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 must-needed resource to reboot our commitment to the next generation
Early Elementary 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.
