The purpose of this workshop is to explore the promise and practice of culturally relevant teaching of mathematics. Expanded Success Initiative, NYDOE, Manhattan NY August 13, 2015 Participants explore, discuss, and interact with central notions of mathematics, reform teaching, and culturally responsive approaches in the mathematics classroom.

1. "UNLOCKING
CULTURALLY
RESPONSIVE TEACHING
FORMATHEMATICS"
Lou Edward Matthews, Ph. D
August 13, 2015
Lmatthews@gov.bm

2. Agenda and Activities
The purpose of this
workshop is to explore
the promise and
practice of culturally
relevant teaching of
mathematics.
Participants explore,
discuss, and interact
with central notions of
mathematics, reform
teaching, and culturally
responsive approaches
in the mathematics
classroom.
 Session I. But That’s
Just Good Teaching
 Session II. Culturally
relevant teaching of
mathematics
 Session III. Making
Culturally Relevant
Teaching Work for
Students – Designing,
Questioning
2

3. Real Goals
 Examine the “real” trajectories and “stories” of
the students in our midst – particularly those
who struggle.
 Examine our “real” impact on Black student
success through our teaching.
 Examine our “real” mindsets that help or
hinder the success of Black students in
mathematics.
 Explore how we move forward in engineering
for excellence for mathematics success for
Black students.

4. Where are We Going? Demands of
21st
Century
 New
technologies
 New problems
 New media
 New
connections
 Communication
 Thinking
 Connecting
 Inventing
 Adapting
“Let’s face it, we really don’t know what
2034 will look like. We only know that it
will not look like 2014 and that what we
need then, we may not be the ones
even creating it.” LM

5. SESSION I: BUT THAT’S
JUST GOOD TEACHING
Participants explore mathematics reform
and its demands - common core. This
reform is not new although entirely
different from what we have experienced,
our parents have experienced and even
what are children's parents have
experienced.

6. The Facebook Problem Solving
Community Example
Solving this problem
in the workshop and
with friends on
facebook highlighted
the nuances of
current math reform!

7. What Was your Math Story?
 “I grew up learning that mathematics was only for
some people – the ones that could get IT quickly,
that they were brighter and smarter. Because I
was one of the ‘Bright’ ones, I didn’t question
this…until I started teaching” LM
 Reflect: Think about your experiences with
mathematics. What was your math identity? How
was it taught to you? Why did you excel or not?
How do you rate you overall experience through
the years?

8. Big Questions
 What is Mathematics
 How do you teach mathematics?
 How do students learn mathematics?
 How do your experiences as a student of
mathematics compare with the way in which you
teach mathematics?
 Who can learn mathematics?
 What do your responses to the above questions
have in common?
 How do our mindsets contribute to any gaps and
issue we see in the learning of mathematics?

9. Challenge Our Story: An Act of
Courage
 “Every act of teaching, of counseling, of
intervention, gives away our belief system
about each of those four questions.” LM
 "If you believe that mathematics is ONLY
information, you will only present IT by giving
IT; if you only present IT; you will think only
SOME kids can get IT. If you believe that than
our kids will be destined to have decisions
made ON them and not BY them.“ LM

10. 1 Activity: Myth, Fact, or
Debatable?
1) Mathematics is a collection of related facts
involving numbers, symbols, laws and
procedures.
2) Students learn mathematics by carefully
absorbing the material and activities
presented.
3) Good teaching requires understanding the
mathematics curriculum well enough to present
it so that students understand the basics.
4) Students either have a natural talent for
excellence in mathematics—or they don’t!Consider the implications of each answer on your
current experiences with students. E.g. If I believe (1) is
Fact, what will I believe about who can do
mathematics?

11. Mathematics reform messages represent a
very deliberate message about
mathematics that is dynamics, teaching that
is student centered and the notion that all
students can learn
Mathematics Reform

12. New Vision—Mathematics for
Understanding!
 Mathematics is dynamic making sense of the
world around us.
 All students construct mathematical
knowledge for themselves from their own
experiences and prior knowledge.
 Good teaching means teaching for
understanding centered around on what
students know and do.

13. What Does a 21st
Century
Vision for the mathematics classroom Look like
 stude nts are co nfide ntly e ng ag e d in DO ING
m athe m atics,
 pro ble m so lving
re aso ning
criticalthinking
co llabo ratio n
inq uiry.
 te ache rs who facilitate a co m m unity o f
stude nts
 rig o ro us and re le vant tasks,
 building o n stude nt unde rstanding and
strate g ie s to

14. “…the new statewide Common Core
Learning Standards, which demand that
students have solid conceptual
understanding, a high degree of procedural
skill and fluency, and the ability to apply the
math they know to solve problems inside
and outside the math classroom. ” –
NYDOE
Consider this Statement

15. Common Core Differences
 Fewer topics; more generalizing and linking of
concepts
 Emphasis on both conceptual understanding
and procedural fluency starting in the early
grades
 Focus on mastery of complex concepts in
higher math (e.g., algebra and geometry) via
hands-on learning
 Emphasis on mathematical modeling in the
upper grades
http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/CommonCoreLibrar
y/About/Standards/default.htm

16. Shifts in Mathematics Teaching
Less Emphasis More Emphasis
Emphasis on answer-getting Emphasis on Big ideas
Mathematics as definitions
and prerequisites
On connections, applications
Memorizing procedures Conjecturing, Reasoning
Teacher for right answers Students validate arguments
Classrooms of individuals Classrooms as communities

17. …Common Reality
Review
Teacher
Presents
New
Concept
Guided
Practice
"Watch
Me"
Independent
Practice
"GoforIt"

18. Activity: The Characteristics of a
Good Problem
 Consider the facebook problem and reflect on
the characteristics of good problems.
 Where they similar to this:
 Answer is not obvious
 Encourages reflection and communication
 Can emerge from students/community/culture
 Challenging/Risky
 Mathematically Rich

19. Problem Solving Standard
 Build new mathematical knowledge through
problem solving.
 Solve problems that arise in mathematics and
in other contexts.
 Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate
strategies to solve problems
 Monitor and reflect on the process of
mathematical problem solving
The only way to build new knowledge is through novel situations like
problem solving

20. Fundamental Forces Working
Against Our Work
a) Faulty notions about African American and
Hispanic students and their experiences
b) Resistance to equity notions because of the
protection of privilege
c) Confusion about the nature of mathematics
and mathematics teaching; and
d) Misinformation and miscommunication
between the various stakeholders.

21. Reframingof AfricanAmerican
Mathematics Achievement

22. Will we have the courage to move from our
“experiences” of the past – how we were
taught and perceived? It is our biggest
challenge. LM
What Holds Us Back? Four
Forces

23. A New View
 Mathematics is
dynamic sense
making of the world
around us through
modeling, the study of
patterns, relationships
and function
 Mathematics is the
new civil right – Bob
Moses
 “Mathematics is THE
21st
century Literacy”
 Mathematics is
almost always used to
make decisions about
people, resources,
and things – Bill Tate
 “Not believing a child
can do mathematics
is as immoral and not
believing they can
read or write”

24. SESSION II: CULTURALLY
RELEVANT TEACHING OF
MATHEMATICS
A Culturally Relevant Vision of Teaching
Mathematics has in it the power to do
what has not been done enough – to
reposition students and most importantly,
transform teachers.

25. Teachers struggled to see mathematics as
a relevant, cultural discipline from which
cultural and societal inquiry can emanate
and flourish (Matthews, 2003)
Challenging Obstacles in
Responsive Teaching

26. Even when mathematics tasks are around
the context of students’ lives, instruction
may fail to maximize its potential to engage
students (Enyedy & Mukhopadyay, 2007).
Challenging Obstacles in
Responsive Teaching

27. Students of color are often subjected to
instructional strategies that emphasize
authoritative, didactic, and/or whole group
instruction (Gay, 2000).
Challenging Obstacles in
Responsive Teaching

28. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
 To empower students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and
politically drawing from their individual, cultural and community
identities.
 The focus will be on academic success, honoring cultural AND
community identities, AND a potential to participate in a just, caring
society.
 Culturally Relevant teachers are relationship driven, caring and see
all students and their communities– particularly those who have not
been served well in school mathematics– as possessing untapped
promise for being successful in the mathematics classroom..

29. How? The “Culturally Relevant”
Mathematics Teacher
 Will transcend the reality of mathematics reform,
standards, and accountability..
 Challenge the ‘cultureless’ promotion of school math.
Build from the cultural experiences of students.
 See excellence in mathematics achievement as within
the possibilities of all students.
 Challenge inequitable math curriculum and course
structure.
 Uses math classroom as a site of liberatory practice.
Reflect: Is this possible? Has your training
and background prepared or exposed you
to this

30. How? Deliberate Shifts into Culturally
Relevant Teachers: Amplifying Reform
Teachers should:
 encourage multiple
perspectives and
problem solving
methods;
 probe to redirect or
focus student thinking;
 draw out student
thinking;
 identify misconceptions;
and
 encourage students to
revise thinking.
Build from student
cultural thinking
Seeks out societal/community
contradictions. Empowers
students as change agents
Sees ALL children
as problem solvers
Reform Language The shift for CRT teachers

31. Beyond “Surface” Teaching of
Mathematics
 Teachers begin to question the “privilege” status
surrounding school mathematics
 Teachers consider experiences where
mathematics is see as a means to navigate the
world – not an end.
 Teachers begin to emphasize critical thinking
about the world around them using
mathematics.
 Teacher begins to extend the classroom,
building collective relationships, to include
community. The mathematics learning
experience moves beyond the “my” as in “my
students” to the “our” as in “our students”.

32. Engineering Culturally Relevant
Teaching for all students

33. CRTM: Criticalm athe m atical
thinking
 Critical mathematical thinking involves viewing
mathematical knowledge critically, which
includes making conjectures, developing
arguments, investigating ideas, justifying
answers, validating one’s thinking
– Principle s and Standards fo r Scho o lMathe m atics (NCTM, 20 0 0 )

34. CRTM: Building on Student’s
Informal Knowledge
 Effective mathematics teaching requires
understanding what students know and that teachers
should build on students’ previous experiences
– Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000)

35. Our Limitations
 Teachers’ orientations and beliefs about “others”
are limiting and harmful.
 Teachers may see culture as only belonging to “other”
people and may automatically default to “bad”
perceptions (rap, hip-hop).
 Teachers’ beliefs and knowledge about
mathematics may be too limiting and rigid.
 May believe mathematics is only about written numbers.
 Teachers may be unwilling to question “privilege” status,
being good in mathematics affords.

36. Additional Reading
36
 Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dre am ke e pe rs: Succe ssfulte ache rs o f African
Am e rican childre n. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
 Leonard, J. (2008). Culturally Spe cific Pe dag o g y: Strate g ie s fo r Te ache rs and
Stude nts. New York, NY: Routledge.
 Martin, D.B. (2009). Liberating the production of knowledge about African
American children and mathematics. In Math Teaching, Learning and Liberation
in the Lives of Black Children. New York, NY: Routledge.
 Matthews, L., Jones, S., & Parker, Y.A. (2012). Advancing a framework for
culturally relevant, cognitively demanding mathematics tasks. In J. Leonard & D.
Martin (Eds.),The brilliance o f Black childre n in m athe m atics: Be yo nd the
num be rs and to ward a ne w disco urse .
 Nieto, S. (2010). The Lig ht in The ir Eye s: Cre ating MulticulturalLe arning
Co m m unitie s. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
 Stein, M. K., Smith, M. S., Henningsen, M. A., & Silver, E. A. (2000).
Im ple m e nting standards-base d m athe m atics instructio n: Acase bo o k fo r
pro fe ssio nalde ve lo pm e nt. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
 Tate, W.F. (1995). Returning to the root: A culturally relevant approach to
mathematics pedagogy. The o ry Into Practice , 34(3), 166-173.

37. Additional Reading
37
 Gutstein, E., Lipman, P., Hernandez, P., and de los Reyes, T. (1997). Culturally
relevant mathematics teaching in a Mexican American context. Jo urnalfo r
Re se arch in Mathe m atics Educatio n, 28 (6), 709-737.
 Irvine, J. J. (2010). Culturally relevant pedagogy. The Educatio n Dig e st, 7 5(8),
57-61.
 Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally
relevant pedagogy. The o ry Into Practice , 34(3), 159-165.
 Leonard, J., and Guha, S. (2002). Creating cultural relevance in teaching and
learning mathematics. Te aching Childre n Mathe m atics, 9 (2), 114-118.
 Moses, R. P. and Cobb, C. E. (2001). Radicale q uatio ns: m ath lite racy and civil
rig hts. Boston: Beacon Press.
 Nelson-Barber, S. and Estrin E. T. (1995). Bringing Native American
perspectives to mathematics and science teaching. The o ry into Practice , 34(3),
174-185.

38. The Brilliance o f Black Childre n in
Mathe m atics: Be yo nd the Num be rs and
To ward a Ne w Disco urse
 Counters the “deficit” thinking
regarding Black children and
their achievement in
mathematics
 15 chapters, five themes
 Cultural-historical perspectives
 Policy and Black children’s
mathematics education
 Learning and learning
environments **
 Student identity and student
success
 Preparing teachers to embrace
the brilliance of Black children

39. SESSION III: MAKING
CULTURALLY RELEVANT
TEACHING WORK FOR
STUDENTS – DESIGNING,
QUESTIONING
A Culturally Relevant Vision of Teaching
Mathematics has in it the power to do
what has not been done enough – to
reposition students and most importantly,
transform teachers.

40. How? Using Culturally Relevant
Mathematics Tasks
 Mathematics tasks THROUGH which students
mathematize their world, their communities,
and their collective experiences.
 Tasks which require that students inquire
about themselves, others and the world
around them.

41. Four Levels of Cognitive Demand
 Me m o rizatio n – recall known facts
 Pro ce dure s witho ut Co nne ctio ns to
understanding, meaning, or concepts – apply
known procedures to get a predictable answer
 Pro ce dure s with Co nne ctio ns to understanding,
meaning, or concepts – apply known
procedures in a new context to get an answer
from which one learns something new
 Do ing m athe m atics – develop new procedures
or concepts

42. The CRCD Framework
 We developed a framework for building
and analyzing relevant and responsive
tasks for children
 We want educators to think long and
hard about the lives of children as they
operationalize it in the mathematics
classroom
 Guidance on how to think about
culturally relevant teaching in their
practical classrooms

43. Frameworkfor
Culturally Relevant,
Cognitively Demanding
Mathematics Tasks
43

44. Assessment Rubric of Culturally Relevant,
Cognitively Demanding Mathematics Tasks
44

45. Activity
 Take a look at the list of tasks created by
teachers. Does they accomplish responsive
teaching in any way? Rate them using the
checklist!
 What are the strengths?
 What are the challenges?
 How would you grow the lessons?
 How does the lesson reflect the four critical
questions?

46. So You ThinkYou Can Draw
 Your sister loves street art. You would
like to recreate one of her favorite
pieces for her birthday. You decide to
create a poster board replica of this
piece even though you’re not an artist.
Suddenly a deeper side of the image
strikes you.
 This is going to be easy! You notice
the tip of his nose at (0,0), the bottom
lip at (0,-2)……Where is his right eye,
…the bottom of his chin, …..the large
patch of grass? What is the domain
and range? Explain your reasoning.
Try creating a replica on poster board.
photograph © copyright 1994 Ted
Mikalsen
Artwork ©1994 Dave Kinsey (aka Büst) in
Atlanta, GA. Photographer © 1994
Ted Mikalsen. Used with permission
from www.graffiti.org
46

47. Discuss with a partner or small group, how
to modify the following problem to become
more culturally relevant (or make up your
own problem)
Culturally Relevant Cognitively
Demanding Mathematics Task
47

48. Assessing the Assessment Rubric
of Culturally Relevant,
Cognitively Demanding Mathematics
Tasks
 In your group, review the CRCD rubric
 Is the rubric appropriate for determining if
a cognitively demanding task is culturally
relevant? Why or why not? What is
missing? What was helpful?

49. A Culturally Relevant Vision
of Teaching Mathematics has
in it the power to do what has
not been done enough – to
reposition students and most
importantly, transform
teachers.

50. 50