When I first started this course, I was one of those wide eyed bushy tailed teacher to be. I only knew a little about the education system. When I heard about an inner city/urban class, I thought to myself, it would not have a huge impact on the way I view the school system today. But throughout the semester, whether forced or whatever it might be, I did the readings and listened to people's points of views. It was rather interesting conversation as good points were made on the topic of the moment.
I think looking back on the project and also the walking tour, it gave me something more tangible. As I visited Newark and toured the schools, I just saw a different side of Newark than what I normally see, such as the airport. I went with a lot of stereotypes and negative stigmas. To my surprise there were a lot of good signs of change for the city. The project connected better when I saw Newark in person. I think in general actually visiting and driving around Newark helps bring some things into perspective.
It is disheartening to hear how broken the education system is, at the same time it is encouraging to read stories such the book Spectacular Things, that make you realize that there is always an opening for change. The children in urban communities are just as intelligent as any other child. They just need to be provided the opportunity. It will be interesting to see where I wind up as a teacher, but I will have more awareness and knowledge. I hope I can be a teacher that can make a difference.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Summary of Findings
Conclusion
As we have discovered in this curriculum inquiry project, Social Justice Math can invert a curriculum that has become compressed and narrowed by restrictions such as teaching to the test. As with all well-written and executed lessons, a math lesson that incorporates real-world issues of concern with advanced mathematics applications and critical-thinking skills puts the students in the driver’s seat. More student-directed learning rather than teacher-directed is the direction classrooms should be heading.
Although we had every intention of creating a Social Justice Math lesson from something we wanted to investigate within the boundaries of Newark, we were open to all possibilities. As we toured the city, a small nugget of an idea began to form and grow. We had just begun our research on Social Justice Math, and would soon come to realize that the process of exploration and discovery that we experienced that afternoon in Newark was exactly how a good Social Justice Math lesson or unit should be constructed. There must certainly be the bones of an organizational plan in place to implement the lesson or unit, but students are encouraged to develop thoughtful inquiry questions to steer the direction of the project. With that in mind, outcomes cannot be preplanned or scripted.
Professor Miller noted there is much resistance to Social Justice Math on the part of classroom teachers, particularly due to their inclination to stay neutral and apolitical in the math class, or any class, for that matter. He spoke of sports statistics, commonly used in math classes, to make an excellent point. “If you use those applications, which are good and valuable, you’re missing that component in math that says to the students that this math has relevance in your life – not because it is about topics that occur in your life, but because this math can help you in areas of mathematics in your life.”
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Abstract
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to examine how Social Justice Math can help students in urban school districts make real-world connections between the mandated curriculum, and issues and topics of need and concern in their own communities. The goal of Social Justice Math is to help students not only become more aware of the needs of their community through units of study such as this, but to become agents of change themselves. We selected Newark as our target community, and began our project with a walking tour of the city and neighborhoods encompassing several of its public high schools. Our tour, recorded in the form of field notes, revealed that the type of stores, businesses and services readily available to Newark citizens was severely limited in the poorer neighborhoods. This particular disparity between neighborhoods gave rise to a lesson plan and unit analyzing community businesses and services in poorer neighborhoods of Newark, and drawing comparisons to more affluent communities. Using SJM can enable students to “read their world” and develop creative solutions to real problems.
What I've learned...
I've learned that math can be taught in many ways that can be fun and innovative. There can't be any excuses of how math cannot be taught to students. Social justice math, SJM, is a great way to teach children from any background. This technique not only teaches students mathematics, but also connects them more to their community. As we have seen in the last book we read, students do want change. They have also shown great ability when provided the opportunity.
SJM allows students to have a chance to identify the problem as a group and work together to find a solution. Students were much more engaged in the classroom but more importantly they took ownership and felt empowered.
Throughout our walking tour, we really found opportunities and situations that would fit into SJM and would create great lessons for students. It was really important for us to go down to Newark and see the city for ourselves. We all know that Newark has some poor performing schools. I hope that SJM can be used as a solution towards improving math performance and bring it closer to their lives.
SJM allows students to have a chance to identify the problem as a group and work together to find a solution. Students were much more engaged in the classroom but more importantly they took ownership and felt empowered.
Throughout our walking tour, we really found opportunities and situations that would fit into SJM and would create great lessons for students. It was really important for us to go down to Newark and see the city for ourselves. We all know that Newark has some poor performing schools. I hope that SJM can be used as a solution towards improving math performance and bring it closer to their lives.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Online Assignment
#2
In Unequal Childhoods, many families from many different socioeconomic statuses were described and analyzed. We go one step further to check if these families could live in Essex County. After looking over the self-sufficiency wages in the NJRCL, it looks as though families such as the Tallingers, Williams, Marshalls, and Handlons that are middle class are well off enough to live in NJ pretty much unchanged.
However, families such as the Brindles, Mc Allisters, and Taylors might not be so lucky. The annual self-sufficiency wage shows that families need to make about $39,299 and up to $61,017 for single parent homes. The three families previously mentioned would have a tough time surviving in Essex County.
Unfortunately, I believe that there will need to be some hard decisions to be made. Take the Mc Allisters for example, they go through rough spells in terms of food. Living in Essex County might make this problem worse and lead to malnutrition and the consumption of fatty processed foods. These families will also have to live in the bigger cities such has Newark. From my walking tour in Newark, there was plenty of public transportation to get around. Necessities such as grocery stores were in relatively close distances. A major concern would also be the crime. Although, crime rates have slowly dropped over the years, that still has to be a major concern for the parents.
#3
LSNJ paints a grim picture for those living in poverty. As I mentioned earlier, families of poverty who want to live in Essex County might have to live in cities such as Newark. While the Federal Poverty Level is at $17,600, to live in Essex County, it takes $39,299, which is a little over double! New Jersey is outrageously expensive! Reports show that Newark has an income inadequacy rate of 44 percent. To add on to the bad news, the average median household income for New Jersey is $55,146 from the census of 2000, the average median household income for Essex County was reported to be $44,944. The self-sufficient hourly wage ranges from $18.61-28.89.
These findings don’t bode to well for the families in Unequal Childhoods if they were to live in Essex County. For one thing, any and all extra curricular activities would have to be stopped immediately. They might have to decide which bills to be now and later. There might be more frequent nights without food. Children won’t get the opportunity to try out or pursue interests such as sports. Their busy schedules will have a lot more free time open up. Free time is not necessarily a bad thing. It might help the kids be more independent.
#4
These reports are just eye opening. The deeper I look at the numbers; it blows me away. I have lived my whole life in New Jersey, but after this I definitely question whether I truly know New Jersey and all of its deeper darker secrets. This information puts things in better perspectives.
As a future teacher, especially with the potential to work in an urban area, its important to know more about where the students come and the road they took to get to where they are now. One way to start that is to engage with the students and teach in a manner that relates to them as people. I also would need to do more research on the background of the urban district that I teach at, so I know what the current issues are. The more I know about the community, the more I can be proactive in it. In doing so, a natural result is trust in the community.
This goes back to the inquiry project that Mark, and Rose Ellen are working on. One way in helping students in math is to bring application back to mathematics. We connect mathematics and the community. This type of curriculum has shown to engage students.It no longer becomes math as this difficult abstract task, but more as a tool to bring more awareness to the community.
In Unequal Childhoods, many families from many different socioeconomic statuses were described and analyzed. We go one step further to check if these families could live in Essex County. After looking over the self-sufficiency wages in the NJRCL, it looks as though families such as the Tallingers, Williams, Marshalls, and Handlons that are middle class are well off enough to live in NJ pretty much unchanged.
However, families such as the Brindles, Mc Allisters, and Taylors might not be so lucky. The annual self-sufficiency wage shows that families need to make about $39,299 and up to $61,017 for single parent homes. The three families previously mentioned would have a tough time surviving in Essex County.
Unfortunately, I believe that there will need to be some hard decisions to be made. Take the Mc Allisters for example, they go through rough spells in terms of food. Living in Essex County might make this problem worse and lead to malnutrition and the consumption of fatty processed foods. These families will also have to live in the bigger cities such has Newark. From my walking tour in Newark, there was plenty of public transportation to get around. Necessities such as grocery stores were in relatively close distances. A major concern would also be the crime. Although, crime rates have slowly dropped over the years, that still has to be a major concern for the parents.
#3
LSNJ paints a grim picture for those living in poverty. As I mentioned earlier, families of poverty who want to live in Essex County might have to live in cities such as Newark. While the Federal Poverty Level is at $17,600, to live in Essex County, it takes $39,299, which is a little over double! New Jersey is outrageously expensive! Reports show that Newark has an income inadequacy rate of 44 percent. To add on to the bad news, the average median household income for New Jersey is $55,146 from the census of 2000, the average median household income for Essex County was reported to be $44,944. The self-sufficient hourly wage ranges from $18.61-28.89.
These findings don’t bode to well for the families in Unequal Childhoods if they were to live in Essex County. For one thing, any and all extra curricular activities would have to be stopped immediately. They might have to decide which bills to be now and later. There might be more frequent nights without food. Children won’t get the opportunity to try out or pursue interests such as sports. Their busy schedules will have a lot more free time open up. Free time is not necessarily a bad thing. It might help the kids be more independent.
#4
These reports are just eye opening. The deeper I look at the numbers; it blows me away. I have lived my whole life in New Jersey, but after this I definitely question whether I truly know New Jersey and all of its deeper darker secrets. This information puts things in better perspectives.
As a future teacher, especially with the potential to work in an urban area, its important to know more about where the students come and the road they took to get to where they are now. One way to start that is to engage with the students and teach in a manner that relates to them as people. I also would need to do more research on the background of the urban district that I teach at, so I know what the current issues are. The more I know about the community, the more I can be proactive in it. In doing so, a natural result is trust in the community.
This goes back to the inquiry project that Mark, and Rose Ellen are working on. One way in helping students in math is to bring application back to mathematics. We connect mathematics and the community. This type of curriculum has shown to engage students.It no longer becomes math as this difficult abstract task, but more as a tool to bring more awareness to the community.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Introduction to the Inquiry Project
Over the years research has shown that urban schools are not performing well. With the introduction of No Child Left Behind, schools are not kept more accountable for the education of the children. Urban schools have shown to struggle greatly in academic performance. As No Child Left Behind has been policing these schools, the schools have changed their curriculum to focus more on getting better standardized test grades. The children are no longer getting a proper education, but rather ones that will help the school stay out of trouble, and any punishment that comes along with it.
Our project presents a new perspective in teaching mathematics. It is a curriculum that has high hopes of engaging students as they learn mathematics. Social justice mathematics is an innovative way of connecting math to the student and student to the community. It is our hope that social justice math can not only teach a child mathematics, but educate them about the real world as well.
Our project presents a new perspective in teaching mathematics. It is a curriculum that has high hopes of engaging students as they learn mathematics. Social justice mathematics is an innovative way of connecting math to the student and student to the community. It is our hope that social justice math can not only teach a child mathematics, but educate them about the real world as well.
Post Reading After Thoughts
After reading the chapters, and going through discussion I noticed a lot of nature vs nurture differences. Looking at the perspective of middle class child vs poor child, just really made me think. Middle class parents are so involved and almost to the point of suffocating a child with things to do, giving that child no chance to get into any mischief but rather almost try to create the perfect human. The lower class family showed me that they let children do what they want and learn by nature and experience. Granted that parents might be working all the time, resulting in children having all this free time, but regardless, the child still does what he wants. Middle class children feel entitlement, and more often voice their opinion. They seem to try and negotiate with adults while lower class children just get yelled at and obey what the adult tells them.
Classes will always be full of diversity. Knowing how children are raised can bring awareness of how to handle a classroom and more importantly an individual. The child's economic status does not necessarily mean that they are not as intelligent, but as a teacher I need to realize that kids are different and may need to be reached out in a different light.
Classes will always be full of diversity. Knowing how children are raised can bring awareness of how to handle a classroom and more importantly an individual. The child's economic status does not necessarily mean that they are not as intelligent, but as a teacher I need to realize that kids are different and may need to be reached out in a different light.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thoughts questions survey... Trying to narrow it down.
The group has been throwing lots of ideas out there hoping to narrow it down. Social justice math is so big. Bigger than I initially thought.
TOPIC QUESTION:
Can social justice math be an effective teaching method in urban school districts?
SUBTOPICS:
1. What can educators infer from social justice math's implementation in the classroom through data or statistics,?
2. Is social justice math an effective form of teaching?
3. To gauge its effectiveness:
Does it raise motivation and achievement for student?
What data support this claim?
Which school districts employ social justice math in the classroom?
4. Why do some districts choose not to employ social justice math? What is wrong with it?
5. How do teachers feel toward using social justice math in the classroom?
6. Can it help students deal with standardized testing?
QUALITATIVE DATA
1. Interviews:
1. Eliza Leszczynski
2. Brian Miller
3. Rick Mcnamee (tentatively)
Teachers at Harvey Milk HS (East Village), New York City Algebra Project (Brooklyn), Acorn High School for Social Justice (Brooklyn), Bushwick School for Social Justice (Brooklyn)
2. Surveys:
For students through Brian Miller, Rick Mcnamee, Harvey Milk HS (tentatively), New York City Algebra Project
For teachers at Harvey Milk HS (East Village), New York City Algebra Project (Brooklyn), Acorn High School for Social Justice (Brooklyn), Bushwick School for Social Justice (Brooklyn)
Student Survey:
1. What does the term "social justice" mean to you? What does the term "social justice math” mean?
2. Do you feel that math should incorporate social,political and economic issues into its instruction, such as with a social justice math curriculum? Why/why not?
3. Is it important for students to have an understanding of social, political and economic issues locally and around the world?
4. Should developing a "social consciousness" be an important part of your educational experiences?
4. Can math empower students to analyze and potentially change the world?
5. Do you think higher-level thinking about the larger mathematical ideas is important? Why/why not?
6. Could incorporating social justice math motivate more students to learn math?
7. Do you think math would be more engaging if it was "real world" rather than "theory"?
8. If you were given the opportunity, would you choose to participate in actual community problem-solving projects?
Teacher Survey:
1. What do you know about social justice math?
1. Do you currently use social justice math in your classes?
2. How would you summarize its basic purpose?
3. What do you feel are the positive outcomes of using social justice math in a classroom?
4. What do you feel are the negative aspects to using social justice math in a classroom?
5. Can you describe your personal experiences using social justice math in the classroom?
6. Can you give examples of lessons you have brought to the classroom incorporating social justice math?
7. Rate the following on a scale of 1 (least likely) to 5 (most likely):
- Social justice math can help me differentiate the curriculum more easily.
- Social justice math can help me create interdisciplinary and thematic units.
- Social justice math can help me learn about my students' families and their communities.
- Social justice math can help me assess learning within a meaningful context.
3. Qualitative Research [citations in red have not been read, but seem to fit criteria]
· Christiansen. (2007). Some tensions in mathematics education for democracy.
o A qualitative study of four mathematics classrooms and some of the tensions and benefits of teaching social justice math.
· Gutstein, Lipman, Hernandez, & de los Reyes. (1997). Culturally relevant mathematics teaching in a Mexican American context.
o A qualitative study of Mexican American elementary/middle school
· Gutstein. (2003). Teaching and Learning Mathematics for Social Justice in an Urban, Latino School.
o A qualitative study of 7th and 8th grade Latino/a students in a midwestern public school who learned mathematics using the curricular program Mathematics in Context (MiC) as well as special projects on social justice math
· Gutstein. (2006). The real World as We Have Seen It: Latino/a Parents' Voices on Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice
o A qualitative study of Latino/a parents who supported social justice math in their children's 7th grade classroom in the Chicago public schools
· Skovsmose. (1994). Towards a Critical Mathematics Education.
o This article uses a class project that uses social justice math to explain math literacy (or mathemacy) and the importance of a critical mathematics education. It implements several units that could be used in a social justice math setting.
· Telese. (1999, May). Mexican American high school students' perceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching.
o A survey of Mexican American high school students and their perceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching in traditional and reform classrooms.
· Treisman. (1992). Studying Students Studying Calculus: A Look at the Lives of Minority Mathematics Students in College.
o A lecture given as one of the Mary P. Dolciani lectures at Hunter College. Embeded within is a qualitative study of college freshman, in particular minorities (African americans and Asians), their motivation towards studying and understanding mathematics (in particular calculus), and how the college system failed them
o A chart of possible topics for social justice math classroom use; how to implement social justice math into the classroom; advantages and disadvantages to using social justice math in the classroom
| Math Topic | Social Justice Issues | Some Useful Websites |
| Adding | Basic Family Budgets Determining how much money a family needs to survive, live comfortably, etc. Mayan Mathematics Learn how to add, subtract, multiply in a base 20 system | http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/datazone_fambud_budget http://www.dpsk12.org/programs/almaproject/pdf/MayanMathematics.pdf |
| Averages | Union Salaries Union officials and Management often have different ways to come up with the “average salary” of a worker. Use real data to understand how the mean, median, or mode could each be used here, and the difference between the average each one gave. | http://www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm#data |
| Combinations | The Lottery Study how the Lottery works, why it’s nearly impossible to win, and the economic damage it causes | |
| Exponents | Compound Interest Population Growth Growth/decline of food and water resources, cities | World Population Growth: |
| Fractions | War Budgets Comparing budgets for defense department to budgets for other social services to the total budget. Comparing how money spent on military operations could be used to support other important causes (ex: if a bomb costs $10 million and a it costs $10,000 to provide health care for an entire family for a year, how many families could get health care for the cost of this bomb). | http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm |
| Geometry | Liquor Stores Look at how many liquor stores are within a 1-mile radius or within 5 blocks of your school. This can be compared with schools in other neighborhoods Environmental Racism Determine the density of toxic waste facilities, factories, dumps, etc, in the neighborhood Gentrification Change in the density of people in a neighborhood (by race/income) Ethnomathematics African Fractals Tesselations Origami | http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/eglash.dir/afractal/afractal.htm |
| Graphing | Line Graphs Incarceration rates for different populations, races Pie Graphs Budgets – Determining what percent of your taxes went to each branch of the government Scatterplot Graphs Correlation between % any two of the following factors: percent of population that is people of color, rates of poverty, crime, health issues (rates of asthma, AIDS, diabetes, obesity, etc), pollution, etc. | Total: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/corr2tab.htm By Race: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cpus9701.pdf http://www.nationalpriorities.org/auxiliary/interactivetaxchart/taxchart.html |
| Inequalities | Small Business By creating a number of algebraic inequalities that describe limits a business is working with (ie. time, supplies), you can graph multiple inequalities (or by using systems) to determine the number of products (x,y) to make that would maximize the profit. | |
| Logarithms | Growth Rates People, prisoners, AIDS cases, health factors, etc. | Global Health: http://globalatlas.who.int/ Also: See other resources listed |
| Percents | Interest & Compound Interest Making money through a Savings Account Increasing debt on a Credit Card Payday and Tax Refund Loans Predatory Lending Mortgage Payments APR – how it works, comparing different APR’s Growth Rate Growth in rates of homelessness, poverty, people in jail, etc. Proportions, ex: Percent of each race in total population vs. incarcerated (or in the military, killed in the war, dropping out of high school, college graduates, etc) | http://www.demos.org/page37.cfm http://www.nedap.org/resources/documents/FINALRALSREPORT.pdf http://nedap.org/programs/fairlending.html Poverty: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/histpovtb.html Health: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus05.pdf Housing: |
| Probability | Racial Profiling Explore the probability that a traffic stop should be (and is) of a person of color | http://www.racialprofilinganalysis.neu.edu/ |
| Rates | Prison growth Rates of different races and genders becoming incarcerated Compared to growth of high school graduates Compared to growth of funding for higher education Population growth In different countries (also good for looking at a population density) Compared to resources (food, oil, water, etc) available Resource Density Density of banks compared to check-cashers and pawn shops in rich vs. poor communities | http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p04.htm http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/dropout91_97/all_tables.asp http://coe.ilstu.edu/grapevine/Welcome.htm |
| Regression | See “Scatterplot Graphing” above | |
| Slope | Rates of Increase/Decrease of: People in prison Poverty Population | See resources listed above |
| Statistics | Community Surveys Teach students how to write surveys, and then survey your school or local community about any social issue. Statistical analysis can be used to understand the results: averages, ranges, frequency tables, graphing, correlation, percents, hypothesis testing, variance, standard deviation, etc. Racial Profiling Try different sampling experiments to understand the why having a disproportionate number of drivers of color stopped by police is unfair | See above links for Statistical data to analyze http://www.racialprofilinganalysis.neu.edu/ |
| Systems | Resource Availability Determining at what point the resources available and societies needs will be the same (such as need for housing and new housing available | |
Integrating social justice with mathematics and scinece: an analysis of student teacher lessons
Barbara Garii, Audrey C. Rule
· A qualitative analysis of how student teachers incorporate social justice into math and science classes
QUANTITATIVE DATA: [citations in red have not been read, but seem to fit criteria]
· Winter (2007) Infusing Mathematics with Culture: Teaching Technical Subjects for Social Justice
o A quantitative study that provides statistical data demonstrating that social and cultural learning can be infused into technical courses without negatively affecting content area learning
· West and Davis (2005). Research Related to the Algebra Project’s Intervention to Improve Student Learning in Mathematics.
o A quantitative study of the Algebra Project as provided by Lesley College for the State of Virginia's Department of Education.
o It demonstrates that the Algebra Project served to bolster test scores for traditionally under-achieving students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)