Reflection

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.

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.”

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.