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.”