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ERIC Number: ED662315
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 260
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3840-9881-2
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Toward a Theory of Black Woman Math Pedagogy
Elzena McVicar
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Washington
Black women have a legacy of pedagogical expertise. However, Black women teachers' mathematics pedagogy remains woefully under-theorized and under-researched. This is to the detriment of Black and Brown mathematics students. Mathematics education in the U.S. mirrors our broader society, which continues to reinscribe patterns of intellectual and socioeconomic whiteness, elitism, and masculinity (Joseph et al., 2021). I bring together scholarship on Black women teacher knowledge, research on pedagogical content knowledge, and Black feminist theory to generate a theoretical framework to study Black women's pedagogical expertise in mathematics: Black Woman Math Pedagogy. From a Black feminist perspective, Black Woman Math Pedagogy is the dialogical relationship between politically conscious Black women mathematics teachers' thoughts and actions about their day-to-day mathematics teaching. The first construct of my framework is Black Woman Pedagogy, which I identified by analyzing the scholarship of Black women educators such as culturally relevant teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1994), culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2000), culturally specific pedagogy in mathematics (Leonard, 2008, 2019), abolitionist teaching (Love, 2019), and culturally and historically responsive teaching (Muhammad, 2023). My second theoretical construct is Black Feminist Math Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Black Feminist Math PCK). This construct draws on critical mathematics pedagogy (i.e., Zavala & Aguirre, 2024), mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (Ball et al., 2008), and Black feminist epistemology which considers Black women's "alternative knowledge" about how racism, sexism, and power operate within society (Collins, 2000). Black Feminist Math PCK refers to the knowledge that politically conscious Black women mathematics teachers develop and use in their practice that enables them to attend to how power, identity, and knowledge production operate within the mathematics classroom.My study used Black feminist methodology (Hamilton, 2020; Mullings, 2000), which combines qualitative study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) with Black feminist thought (Collins, 2000). To build my theoretical framework, I documented and analyzed the mathematics teaching of two politically conscious Black women in one academic year who teach in racially, ethnically, economically, and linguistically diverse mathematics classrooms. Through observations and interviews over 13 months in a kindergarten and fourth grade classroom, I examined how the teachers' racialized lived experiences produced asset-based alternative knowledge that shaped their mathematics teaching practice, attending specifically to their Black and Brown students. Across both teacher cases, I found that the teachers enacted Black Woman Pedagogy through an ethic of care grounded in Black feminist epistemology, became identity workers that cultivated the racial, social, and academic identities of students, and used a Black cultural ethos within their mathematics practice. By studying Black Feminist Math PCK, I found that each teacher drew on their lived racialized experiences in schools to cultivate a mathematics classroom that allowed students to exist in their beautiful humanity while participating in mathematics. Teachers leveraged their asset-based alternative knowledge to plan engaging mathematics learning opportunities for students while maintaining an affirming, nurturing, and supportive learning environment.This study makes important contributions to understanding the liberatory work of politically conscious Black women mathematics teachers. In particular, it expands how we conceptualize pedagogical content knowledge by incorporating a critical perspective on mathematics pedagogical content knowledge that disrupts racialized practices within mathematics classrooms. I also discuss the theoretical, empirical, and professional learning implications of a new vision of thinking about Black women's mathematics teaching. My study sparks further dialog about how the field of mathematics education can conceptualize mathematics teaching that is in service of Black and Brown students. Understanding the reasons why and how critical mathematics pedagogies such as Black Woman Math Pedagogy are taken up is crucial for teaching mathematics for liberation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A