Negotiating the "Relevant" in Culturally Relevant Mathematics: The Community Mapping Project
Document Type
Presentation
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Negotiating the "Relevant" in Culturally Relevant Mathematics: The Community Mapping Project
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
This paper reports the results of the Community Mapping Project, in which two mathematics classrooms of urban students learned statistics by producing and analyzing maps of their own community using Geographic Information Systems to examine social justice issues. We use four case studies and classroom level data to tease apart what aspects of culturally relevant pedagogy succeeded in engaging students in mathematical data analysis. Our findings point to the importance of the process of negotiating what counts as relevant to students in the context of what can be mathematized. Three interpretations of relevance local knowledge, authentic purpose, and informal linguistic competencies contributed in different ways and times to the negotiation between students and teachers about an adequate topic for the final project.
Recommended Citation
Enyedy, N., Danish, J., Fields, D.A., Kao, L., & Mukhopadhyay, S. (2009, April). Negotiating the “relevant” in culturally relevant mathematics: The community mapping project. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
Comments
Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA