Researchers and educators should not assume that learning mathematics through problem solving and discussion is equally 'natural' for all students. Instead, we need to uncover the cultural assumptions of these particular discourses. Only then can we identify and seek to address the difficulties that some underserved children could face in reform oriented classrooms. (page 21)
As a classroom teacher, I focused on problem solving and classroom communication. I used strategies such as gallery walk, math congress, and bansho to get students to consolidate open-ended problems. I facilitated discussions. As a math coach, I encourage teachers to do the same thing. Not because I did it, but because our board and ministry suggests it. However, my immediate reaction to reading this quote was not positive. It suggested to me that all that great work I thought I was doing was actually very superficial. I never consciously thought about why certain students didn't participate in whole class discussions. I did notice that some of my students did get caught up in contexts of problems but I never asked myself why. I had high expectations for all but, as Lubienski suggests, it was not 'sufficient to produce equitable instructional practices".
In looking ahead, I have much to learn about what 'equitable instructional practices' are and how to implement them. So I hope that new research on identifying the difficulties that some underserved children could face in reform oriented classrooms comes with specifics on how to address these difficulties. After all, classroom teachers (like myself) are trying to make sense of this new knowledge of and commitment to equity.
"Strides have been made towards achieving equity, but much work remains".
Hello Math Coach,
ReplyDeleteI too was very interested in the quotation you mentioned (page 21,Lubienski). I personally think that the open-ended problems and strategies that you employ in your classroom are great (don't be too hard on yourself!). Lubienski also makes it clear that she is not completely disregarding the efforts of educational reform practice.
"The conclusion to be drawn is not that lower-SES children could not experience such feelings if such methods had been introduced..nor is it the conclusion that we should revert to drill-oriented teaching..."
I definitely think that the context of such findings must be taken into consideration. Before we make absolute conclusions, we should also consider the situational circumstances and the multiple systems/communities that students are involved in.
One thing is clear though - we definitely have much work remaining...
I also immediately thought of my students who get caught up in the context...and it never occurred to me to question why students focused so much on the context. I'm not sure how much the socioeconomic background plays a role in my school environment though, since I teach in a middle-to-upper class neighbourhood. It could be that we havenow so ingrained it into our students to think of the real-life context of math that they can't see the mathematics in the problem. That, or they find it more interesting to discuss the context than to actually do the math! :)
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