This article provides an example of, and lessons from, teaching and learning critical mathematics in a Chicago public neighborhood high school with a social justice focus. It is based on a qualitative study of my untracked, 12th-grade mathematics class, a full-year enactment of mathematics for social and racial justice. Students were Black and Latin@ from a low-income, working-class community with a tradition of resistance. Any neighborhood student could enroll without selection criteria. The class goal was for students to cocreate a classroom in which they would learn and use college-preparatory, conceptually based mathematics to study and understand social reality to prepare themselves to change it. Through analyzing my practice, I address possibilities and challenges of curriculum development and teaching, examine student learning, and pose questions and directions for further research and practice.
This article is available to members of NCTM who subscribe to
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Don't miss out—join now or upgrade your membership. You may also purchase this article now for online access.
Log In/Create Account
Purchase Article