Social Justice
Students are agents in their own learning. When they are able to have a say in what problems are addressed in a classroom, they have an investment in their learning; they care about the purpose of a classroom. Students' social, critical, and cultural knowledges, not just academic knowledges, should be valued in the classroom, for then students have a stake in their own learning (Gustein 2012). As a teacher, my goal is to help students explore the problems they see in their community, themselves, and their society. For the issues my students care about, I aim to use mathematical and ELA concepts to help them explore descriptions and possible solutions of the problems they see already. This is the tenet of social justice teaching.
Language and Communication: Background
As I researched for my reflective paper in my English for pre-service teachers class (socio - psycholinguistic approaches to reading), I came across a lot of articles on bilingualism and how children learning English (ESL/ELL) tend to do worse compared to native English speakers in academic studies across the board, including in the math and science fields. Students working in a second language tend to have problems in math classes with:
(Martiniello, 2008 and Bernardo & Calleja, 2005)
What is not generally affected by the language of mathematical problems is:
(Martinello, 2008; Bernardo & Calleja, 2005; and Bernardo, 2005)
As I read about these studies (and other, similar studies), I realize, as a teacher, my goal must be to construct a classroom in ways that encourage students to connect with their world, not just a textbook.
- Understanding the meaning of low frequency words
- Abstractions
- Polysemy of words
- Idomatic/culturally specify nonmathematical terms
- Conceptual knowledge
(Martiniello, 2008 and Bernardo & Calleja, 2005)
What is not generally affected by the language of mathematical problems is:
- An ability to model the underlying mathematical structure
- Computational knowledge
- The disregard of real-world constraints
(Martinello, 2008; Bernardo & Calleja, 2005; and Bernardo, 2005)
As I read about these studies (and other, similar studies), I realize, as a teacher, my goal must be to construct a classroom in ways that encourage students to connect with their world, not just a textbook.