Math classes cause “intellectual trauma” to minorities: STUDY
A group of educators has published a guide on implementing “Black Feminist Mathematical Pedagogies” in classrooms, arguing that such an approach is necessary because minorities—especially Black girls—face “violence and trauma” in math education.
“When Black female students are repeatedly disciplined for being social, loud, or goofy in the mathematics classroom, they experience mathematical violence,” claim the authors of Designing Mathematics Curricula That Center Students’ Brilliance.
The research team—including Lara Jaisen, Michael Lolkus, doctoral student Marlena Eanes Snowden, and Dr. Leslie Dietiker of Wheelock College—contends that while many believe math is politically neutral, it is actually “steeped in whiteness and heteromasculinity.”
“Whiteness is a global phenomenon, impacting marginalized students and communities… and mathematics curricula are saturated in whiteness.”
The academics assert that “whiteness” is pervasive in math classes and curriculum structures, explicitly stating:
“As a culture, whiteness is toxic in society and in education. More specifically, in society, whiteness presents through norms including—but not limited to—perfectionism, a sense of urgency, individualism, and objectivity.”
