Embracing the Inherent Tensions in Teaching Mathematics from an Equity Stance

Abstract

essays Any efforts to deal with de+nitions like “democracy” and “equity” must begin with the question of who gets to decide what counts in these categories. As researchers and educators grapple with persistent inequities in mathematics teaching and learning, equity issues are becoming more mainstream in the mathematics education community. Even so, theoretical framings tend to re,ect equality rather than justice, static identities of teachers and students rather than multiple or contradictory ones, and schooling rather than education (Gutierrez, 2002a; 2007). 0e prevailing discourse in the United States, focusing on the “achievement gap,” is a prime example. 0at is, the excessive focus that U.S. researchers place on the gap between the mathematics achievement of White, middle-class students and that of African American, Latina/Latino, American Indian, and working class students, as well as English language learners, and the need to close the gap (termed “gap gazing”) sheds light on issues of access and achievement from a dominant perspective with little concern for issues of identity and power or broadened notions of learning from a critical perspective.