Making math more equitable by building up students’ math identity

by PRP Group, on 08/14/2023

Smartbrief PRPEquity in math education is about much more than changing names to represent more diverse students or putting images of different kinds of people on the page. Representation is an important part of equity, but it must go deeper than just changing the race or gender of people doing math in textbooks, videos and other learning resources. Equity is about diversifying math in ways that help students understand and see themselves as mathematical people.

We must understand what prevents marginalized students from feeling like they can’t be math people. Sometimes that is a lack of representation, but more often it’s also a lack of opportunities to develop a positive math identity. The world is filled with people who describe themselves as non-math people, and there are a lot of stereotypes about who can and can’t do math.

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Topics:Education Press