Mathematics as a Tool for Critical Thinking about Social Justice

1. Mathematics as a Tool for Critical Thinking about Social Justice Jesse Bergman, Upper Grand DSB jesse.bergman@ugdsb.on.ca Anthony Persaud, Peel DSB anthony.persaud@peelsb.com

2. Agenda Social Justice – Modifying the Curriculum Grade 4 Grade 7 Grade 10 Why Do Social Justice? Connections As a Way of … How to Do Social Justice Lessons Organization Implementation Cognitive Dissonance Social Justice Examples Assignments Topics from Lessons Student Feedback Parting Thoughts

3. Grade Four Curriculum Sample problem: If you wake up at 7:30 a.m., and it takes you 10 minutes to eat your breakfast, 5 minutes to brush your teeth, 25 minutes to wash and get dressed, 5 minutes to get your backpack ready, and 20 minutes to get to school, will you be at school by 9:00 a.m.? Sample problem: COMPARE your morning schedule to that of a child your age in a different country. DESCRIBE some of the timing differences you might expect.

4. Grade Seven Curriculum Sample problem: At Andrew’s Deli, cheese is on sale for $11.50 for one kilogram. How much would it cost to purchase 150 g of cheese? Possibilities: • Income and poverty • Food production – buy local? • Consumerism • Access to goods and services

5. Grade Ten Academic Curriculum The Triangular Slave Trade can be modeled as a triangle with the following distances: England (E) to Africa (A) 4960 km United States (U) to England (E) 6400 km Angle UEA was measured to be 85° The wealth from slavery helped to make England into a world power. During the trip from Africa to the United States, what is the closest distance that a slave ever got to England?

6. WHY DO SOCIAL JUSTICE?

7. Global Issues Enrichment Local Actions SOCIAL JUSTICE connections Critical Thinking Share Ideas Broaden World View Build Confidence

8. Social Justice in the classroom as a way of … Not just talking about topics, but as a way of organizing your classroom and encouraging students to discuss with each other Connecting to broader topics – have a broad world view Exploring students’ interests – no topic should be avoided , even if it is not directly related to a progressive cause or helping humanity Relating concepts to mathematics without concern as there is support from administration Creating critical thinking and global awareness – create a space for students to comfortably and securely talk about their feelings Turn to the person beside you : Why do you want to do Social Justice; and why are you at this presentation?

9. HOW TO DO SOCIAL JUSTICE

10. SJ in Lessons Students Want to… Teachers Want to… Allow Dynamic conversations Share their opinions Learn about the world Prevent domination Learn new things Have flexible conversations with their peers Connect topics to the math curriculum Prevent inappropriate comments

11. Organization of Discussions How would you organize a social justice discussion? Seating Participation- mandatory or voluntary Teacher role Voting – how to have quick check-ins to see how the class feels –Jesse uses single-foot-stomp; Tony uses clickers. Initiate Discussion – How does it begin? I have a volunteer to say each day, “Mr. Bergman, what does this have to do with social justice?” We’ll now look at some examples. Keep these structural decisions in mind as you develop what SJ will look like for you.

12. Implementation

17. How was math used to influence the way that you think about this problem? Math helped me realise that our world is in way over its head. It helped me to realise that our society is in get need of a change because if we continue on the road that were on with all our pollution use as the next generation and the many more to come well have a problem. When we try to fix everything our past generations have done to increase the changes of more hurricanes and natural disasters. In this math problem it show me that even with the same information you can present it in different ways and there both right. This problem made me think outside of the box because I never thinked this way.

19. Cognitive Dissonance

20. “We don’t know how much it might cost to move to Jamaica so don’t complain.” “$10 000 wouldn’t stop a gang. Gangs have more than that.” “Sir, we know that isn’t a real article.”

22. SOCIAL JUSTICE EXAMPLES

23. SJ in Assignments When asked, students eagerly added their own SJ to their final projects – create and solve a question from your unit. In groups of 4 – 10, get final projects photocopied package. Think and reflect in your groups: Do any of these give me an idea for SJ in my class? Could I adapt any summatives in my classes?

24. Topics from Lessons Handouts of SJ topics Discuss the topics you like. Extend them to ideas for you own class.

25. Student Feedback "Best part of my day." "Was interesting to know." "Made the class more enjoyable.” "Really was fun and learned a lot." Q: Things You'll Remember and Why / If there was one thing you would never want Mr. Bergman to change, what would it be and why: A: Social Justice, because… "Interesting, fun." "I feel it is important." "It makes class interesting." "Learned alot about the world and myself." "It was a fascinating real life application for mathematical concepts." "Learned about important issues of the world." "I found it very interesting and it made math more fun for me." "It usually connected to the material we learned in the lesson which made it easier for me to connect what we were learning to real life, making what we learned feel more important."

26. Parting thoughts Contact Jesse: jesse.bergman@ugdsb.on.ca Contact Tony: anthony.persaud@peelsb.com Website: http://mrbergman.pbworks.com -> Social Justice Other references: Social Justice Math That Matters – David Stocker Edugains Statistics Canada eInstruction MCV4U Social Justice Portfolio