2 + 2 = oppression

Woke is alive and well in math education, charges Erika Sanzi of Defending Education. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which claims to stand for high-quality teaching and "measurable student learning outcomes," has an annual meeting and exposition in October. Some of the sessions sound like "the graduate seminar from hell," she writes.

• “Interactive Workshop: Black Feminist Mathematics Pedagogies: Implications for Teaching from a Curricular Analysis.” This session offers attendees a “pedagogical reflection tool that was developed through an equity audit of an NCTM-aligned secondary mathematics curriculum” that uses Black Feminist Mathematics Pedagogies (BlackFMP) to “audit the curriculum.”

• “Reflecting on My Whiteness: Unpacking the Barriers Towards Transformative Mathematics Teaching” offers “strategies to confront the oppressive forces of whiteness and take practical steps to dismantle inequitable practices.”

• “Iron Sharpens Iron: Black Womxn in Mathematics Education Speak” will focus on disrupting "systems of oppression by challenging marginality and privilege within mathematical spaces, nurturing Black Womxn’s mathematical agency, and engendering a sense of belonging coupled with Black Girl Joy.”

"Even as the broader culture begins to push back on the excesses of diversity, equity and inclusion, critical race theory, and activist-driven education, the country’s largest math teacher organization isn’t pumping the brakes," writes Sanzi.

The NCTM told teachers that the real problem with math teaching is that the definition of success is too narrow, writes Holly Korbey. A recent position paper urged them to focus their work on “valuing the community” and shift away from putting coursework at the center of math.