The effect of Black educators on Black students’ beliefs towards mathematics

Abstract

This study considers the impact of Black mathematics educators on Black student attitudes towards mathematics. The study uses Carlson’s Views about Mathematics Survey (VAMS) instrument, which is divided into two categories: (i) epistemological and (ii) pedagogical. Framed around Schlossberg’s Theory of Marginality and Mattering, this study investigates whether not having a Black mathematics educator causes Black students to feel devalued and develop a poor attitude toward mathematics. A sense of marginality and mattering is determined by comparing the interactions between Black students and their Black or non-Black mathematics educators, and then considering how that sense of marginality and mattering affected attitudes toward mathematics. Eighty-one student participants, all of whom were Black, were recruited from three Upward Bound (UB) programs. Participants were either former or current UB students who were high school seniors (at least 18\xa0years old) or were currently or previously enrolled in a community college or four-year institution. Two-tailed independent t-tests demonstrated that having a Black mathematics educator positively affects the attitude toward mathematics of Black students.