Roberta Hunter

Participation of non-dominant students in argumentation in the mathematics classroom

This article focuses on argumentation in mathematics classrooms in two different geographic contexts, the US and New Zealand. Drawing on data from a case with immigrant students (Pāsifika) in NZ and a case with Mexican American students in the US, we argue for the need to study the concept of argumentation through a cultural and language lens. Our analysis across the two cases points to common features that supported students’ engagement in argumentation. Building relationships and encouraging and supporting students to be themselves are seen as resources for argumentation. The similarities across two very different contexts are striking. As we think of how to develop environments that support non-dominant students’ participation in mathematical argumentation, we may want to learn from and build on students’ cultural ways of being.

Innovative and Powerful Pedagogical Practices in Mathematics Education

Powerful and innovative pedagogical practices are necessary for all students to learn mathematics successfully and equip them for the future. In this chapter, we review Australasian studies that provide evidence of pedagogical practices that support creative and flexible mathematical thinkers for the 21st century. The review is structured around three key themes that were evident in the research literature. The first theme is the need to develop innovative learning environments that benefit all learners. The second theme is centred on how both tasks and tools can be used to support powerful pedagogical practices. Finally, the third theme reviews the challenges of developing innovative mathematical learning environments. We argue for the need for effective pedagogy for all learners and a need for ambitious, future-focused teaching in mathematics education.

POWERFUL PEDAGOGICAL ACTIONS IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

A critical issue for all involved in primary and secondary mathematics education is how to ensure that all students learn mathematics successfully so that at the end of schooling they have the mathematical knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary to fully participate in further learning, employment, community life, and citizenship. This issue focuses attention on pedagogy which is the method or process of teaching, and generally refers to instructional strategies or actions (Ball & Bass, 2000). This chapter provides an overview of Australasian studies that have explored successful pedagogy within the context of mathematics education over the past four years (2008 to 2011). Our purpose is to highlight new insights that contribute to knowledge about what constitutes successful mathematics pedagogy for all students, to note any issues or tensions emerging from the findings, to identify any silences in the research agenda, and to recommend areas for future research.

Challenging teachers’ perceptions of student capability through professional development: a telling case

ABSTRACT Teachers’ perceptions of students’ capabilities are particularly important in efforts to support ambitious instructional reforms. In this paper, we explore one teacher’s efforts to resolve conflicts and tensions as she engages with new practices associated with ambitious mathematics teaching. While many conflicts arose in the first year of the intervention, the teacher’s linear inquiry stance, focused on prescribed solutions rather than action and reflection on problems of practice, meant that deficit framings of students remained largely unchallenged. Supporting the development of an inquiry stance that problematises current structures and practices, and enables systematic exploration of conflicts, is key to challenging teachers’ perceptions.

Maintaining a Cultural Identity While Constructing a Mathematical Disposition as a Pāsifika Learner

Many Pāsifika students enter New Zealand schools fluent in their own language and with a rich background of knowledge and experiences. But, within a short period of schooling they join the disproportionately high numbers of Pāsifika students who are failing subjects such as mathematics within our current education system. The reasons are diverse but many can be attributed directly to the structural inequities they encounter which cause a disconnect (and dismissal) of their Indigenous cultural values, understandings, and experiences. In this chapter, we examine and explore the different practices which have marginalized Pāsifika students in our schools and more specifically in mathematics classrooms. We explain how some of the “taken-as-granted” practices in mathematics classrooms match the cultural capital of the dominant middle-class students but position Pāsifika students in ways which cause them cultural dissonance. What we clearly show is that the teaching and learning of mathematics R. Hunter (*) • J. Hunter Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand e-mail: R.Hunter@massey.ac.nz; J.Hunter1@massey.ac.nz # Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 E.A. McKinley, L.T. Smith (eds.), Handbook of Indigenous Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1839-8_14-1 1 cannot ignore the student’s culture despite the beliefs held by many that mathematics is “culture-free.” In contrast, we illustrate that the teaching and learning of mathematics is wholly cultural and is closely tied to the cultural identity of the learner. We provide many examples over 15 years that illustrate that when teachers use pedagogy situated within the known world of their Pāsifika students and which premise student choice over their spoken language their sense of belonging within schools is affirmed. We draw on the voices of the Pāsifika students to show how Pāsifika-focused culturally responsive teaching has the potential to address issues of equity and social justice which supports them retaining their cultural identity while constructing a positive mathematical disposition.